landing on correct leg

[helenhorse]

hi, so yeah...we have a mare that strikes off with out fuss onto the right leg when schooling but undoubtably its her weekest/less favoured leg..so when she lands after a jump and i want a lead onto a right rein circle therefore proceeding on the right leg..she lands on the left leg or lands unbalanced and switvhes to the left..please give me exercises....no tack health problems or things like that.

 

[Ezme]

a good exersize is to have a cross (as viewed from above) of jumps, not high but enough for them to just propperly from canter, at X in the middle of the school then canter a figure of eight going over the jumps in the middle, if she lands on the wrong leg you have enough space to change legs, through trot and det up nicely before the next one. Practice makes perfect with this one i'm afriad. Good exerisize for getting to the middle of jumps too. In the air maybe if you exagerated putting you weight to the new inside might help he get on the right leg. Hope that helps

 

[helenhorse]

thanks..if i tell you what shes doiing you might have a clear picture.....when she lands she either lands on the left leg or lands unbalanced (disunited) and changes to the left when i want the left...if tryed exadurating the weight and subtly doing it..she lands great on a small jump but tends to land on the right leg over bigger jumps. How can i get her jumping so that she will land balanced and on the right leg?? what is she doing before jumping that is mkaing her run after the jump or going disunited/unbalanced...shes jumping nicly???

 

[ajn1610]

I think you'll just need to give her some time, as you've said it is her weaker lead, she just needs to strengthen up. It'll come in time don't worry!

In the mean time just make sure you have straight get aways and pull her up before you make a turn so she doesn't get into bad habits of rushing left all the time or going round on the wrong leg. You'll get better rounds for putting in a couple of trot strides and then re-establishing a nice balanced canter on the correct lead and it'll help her to get the idea.

If you are sure there is no physical problem and she isn't doing it to avoid pain you can help sometimes by placing a pole on the landing side and 90 degrees to the fence to help keep her straight and hopefully on the correct lead.

 

[sunny123]

It sometimes can help to put an angled pole a few strides after the jump, where you are going to turn.

eg. X \ (imagine the 'X' is the jump and the '\' is the pole if you want to turn right! That probably makes no sense)

If she lands ok over smaller jumps I would probably just stick to these for a while and work on her balance on the flat and over smaller jumps and poles. Then once she is doing this perfectly very gradually increase the height without riding any differently, working on her technique and canter now will really pay off in the long run. It sounds as if she is relaxed and calmer over smaller fences but when they get bigger she gets a little bit worried causing her to panic a bit on landing? In which case keep it all small, easy and relaxed while she gets her confidence up. I found that it reallly helped me to think of the jump as just another canter stride so I focussed on rhythm and balance rather than worrying about the jump.

Try lots of little grids and courses and leaving her to sort herself out so that she isn't totally relying on to get her round. At this stage it also doesn't hurt to come back to trot before she unbalances. Also, just check that after a fence you are sitting straight back up and not tipping to one side or 'dropping' her etc.

Good luck!

 

[helenhorse]

thanks for all that guys..just the info i needed...so just to summarise..i should keep schooling over little jumps and practise on a circle maybe? in a constant rhythm on the right rein? and do those exercises you kindly offered sunny_ways and ajn1610

thNK YOU..i will let uyou know how we get on

 

[helenhorse]

by the way guys.. would you visit soap box and look at the links i have posed..just look for the post sent by Helenhorse(me)..its a depresing post but never the less emotionally breathtaking!!
thank you

xxxxxxxx

 

[Ludi-doodi]

QR
Haven't read the other replies but I have a spot of bother landing on the correct lead too and one thing that helps us is to open the hand out in the direction you want to go ie widen left hand/rein if you want to go left. You need to do it whilst in the air over the jump (easier said than done I know!).