Ideas to help softening on left rein?

[tatty_v]

Hi all

When my horse arrived in January it became clear very quickly that he hadn't done much schooling for a while (he worked with a counterbend and couldn't stay in canter on a circle). He's come on leaps and bounds since then and is posting some good dressage scores (around 65%) when we get out and about.

The one thing I have noticed is that he finds work on the left rein more difficult than work on the right. He's had his teeth, saddle and back checked and none of these should be causing an issue. Work on the left rein has improved in walk and trot (although changing from right to left rein (e.g. in a figure of 8) is still not very smooth!) but I'm struggling to get some improvement in the canter.

Does anyone have any suggestions for exercises/ground work I can do with him to help? He likes being challenged to keep his brain active (busy Connie pony brain!) and is happy to use ground poles etc.

Thank you x

 

[Morgan123]

Well, i guess it depends on your particular horse so an instructor is probably more able to help with this, but I ride a horse who finds it harder to soften on the right rein, and my instructor says to work 80% on that rein, and had us doing LOTs of flex to the outside first, then when he's soft in outside hand, invite him to the inside contact but being careful not to let the outside contact drop - then gradually increasing bend. Not sure if that helps you?!

but anyway, I'd also be trying lots of leg yield on that rein, and shoulder in/shoulder fore....

 

[be positive]

I would actually do the opposite to Morgan123 if the horse finds work on one rein difficult then doing too much can compound the problem as the horse will struggle and may get even worse, you want to make things as easy as possible for them to get it right, reduce the tension/ stiffness and get them to feel it is easy rather than too tough.
I would work on the easy rein but do more counter flexing so he is going the way he prefers but actually working the opposite side more and more, so you make the work on the good rein gradually more challenging, getting him softer to the left, stretching his stiff right side, once he can go round easily on the right rein with good flexion left, obviously still work on straightness and right flexions as well, he should then find it considerably easier to go correctly on the left rein.

I think by improving the things they find easy and building up the more tricky stuff they are usually more on side and it is far less of a "battle" for both horse and rider, you can often really push on the better rein and find the worst one improves at the same time especially if most of the work is off the outside track so they are genuinely working from leg to hand and not cheating by using the fence for support.

 

[chestnut cob]

Try Marijke De jong's straightness training e-book - really good for getting to the bottom of why a horse is stiff on one side and helping you resolve it.

 

[Morgan123]

Hmm that's interesting. Maybe it depends on the horse, but several different instructors (including one who's a biomechanics person and very good Equine Touch therapist) have encouraged me to work more on the difficult rein with one-sided horses - by which I do not mean forcing them to bend to the inside when they can't, but gradually improving how things are on that rein. For example, you might not have an outline or inside bend to begin with, but you'd gradually build towards that.

Might be worth discussing with an instructor anyway, as it will depend on your horse.

 

[PorkChop]

Well I would work him equally on both reins there are many ways to achieve the same thing!

Spiralling circles are great - when he leans in make the circle smaller and then leg yield him out again.

Also resist the temptation to hold onto the inside rein, I would rather they were flexed slightly to the outside to start with and straight in the shoulder.

Lessons, and more lessons are the way to go sounds like you have made a big improvement already

 

[Simon Battram]

I always work evenly in both directions. The issue of finding the work more difficult on the left rein is due to basic one sidedness which all horses have. They are all either left or right bananas. If you work to a greater degree on the one side you will simply swap their 'banana status' over.

Do you find right bend easier than left? If this is the case then the right hind is the weaker one of the two, the right side of the body is the contracted side and the horse will lean on the left shoulder / left contact hence the difficulty to the left.

If this is the case then when going direction right counter flexing through the corners will help soften the left rein and guide the left shoulder. Counter flexing and spiralling in on a circle will also help. When going direction left leg yield head to wall will really help.
Just shout if you want more explanation.
Simon

 

[bubsqueaks]

I always work evenly in both directions. The issue of finding the work more difficult on the left rein is due to basic one sidedness which all horses have. They are all either left or right bananas. If you work to a greater degree on the one side you will simply swap their 'banana status' over.

Do you find right bend easier than left? If this is the case then the right hind is the weaker one of the two, the right side of the body is the contracted side and the horse will lean on the left shoulder / left contact hence the difficulty to the left.

