Softer Rider Hands & Leaning Horse

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HelenRod

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Hi all, I'm hoping you can help, I am struggling to soften my hands when riding and am conscious that I am going to end up giving my horse a hard mouth.

I have a 6YO section D who leans so hard especially on the right rein and I am really struggling to keep him working correctly and engaging his back end, he also snatches badly as well.

Currently worked in plain cavesson bridle, with wilkie style snaffle and running martingale, recently (last month or 2) removed the flash noseband.
 
It sounds like the horse might be too much on the forehand. 6yrs is quite young for a SecD as they tend to be a bit slow to mature. It might be worth going back to the beginning with them and re-train the basics so they can build muscle, lighten the forehand and accept the contact more gently? Do you have an instructor who can help?
 
What sort of work is he in at the moment,OP? Is this in the school only, or hacking etc as well? Does he lean and snatch more when he's tired, or all the time?

There are so many variables. One thing I've found to be very common with one sided horses though, who lean on one rein... is that you need to address the contact in the light rein at the same time. Often they are 'absent' from the light rein for one reason or another - habit/lack of engagement/lameness/dental pain/crooked rider etc etc . Just focussing on the heavy rein won't help ;)
 
Shay - definitely is at times on the forehand but when he wants to can be so light and fluid, I do have an instructor who is great but he also struggles on the lunge, i have tried lunging in a passoa, without any gadgets and he is great on the left rein but struggles terribly on the right, he obviously finds it difficult, I even lunge in corners of the menage to let use the boards to bend off but he still struggles terribly but on the left rein, he is light fluid, holding himself up and engaging his back end - the exact opposite of the right rein.

Teeth fine
Back fine
Saddle - waiting for an appointment to be checked
Not lame

He leans and snatches more when he is tired and wants to stop.
 
HelenRod said:
Shay - definitely is at times on the forehand but when he wants to can be so light and fluid, I do have an instructor who is great but he also struggles on the lunge, i have tried lunging in a passoa, without any gadgets and he is great on the left rein but struggles terribly on the right, he obviously finds it difficult, I even lunge in corners of the menage to let use the boards to bend off but he still struggles terribly but on the left rein, he is light fluid, holding himself up and engaging his back end - the exact opposite of the right rein.

Teeth fine
Back fine
Saddle - waiting for an appointment to be checked
Not lame

He leans and snatches more when he is tired and wants to stop.
Click to expand...

You have just described a young horse who is struggling to find his balance. I think you will have to lower/adjust your expectations until he is more mature. I wouldn't worry so much about working him in the school/lunging but take him hacking over varied terrain as much as possible. Hill-work, will help him to develop his muscles and small amounts of 'schooling' on hacks will help him too. You can shoulder in around puddles, for instance.
 
He is crooked, not working truly straight so on the left rein where he seems to go nicely he is not really genuinely working through and conning you to an extent, the "good" rein is normally the stiff side, they are laterally stiff so work in a constant bend that way, in his case the left, whereas the right side is actually laterally more flexible as it is stretching towards the stiffer side, this will effect how well they can push from behind and prevent self carriage even on the rein that feels good he will be holding himself in a fixed way rather than being as engaged as you think.

If your instructor has not covered this it may be time to get another pair of eyes to assess how you can improve his straightness as it will need addressing before he can move on, it is a very common issue and not insurmountable but will take a certain amount of work going back to the very basics but it will be worth it in the long run as he will be more able to progress once he is straighter.
 
So update..... yesterday attended 1-2-1 session with a dressage instructor who holds monthly clinics locally to me. She completely stripped us back to basics, confirmed m horseorde is totally unbalanced, I was asking to do too many things at once but by the end of the session the was a marked improvement. The instructor have me plenty to work on and I am looking forward to our next session!
 
be positive said:
He is crooked, not working truly straight so on the left rein where he seems to go nicely he is not really genuinely working through and conning you to an extent, the "good" rein is normally the stiff side, they are laterally stiff so work in a constant bend that way, in his case the left, whereas the right side is actually laterally more flexible as it is stretching towards the stiffer side, this will effect how well they can push from behind and prevent self carriage even on the rein that feels good he will be holding himself in a fixed way rather than being as engaged as you think.
Click to expand...

This ^^^^
Years ago I had a horse who would really lean on the near side - turns out he was totally relying on me providing something to lean on. Take away my "fixed hand" (attempt to keep him straight) and soften it, get some slight finger movement in it and he had to balance himself. If anything fixing the offside hand forced him to lean on that and so get straighter - it's always worth remembering they can only lean if they have something solid to lean on.
 
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