Right rein canter...help!

[jadelovescassie]

I know most horses have one rein better than the other but our right rein canter is an absolute nightmare. I know it's hard to determine the problem by trying to explain it rather than having someone actually help me but I can't afford lessons at the moment and I'd really like to try and improve it.

My mare often will strike off on the wrong lead in canter on the right rein unless I do a tight circle at the corner and ask really strongly, or use a pole at the corner, and the canter is extremely uncomfortable and I find it almost impossible to sit to (she is very bouncy anyway but it doesn't feel 'right'). When lunging she strikes off on the correct lead most of the time which makes me think that the problem is me. The actual canter itself, when she gets the correct lead, feels unbalanced and it feels like she isn't bending at all/the right way. It is also very on the forehand and she will really stretch out with her leading leg when taking each canter stride. Does anyone have any suggestions of what the problem may be or how we can improve it? I try to make sure we canter on that rein at least once each schooling session but I tend to avoid it a bit more because I know it isn't particularly comfortable for me or the horse! Would also just like to clarify she has had this problem since I got her, but I have always been a bit of a happy hacking/local shows kind of girl so haven't really bothered with schooling as much, until now as we are actually starting to compete again!

Thanks for reading and hope someone can help

 

[Wagtail]

Are you leaning to the inside? This is a common fault in canter. Try to weight your outside seatbone (don't lean, just lift your right seatbone and weight the left). This makes it easier for the horse to strike off with the right hind because it has less weight on it. Often riders, in their effort to get the horse to strike off correctly, lean in and therefore weight the inside seatbone which makes the job so much more difficult for the horse, especially if they have a 'bad rein' in canter.

 

[mainpower]

As you say that when you get right lead canter it's very uncomfortable, is there a chance she may be disunited?
This is what I find useful with horses with this problem;
Do the canter work early in the schooling session, once they've warmed up, before they get tired. Work on the bad rein first, as the canter sequence sort of gets "locked" into the brain (I know that sounds ridiculous, but can't explain it any other way). Use the school to your advantage, and ask coming out of the corner going towards "home", not as you are passing the gate/yard/field buddies. Sit tall and ask for some outside bend. This frees up the inside shoulder. It is a common rider fault to be leaning down to the inside when struggling for canter.

 

[jadelovescassie]

I think I probably do have the tendency to lean to the inside to be honest, from trying to get the correct lead. I know that she finds it difficult as I find it hard work to keep the canter going once I get it too and she isn't a lazy pony. I think if she is disunited I would have to get someone knowledgeable on the ground to have a look, or get someone else to ride it whist I watch her, as it's often a lot easier to tell these things from the ground! Thanks both for your replies and I will have a go at the suggested ideas