If this is the case then when going direction right counter flexing through the corners will help soften the left rein and guide the left shoulder. Counter flexing and spiralling in on a circle will also help. When going direction left leg yield head to wall will really help.
Just shout if you want more explanation.
Simon

This is so interesting Simon as I have this problem but this has never been explained in these terms - it now makes senses for the first time. So really if left rein is the difficult rein it is predominantly down to the right hind. Are there any other exercises you could recommend to try & help with this.

 

[Simon Battram]

This is so interesting Simon as I have this problem but this has never been explained in these terms - it now makes senses for the first time. So really if left rein is the difficult rein it is predominantly down to the right hind. Are there any other exercises you could recommend to try & help with this.

Hi bubsqueaks
Cool, yes every horse is one sided just in the same way that we are left or right handed. They are born like this, one theory is how the foal lays in the mares womb....

If your horse is a 'right banana', meaning that it bends more easily to the right then left bend is indeed tricky due to the contracted right side of the body and the weaker right hind. So often I have heard riders being told, on the trickier left side, 'more inside leg and more inside rein' - it doesn't work.

Have you heard the phrase 'ride inside leg to outside rein'? This is a good concept but only when the horse is bent around the inside leg. I ride which ever computation I need to help the horses straightness / balance. This means I could ride:
- inside leg to outside rein
- inside leg to inside rein
- outside leg to inside rein
- outside leg to outside rein

Normally the brace is on the left rein/hand but also the rider needs to be aware that simultaneously there will not be enough in the right (outside) rein. When going direction left think about riding outside leg to outside rein. You are trying to get that right hind to reach through the right side of the body to stretch. The horse cannot bend left until the right side of the body has stretched out.

Use good stretching work (long and low) as this will start the process of stretching both sides of the horse through.
Make sure that you have good response to your forward driving aids.
Leg yield head to wall on direction left in walk to start with and then trot. In the walk version you can also add walk-halt-walks in the leg yield position.
On direction right walk a 10m circle in normal bend, then another in counter flexion then the next in true flexion.
Does this all make sense?
Simon

 

[bubsqueaks]

Yes absolutely - thank you so much Simon I will be trying those over the weekend.

 

[tatty_v]

Thank you so much for all your helpful replies - you've given me a lot to think about and practice! I will definitely be working on stretching out his right side as that makes so much sense now ��

 

[bubsqueaks]

Simon, I have just been on your website as found your replies so very informative - wonderful information on there & would like to ask with the giravolta exercise, how long would you do this for?

 

[Simon Battram]

would like to ask with the giravolta exercise, how long would you do this for?

Thanks bubsqueaks.

Like with every exercise you should start gently and build from there. Introduce any new exercise with a step here and a step there and then over time ask more. The giravolta is a really helpful exercise so you can start to incorporate a few steps whilst changing the rein when lunging or as a warm up in hand before getting on.
Simon

 

[Pigeon]

It's usually left leg.

I have a very feeble left leg and my horse will sometimes just not bend to the left because there's not loads I can do about it. When I really focus on my left leg he is super soft and has no problems at all

 

[KautoStar1]

My horse is also a right banana, so his left side is nice and stretchy but his right side is much tighter. Thanks Simon for your replies, very interesting and of course make perfect sense. its just putting it into practice which is always the killer

I also found getting my horse straight on straight lines has helped a lot. Its amazing how many horses bend left or right when actually walking in a straight line. Lots of hacking helped with that and then when the lanes are clear I leg yield left and right across the track, sometimes just a few steps before changing direction.

Carrot stretches are good too, along with leg stretches and tummy lifts - your physio will show you how if you don't know. I try to do these every day with mine and it does help.

 

[atlantis]

My mare is a right banana, is left footed in front with a pushing (not carrying) right hind leg.

I've been working on straightness training in hand (the ebook is good as mentioned above) and this has helped. I also do equine touch with my mare weekly and daily leg and carrot stretches.

Ridden I have to concentrate on there being even weight in each rein, on each seat bone and each stirrup. My instructor also said for me to imagine that her sides were memory foam and my left leg should leave a small indent so that it is there for support. This works brilliantly as I am obviously very weak in my left leg. I also have a tight left hip from an old injury. I do Pilates as often as I remember too.

I find work on both reins helpful as she falls out through her left shoulder so on both reins I am working on keeping her even with her point of mass in the centre of her and not over her front left leg if that makes sense.

I am not a very advanced rider at all, but I have been working solely on this issue with my mare for 6 months now (had her since November). The above comments are all really helpful I'm going to pop to your web site now Simon!!!