Left side problem

[fishy]

My horse has suddenly decided that she does not want to bend to the left. She will happily go on the right rein and given a free rein will go this way, but when I ask her to go left she turns her head to the right and locks. I have tried doing lots of bending, circles and transitions and she is not too bad in walk, but as soon as I ask for trot or canter she locks right and starts to toss her head (although this settles after a few strides) I have had her teeth checked and have made an appointment for her back to be checked although we have done nothing different for the past month or so, just a mix of schooling and hacking with an occasional lunge session. She eats from the ground and has no problem flexing left and right from the ground.
The only thing I have changed is her bit, about 2 weeks ago, to a full cheek french link snaffle ( from a loose ring french link snaffle). She seems happy in this as she stretches into it and accepts it in walk and is happy to hack out in it. She does have a bit of an attitude so I can't rule out that she may just be taking the mickey out of me. Whilst I'm waiting for my next lesson I just thought I'd ask for some advise.

 

[Countrygirl]

She is not an ID x by any chance is she?
Having a similar problem with my 6 yr old. For the past couple of weeks he has been having tantrums with mini rears and the odd leap. We reverted back to long reining, lunging long and low over poles etc.
He is starting to now come right - and before anyone says anything, back, teeth and saddle have all been done.
Although he did have a couple of tight muscles, which we have been stretching etc, he is now starting to come right (with the help of an excelleny physio) - it appears with him to be in his head and he's just having a teenage tantrum.
Have you noticed any difference when you canter on either rein? Where he was getting the tight muscles has prevented him stretching his near fore when in trot and canter, which is really noticeable when you are on board.
Hope it all comes right for you.

 

[fishy]

Thanks for the reply, her breeding is warmblood on her sire side and irish draught on her dams. I do know that she was broken as a 5 year old after having a foal and I think some of it is to do with her still being quite green, she is only 8 now and I haven't done a lot with her in the year I've had her, just some hacking and schooling, which I thought was coming on ok. I know my instructor has said that she is quite tense in her neck and my only other thoughts are that she has maybe done something when turned out, she loves a good roll.

 

[Blaise]

I have exactly the same problem. Mine is a 5 yr old TBxAppy, absolutely fine on the right rein in all paces but on the left rein locks her head to the right and falls in through inside shoulder, even on straight lines. teeth fine, checked regularly by our physio and McTimony practitioner, saddle fitted new about 8 weeks ago, back looked at by vet and nothing other than a slightly tight hamstring! In halt she's quite happy to flex and release to the left but in walk the only way i can get her to do it is to ask for flexion with inside rein and really (and i mean it takes effort!) push her out with inside leg. She will flex left then but it's a massive effort. In trot i have no chance- she'd rather run into the school fence then turn left and she never picks up the correct lead on left rein canter. I'm at a complete loss at the moment as to why she's doing it. Physio is booked to come back out (again...) just in case. I'm watching thes thread with great interest- you have my complete sympathy as it's very frustrating.

 

[Countrygirl]

What about trying some carrot stretches? Both sides and between the front legs.
Long reining has really helped my chap, today he only did his evading tantrum once. Made to stand and not fuss and have a scratch then back to work fine.
It takes time sadly. But as I have already been told could be a combination of pain, temper and worry.
Good luck to both of you, persevere and you will get there.

 

[Booboos]

Since this is a new behaviour I would always err on the side of caution and eliminate a possible physical problem. Personally I would start with the vet and move onto the physio if appropriate.

If all is well then change the bit back and see what happens. If she still does the behaviour it sounds like a training issue and it might be best to get a good instructor out of advise you.

 

[scheherazade]

I have had this, and am just starting to come out the other side (well most of the time anyway)...

