Horse wont lunge left

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Willow1234

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I am having some serious trouble getting my mare to lunge to the left. She'll walk, trot, and canter to the right just fine but as soon as I try to turn her around all she does is pivot her hind away from me and throws her head. She'll lead in circles to the left all day but obviously I cant trot and canter her like that, I've tried the 'slowly let out the lunge line while leading' technique to no avail, I've tried pushing her head away from me, I've tried (gently) tapping her shoulder with the lunge whip, and so much more. I'm trying my hardest not to get frustrated but I'm really at my wits end here lol any advice is appreciated! (We also don't have a round pen, and I'm not sure how her previous owners treated her in terms of lunging so its hard to tell if shes always been like this)
 
If she’s aversive to one side it could be a pain/weakness thing. Lunging on a circle is hard work.
is she like this ridden?
id get a full work up just to check before I continued x
 
If it where to the right I would say it was the natural crookedness of the horse that has not been addressed when young.
However as it’s to the left I would advise that you get get a vet who deals with performance issues to look at the horse .
 
Mine has always struggled to the right even after body work. Problems in right front hoof on x ray which would suggest pain was the reason
 
Sauerkraut said:
Have you tried lunging with two lines? So long reining first until you can long rein her on a both circles.
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Yes, I would try this too. Lunging on 2 lines is great for unbalanced youngsters who struggle to stay even on both reins.

Obviously, if there's a physical problem, the vet should be called.
 
How experienced are you lunging? Are you able to lunge other horses to the left? Just asking because it is possible the person lunging has the one sided - ness not the horse. If you are perfectly able to lunge other horses on the left rein then I agree that this is likely to be a soundness issue. Does it show up under saddle too?
 
Leandy said:
How experienced are you lunging? Are you able to lunge other horses to the left? Just asking because it is possible the person lunging has the one sided - ness not the horse. If you are perfectly able to lunge other horses on the left rein then I agree that this is likely to be a soundness issue. Does it show up under saddle too?
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I haven't lunged that many horses, but yes, all the ones I have lunged will go fine to the left. We're going to get the vet out as soon as we can to make sure it isnt a soundness issue, but she will pick up the left lead when cantering on her own in the field, so my guess is that she's fine but I've decided to hold out on lunging for now until we can get the vet out. I don't really know how she is under saddle, I've only ridden her once (long story) and she seemed fine then.
 
I had one before who developed navicular. Reluctance to lunge in one direction was the what prompted me to get the vet out. It was the first sign something was wrong. It's probably not the case with your horse but I'd definitely want a vet to examine it.
 
Mine is established lunging but was reluctant on left rein pre being diagnosed with a medical branch injury to left hind. If your horse is happy to lunge on right rein but vastly different in the left rein I would be tempted to get the vet out.
 
Willow1234 said:
I haven't lunged that many horses, but yes, all the ones I have lunged will go fine to the left. We're going to get the vet out as soon as we can to make sure it isnt a soundness issue, but she will pick up the left lead when cantering on her own in the field, so my guess is that she's fine but I've decided to hold out on lunging for now until we can get the vet out. I don't really know how she is under saddle, I've only ridden her once (long story) and she seemed fine then.
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I don't think that just because she will pick up left lead in the field means there isn't a problem I'm afraid. Lunging on a relatively small circle puts considerably more strain on them than being loose in a field. You do need a vet I'm afraid.
 
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