how do i stop my horse going on the wrong lead?

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SamanthaBandit

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Hello! i'm Samantha!
I have a 15.3hh Section D coloured called Bandit! :) Everytime i try to canter on the right rein he decideds to canter on the left leg. I have tried doing circles before i go into canter, i've tried spurs. I lunged him in the school the other day and he picked up the right lead on the right rein straight away! he picks up left lead perfectly, but i cant seem to get him to canter on the right lead! :mad: its soooo frustrated on times because he just doens't seem to get what im asking him to do! i rode him in the school today and i bent his head into the centre of the school, on a 20m circle, i put my outside leg behind the girth and my inside leg on the girth, and yet he still managed to canter on the left leg on a 20m circle! its like a habit tht i cant get him out of! :confused: im sooo confused! and just dont know what to do with him anymore!! suggestions and tips would be amazing right now as im loosing the will to live!! :p sooo, SUGGEST AWAY PEOPLEE!!!! :D :D :D :D
 
lessons with an instructor.

check you are not blocking him, dont just pull his head in- need strong outside rein and inside leg to push him into the bridle. sit up tall and dont lean in motorbiking him.

try from walk first, not trot.

a little bit of bending his neck to the outside of the circle should help.

his saddle, teeth, back may not be helping either, lots of horses change shape coming out of winter/spring
 
Definitely get a good instructor who will be able to see what you/the horse and doing wrong and advise. It could be any number of reasons, from the horse being unbalanced, the horse not having the correct bend, the horse not understanding the aids.. Is it quite a recent development? I hope it all works out soon, please update and please try out an instructor - it will really benefit :) xx
 
ok thanks. he goes into canter and then sticks his head bent the complete wrong way! he feels like hes leaning and when i put my inside leg on to get him to bend around it he picks up speed and feels like hes going to fall over, its like he isnt compfortable on the right lead :/ he has had his back and teeth done recently and his saddle and bridal all fit perfectly. i just dont know what to do! i have had umteen lessons with my riding instructor emma, and she tells me what i am already doing!! :/ its really annoying because on the lung he goes like a dream! :mad:
 
When you're lunging him on the right rein, does he position his head slightly to the outside? If he's finding it difficult to pick up right canter when you're riding him, you may be asking for too much inside bend...try allowing him (for the moment) to put his head to the outside a little when you ask him to canter on the right rein. He may find it easier to balance that way for the moment. As he becomes better at it, you can gradually start asking for the correct bend.

I'm not sure I'm explaining this terribly coherently; I think it may be past my nap time.

Edit: missed a bunch of responses while I was typing! Agree with VioletStripe and xloopylozzax; also curious to know if it's a new development (read your original post as though this is normal). From your second post, does sound like balance is an issue! Does your instructor have you do any basic lateral work with him?
 
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If he was previously ok, but is suddenly having problems on the right rein, I'd start thinking about a possible physical cause. Has he had any injuries or accidents lately?
 
SamanthaBandit said:
he has recently picked up on starting on the wrong lead, thats whats so annoying is that i know that he knows what to do, hes just ignoring my aids! :L
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Maybe he thinks going on the wrong lead is the right thing to do? As soon as he becomes unbalanced and goes on the wrong lead, bring him STRAIGHT back, try not to allow a stride of it, halt-half and get him to go again straight off the leg, if he doesn't go straight off the leg then give him a small tap with the whip to remind him he needs to go when you tell him (not a huge smack, just a flick to remind him-when warming up in walk and trot make sure he's really off the leg and listening and you won't necessarily have this problem). A lot of the time, getting the horse to go right away into canter will stop him thinking about it, making him go into the right lead. At first it may feel like you're constantly going trot-canter-trot-canter-trot etc, but as soon as he goes on the correct lead, praise and finish on that good note, so he knows it's the correct lead. I had a similar problem with a Welshie type I used to ride, always on the right rein. Eventually he managed to balance himself out, stop rushing and actually pick up the lead, pretty much through doing this! Watch what he does on the lunge, use your voice when you ride, often an encouraging 'Canter!' helps, and if he shifts his head a certain way on the lunge, allow him to do that when you ride so he has an easier job of picking it up. Whew, that was a bit of an essay - sorry :D xx
 
