Horse switching 'preferred rein' and just not right?

arwenplusone

arwenplusone

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My mare usually prefers the left rein, but recently she has switched this and seems to go better on the right.

She is fine in trot but seems a bit unbalanced on the left canter, nothing major, just resisting correct bend, hollowing and a bit of bucking. (she does buck when 100% so that's not really a sign of anything
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) Now she can be a nappy swine and she can be evasive and also spooky so last time I schooled her I put it down to this. But she was the same this am. I have lunged her and trotted up but I can't 'see' anything. I have had a Mctimoney and saddle check very recently and she was fine (as was saddle).

On the lunge when I put her on the left rein she kept trying to turn and go on the right.
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Not sure if she has pulled something in the field or if she is just being a bu**er.

What do you reckon - give her a few days off the schooling and see if she comes right next week?
 
So many possible causes, you may have changed your position slightly to concentrate on the other rein, could be brewing an abcess on one side, teeth?

These things are always so difficult to identify when there isn't an obvious cause
 
Sounds like she may have tweaked something. You know what they're like in the field sometimes! I know it sounds annoying but just for piece of mind, I would ask the back person to come give a once over again.
 
Well young horses do 'swap' sometimes - my last one did this for a week or so and then went back to normal, very odd! But on the other hand i would say that if you think she's not right it might be worth getting her checked out by the vet. I had this feeling about Missie for a while, but put it down to various things including her greenness, stiffness, me being rubbish etc, and in the end it turned out to be osteoarthritis. Not saying that it is that, but you know your own horse, so trust your instincts. I did in the end, and turns out I was right!
However it might be worth just giving her a few days off first and seeing if she's better after that. As you say she may have tweaked something.
 
I love reading posts about your mare - she certainly seems to know how to keep you on your toes. She sounds alot like mine but with diffent quirks and my teacher said to me "You know what your problem is? Its a clever Tw*t!". I may of course be totally wrong and by all means get her cheaked out, it can't hurt, but my guess is she's given up one evasion and opted for a new one. All jolly good fun for her!
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Just to add if you are going to get her checked out, i would get the vet not the back man. Missie saw the back man, but the problem was in her hindlegs so he was only treating the symptom and not the cause. At least with the vet you know they're covering all bases.
 
I 2nd donadea and if in doubt get the vet out before the back person, I did and I got a full check on legs , back and joints.
Luckily for me everything was fine and although more expensive than just getting the back person out, I now have piece of mind that all is ok and that is priceless!.
 
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I love reading posts about your mare - she certainly seems to know how to keep you on your toes. She sounds alot like mine but with diffent quirks and my teacher said to me "You know what your problem is? Its a clever Tw*t!". I may of course be totally wrong and by all means get her cheaked out, it can't hurt, but my guess is she's given up one evasion and opted for a new one. All jolly good fun for her!
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PMSL!
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sounds like her!
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Thanks S, think what I will do is give her a few days off schooling and keep an eye on how she is moving. If still not right then off to minster I go!
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Hope Missie is doing ok now. x
 
Sounds like a plan. Luis at Minster has been great with Missie. She's doing fine thanks, planning on riding her for the first time since December on Saturday, so I'll post an update after that x
 
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