Ideas to help our left canter

[TT55]

My TB mare and I have been doing dressage for about 7-8 months. Although i have been riding my whole life, I have never really done dressage so our progress is fairly slow as it's a steep learning curve for both of us. We are having weekly lessons and are at a stage where we get fairly decent marks at intro level and are looking to move up to prelim. Right canter is coming on nicely but left canter seems to be hopeless.... she runs in to the transition then struggles to bend and falls in on the circle. It doesn't help that my left side is my weaker side also, so i'm not as strong in my left leg to keep her out on the circle. Today we did ok, but the canter feels all over the place and she gets to a point where she's had enough and straightens her body and falls back to trot. My instructor is ace, but I was wondering if anyone had any other tips or exercises we could try? Would lunging help?

Her saddle has been checked and she had the back lady out last week. Her back is fine, but she has some tightness in her left hip.

 

[soulfull]

I have similar problems. It's usually my fault. If I can get my weight into my left leg it's so much better. It maybe she is twisting me more and she has gone back a step so it will be interesting to see what the physio thjnks next week.

 

[old hand]

Shoulder in before the canter transition helps straighten the horse and rider. Shoulder in left will load your left seat bone and make sure you look to the corner that will straighten your back, ask for canter and you should get a few good strides to start with. I use the canter to establish a few strides on a small circle to start with, before the balance goes ask for a forwards trot transition . repeat several times and leave for that day. Basically build up the length of canter over a few sessions the amount of time it will take will depend upon how stiff the horse is. Also check the girth isn't too far forward as if it pinches the horse will avoid the bend and try to rush off in a straight line. A Fairfax girth has cured this in one of my horses, he has had lameness workups, physio but nothing worked for more than a few days of ridden work, including six weeks of lungeing, long reining and regular physio. He even looked lame when not under saddle as he was cramping the muscles in his quarters. One week in a Fairfax girth and he was way better, the rock gone out of his canter, straight and not leaning. He had been very uncomfortable and the girth was way cheaper than the vet treatment and physio which came to nearly £800. I tried the girth as a last resort and wish I had tried it first!

 

[leflynn]

Would advise getting yourself checked over by a physio/chiro too after having similar problems, if you aren't straight neither will your horse be! Also do some canter work on the lunge so they get their own balance before adding a rider can help too

 

[Pearlsasinger]

The way the rider sits influences the horse. Recently I have been having sessions on a mechanical horse with a physiotherapist. She has pinpointed my problems and given me exercises to do to combat them, some exercises are to do on the horse. I am improving and have noticed a difference in the horse too.

 

[TT55]

Thanks for all your advice! I will definitely book myself to get checked over... I did have issues with sitting too far right to begin with but seem to have straightened up a lot. There may be still some underlying issues in myself. Pearlsasinger, the physio sessions on the mechanical horse sound fab, unfortunately i don't think there is anything like that near me

Old Hand, my horse hasn't learn't shoulder in yet.. .we might have to tackle that one to help the issue.... Thanks for the tip about the fairfax girth, i had thought about getting one, but was put off by the price. However, i think there is a synthetic version now which is a lot more reasonable, so i might give that a go!

 

[Morgan123]

Hello, I have a sort of maybe similar problem on the right rein - I ride several horses but one of them started doing this really weird bouncing around, threatening to rear and going disunited on the right rein only! So I booked a lesson - the guy said, the horse is stiffer on this rein and I'm not straight, so this is culminating in my weight being thrown to the outside whihc is making the horse crosser and vicious circle.
Anyway, to remedy this he has me do a lot of canter transitions and cantering on a 20m, with my inside hand on the cantel of the saddle so my body is exaggeratedly twisted towards the inside of the arena. Immediate change in the horse! Basically this helps me twist my body to the inside and not get thrown to the outside. Might be worth a try! Or even do the same with both hands on the reins, exaggerating your bend to the inside.

In your situation I'd also do lot of things that help to activate her inside leg on that rein, for example spiral circles and leg yielding, walk to canter, etc.