i suspect that your horse isn't straight in the first place. forget about inside bend for now- you can work on that later- try flexing him to the outside when you ask him for canter or place a pole in the corner and ask him to canter over that. however, in all honesty i think you maybe need to try some lessons with a different instructor. i can't believe that bending his head to the inside on a circle would ever work with a horse that seems confused about what to do.... :confused:
 
Shoulder in ask for canter from a slight shoulder in. It makes them engage their inside hind. I would rule out slight lameness first as this is often the cause of this issue
 
diggerbez said:
i suspect that your horse isn't straight in the first place. forget about inside bend for now- you can work on that later- try flexing him to the outside when you ask him for canter or place a pole in the corner and ask him to canter over that. however, in all honesty i think you maybe need to try some lessons with a different instructor. i can't believe that bending his head to the inside on a circle would ever work with a horse that seems confused about what to do.... :confused:
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I have recently had lessons with Andrew Davies and Helen Rees, both very good show jumpers, and we tried doing a figure of eight over a raised trotting pole to see if he can land on the right lead off a jump, also when we are jumping in a showjumping ring he sometimes lands on the right lead. :rolleyes:
 
Have a knowledgable rider or your instructor canter him and see if they find it easier to correct this.That way you can determine how much of the problem is related to the horses incorrect bend or maybe you are blocking him as has been suggested previously.If another rider has few problems then the issue lies with you.
You can also see if he will get the correct lead on the lunge without a rider.
The horse needs to start the correct sequence of leg for right canter with the outside left hind leg first. If you are worried about possible physical causes then do a spavin test on both hinds and compare.
 
How recently was his back checked? He may have done something inbetween then ?
My horse had this problem and it was the saddle and his hips were out and not quite straight
Now sorted he goes beautifully
 
Echo all previous suggestions. Forget if you hav said but how old is he?
I know with my rising 5 year old he is much better if I am very aware of where my weight is. Also had a friend whose quite chunky horse found it tricky to strike off on correct lead and she found a combination of shifting weight into inside stirrup and opening knee to allow shoulder to move helped a lot.
What does he do when your instructor rides him? Also how is right canter when you do get it? Does he maintain it well!
 
How about changing your focus so, rather than aiming to stop him going on the wrong lead, think about and focus how to get him on the correct lead. Having the worry of the wrong lead in your mind may in some way be transmitting to him... :) So when following advice given concentrate hard on what you are doing to get the correct lead, try and forget about the wrong lead. :)
 
ecrozier said:
Echo all previous suggestions. Forget if you hav said but how old is he?
I know with my rising 5 year old he is much better if I am very aware of where my weight is. Also had a friend whose quite chunky horse found it tricky to strike off on correct lead and she found a combination of shifting weight into inside stirrup and opening knee to allow shoulder to move helped a lot.
What does he do when your instructor rides him? Also how is right canter when you do get it? Does he maintain it well!
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He is rising 8 in may, and my instructor is coming down next week and hasnt ridden him since he has started this wrong lead :) when i get right lead canter he tends to canter around fine on it, but sometimes he puts his head out to the outside of the school and changes the leg on the front leg, then he dosnt get that he has to change his back legs aswell and gets dis-united :l
 
amandap said:
How about changing your focus so, rather than aiming to stop him going on the wrong lead, think about and focus how to get him on the correct lead. Having the worry of the wrong lead in your mind may in some way be transmitting to him... :) So when following advice given concentrate hard on what you are doing to get the correct lead, try and forget about the wrong lead. :)
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yup! that makes sense! :) will try that when i ride him today! :D
 
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