Rather than focussing on the left bend, try to just get the horse STRAIGHT, with more weight in your outside hand than your inside one. This can also be done out hacking, in straight lines. Don't let the horse bend to the right but encourage her to be completely straight. Open your hands a little more than you would normally and back up with plenty of leg, almost like you are creating a funnel to ride her through, with the nose at the pointy bit (very badly explained but hope you get what I mean)

Once the horse is happily working straight you can start on the bend, I used to alternate right and left bend down the long sides (don't saw at her mouth though, this will only set her against you, and allow plenty of stretching time as this will make her ache if she isn't used to working those muscles

Be careful of not losing the shoulder, keep a contact in the outside rein. I have found that fixed cheek bits are more fixed in the mouth than loose ring ones, so your mare may prefer something that is a little more mobile? I have found a fulmer to be a good compromise where full cheeks are needed as the rein is still attached to a loose (and therefore moving) ring

Obviously get back checked first, especially if it is a new problem

Hope this helps, and good luck

 

[flippa_t]

This is really interesting (and timely) as I have the same problem with my 6 year old and have the osteopath seeing him tomorrow.

I got him in April and after 2 weeks he managed to damage a muscle in his back being an idiot in the field, luckily my vet who vetted him was able to come and see him and although he wasn't lame he could tell that his gait had changed and he wasn't swinging through behind (especially with right hind) as much as he had been 2 weeks previously. So physio sessions and lots of stretching and hacking built the muscle up, but where it had been tight it had pulled the spine and meant that there was less movement one way than the other, he had also put his neck & poll out slightly.

I've been working him quite hard since then and he has needed further treatment a couple of times where he's gone out of line. The first sign is always him not wanting to bend left and accept an even contact as readily (with leaning on left rein), and then results in him swinging his neck round to the right rather than bend left. He is stiffer on the left rein anyway and would rather lean on the contact on the left, but it gets worse as he gets uncomfortable. I've learnt to recognise the signs now and call my osteopath who is brilliant and after a session he is like a different horse and much looser and more free on both reins and balanced in the contact - to start with I felt terrible for insisting he worked through it as I thought it was him being a bratty teenager and then the difference was so pronounced!

After a really good lesson last Monday I schooled last Wednesday and wasn't sure whether he was just being awkward about going on his weaker rein, then schooled again the next day and noticed a definite stiffness and the head swinging starting a bit. We SJ'd Saturday and he jumped well but the head swinging right was more pronounced when warming up, so since then he's had an easy week hacking until the osteopath can see him tomorrow. I've learnt to catch the signs a bit earlier now so hopefully I can keep on top of it while he continues to get stronger - he's still a bit weak behind his saddle so I need to work on this, and also am doing carrot stretches etc as well as 'wobbling' his back to try to get more movement in his spine (exercise set by osteopath).

Also my osteopath will check me at the same time. I find that where he is heavier on the left and leans on me I go a bit misaligned and compensate by holding my left shoulder tighter which aggravates his problem, therefore if we are both realigned together then I'm not blocking him and vice versa.

Sorry for the really long post but it’s a very relevant topic for me!

 

[PooJay]

I HAD this problem, through it now. Left side when i bought her was terrible, thinking there's a possibilty she may have injured herself on her journey to me as when she got off the lorry, she was a jiggling sweaty petrified mess.

Now, after a year of struggling (and physio apptmts) we thought it was an injury behind on the left. Got through that bit (there was an injury behind too) and we were still having problems....

Now her left fore always turned out slightly - physio picked up on that but until we got the back end problem sorted she couldn't tell what was causing the mild atrophy around the left shoulder (she thought the foot pointing out was a conformation defect rather than injury based initially) so i tensed and tensed (and tensed) and did work that would work the shoulder lightly but not over load it.

Her foot now points forwards and we have no trouble bending to the left at all. I think because she couldn't lift that shoulder properly, she struggled to lift through her back and because she couldn't lift through the left side of her back she couldn't bend through it either.

My view is definitely expect that it's something physical, if she's willing on the other rein and presents no arguments and it's a sudden change in attitude, then she's more than likely restricted in some way or it's painful for her to use it.

Hope that helps! Oh and there were no lame moments, just unwillingness to bend!

 

[Willeeckers]

Just wanted to add, don't forget to get your self checked over too (as earlier posted said)

For years I struggled to get the correct canter lead on the right rein with my old horse, always blaming him, till it eventually clicked that after I'd had some treatment on myself then I wouldn't have any problems with the canter lead - it was nothing to do with him and all to do with me not being "straight" and therefore constantly weight bearing heavier through one seat bone so he was mis-reading my aids - poor bugger for getting the blame!!

Also particularly relevant if you start finding you always have the same problem with bend etc no matter what horse your ride!