leaving a leg behind in canter HELP

[beaconhorse]

Once again Beacon is leaving his left hind behind in canter on the left rein, it gets to the point when he starts hopping on it and comes back to trot. Had this once before and vet could find nothing wrong.

I noticed before when it happened that if you really pushed him on he would work it and start using it properly. But today I did not realise what was happening until I watched the video sis had done

It is just not something I have ever seen before so wondered if anyone here had????

 

[Sal_E]

It could be a pain related problem - I'd probably want the vet & back person to check it out for me - could be that leg, sacro or back.

However, I used to have a similar problem with my mare. She looked like she had poo'd her pants when she cantered! (can you picture what I mean?!). Her front legs used to be working for England & the back legs looked like they were almost being dragged along - it actually looked like they were virtually working as a pair.

My mare is built onto the forehand with fairly straight hindlegs, so not naturally inclined to use her back end. She used to be horribly on the forehand & tight behind the saddle, which didn't allow the legs to step under & take the weight.

With the help of a good instructor, the problem is all but solved now - the problem was purely a schooling issue even though there had been times when I considered calling the vet because she looked almost lame.

Could yours have a similar problem do you think?

 

[beaconhorse]

yes that sound just like him. he also gets tight behind the saddle, it built with big shoulders and very slightly straight hinds. What sort of schooling helped?

 

[Sal_E]

Anything to get the horse working 'through' correctly. Off the shoulders, less tension, working from behind - improving all of this in the walk & trot first makes working on the canter that much easier.

You need to get the horse to accept & 'take' the contact - so you are not having to canter round on a tight contact, creating tension. You need to get the horse to relax, starting with a tension free transition.

Inside & outside flexion to release the neck. Lots of transitions, sharpening the horse up off the leg, getting him to truely accept the contact in halt/w/t/c, working actively from behind, lots of leg yeilding, spiralling etc to strengthen up & improve the inside hind. Working on your OWN position to really remain in balance with the horse (my problem: I was rocking in the canter & creating tension - not releasing the back & not 'allowing' the horse to step through). You need someone on the ground for that - I thought I was fine!

Also, letting the horse go FORWARDS - sounds daft but they are often much bigger moving than you realise (especially if you're used to a stuffy, tense canter which probably won't be covering the ground). Encourage the horse forward to the point you feel each corner is coming up a bit too quickly - of course you're aiming for a longer stride rather than a faster one, but at first you may feel that you are really shifting which is quite disconcerting; ideally you need someone on the ground to reassure you that your horse is not p'ing off with you! If in doubt, go for more rather than less - forget any form of 'collected' canter whilst there is this tension in the horse.

If you are both balanced enough, try asking for a bit of inside & outside flexion in this active canter, again to release the neck. I found this quite hard at first (shoulders just followed the neck) , but it's getting easier as we both get used to our more business-like canter & have less tension...