Too much bend on Right rein

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mickey

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My horse is going nicely on the left rein (although if anything I feel like I need him bent more around my inside leg). On the other rein it is a different story and I keep getting too much right bend. That causes him to fall out and in a desperate attempt to get him to turn I end up pulling on the inside rein, making things a whole heap worse. Currently I am riding on the inside track to stop him leaning on the fence. I also spend lots of time riding with outside bend and doing walk pirouette exercises to get him moving off the outside aids. I am leg yielding too. Any ideas of other things that might help??
He has had back problems down his right side in the past, which I think may account for some of this. However, he regularly sess the physio who says he is doing very well and his back is freer than ever.
 
What you may have is right bend but really only in the neck area i.e jacknifing at the wither/shoulder area. You can probably feel this and are doing the exercises you mentioned to counteract what is really a horse that is bent left even when going right. You may be able to feel or a person on the ground will see that is a problem where the quarters are actually going to the inside on right bend as he is trying to line them up with position left bend. If you can tap the quarter across to first straighten him on a right curve, ie. get the quarters lined up with the forehand, not on the inside track, you have got a chance of getting the horse to respond to your inside leg. Once straightened the horse must bend 'round' the inside leg and move his inside leg across to the outside so you feel a contact on the outside rein as all the 'pull' has been on the inside as he tries to bend left. That's why people often pull with an inside hand as they try to get the horse to bend. Hard to be positive without seeing the horse and rider but this is a common pattern.
 
Ok, I'm by no means an expert, but the horse I ride does this on the left rein. I just use lots of outside rein and try and leave the inside rein alone as much as possible. This gives me a normal, slight inside bend. He uses too much left bend as an excuse to fall out through his outside shoulder, and the more bend, the more falling out and the more my poor right knee gets scraped along the fence!!!!! This has worked wonders in the last week or so.

You sound like you know what you're doing anyway!
 
Thanks everyone.
Oldred - Are you saying that although I am getting huge amounts of bend though the neck to the right, he could actually have his quarter's in so is bending left through his body?
It is the shoulder that he is falling out through rather than the quarters.
OK so I need to make sure he is straight (back feet directly following front feet) and then apply right leg to left hand to try to get this correct.....
If his hind quarters are directly behind his front feet in the first instance but the bend is thru the neck and falling out through shoulder shall I carry on with the exercises I am doing???
 
He is possibly like many horses and people - has a slight preference to 'handedness'. They go well left because they are really slightly bent left all the time - the right is the problem. If the quarters are to the inside (of his shoulders) its almost as if the quarters push the shoulder (outside) out, and/or the rider cannot get the horse to move its ribcage/belly across to bend round the inside leg so the rider uses a little more hand than they would want to and/or also in an attempt to get the bend the rider displaces their seatbones and weight further pushing the horse towards its outside shoulder.

When you have straightened the horse by realigning the quarters and checked your own weight and balance is correct you need to get a correct response to your inside leg and I would again tap behind your leg (lightly of course) til you feel the horse take his ribcage away from your inside leg swinging it (very subtle feel) towards your outside leg. If the horse doesn't commit to changing his bend through his body all the exercises you do to fix this will be a struggle and the value of them debateable.
 
Thank you this is very helpful. Next time I ride I shall check to see that he is 'straight' with hind feet following front feet - I guess he most probably is not straight currently. Then once I have established straightness I will ask for him to move away from inside leg, (into oputside hand) using a tap with a whip if necessary. I need to make sure I am not lifting my outside heel and have weight evenly through my outside seat bone???? I could well be collapsing my hip inwards currently.
In his case, he has always been more balanced on the right rein - He has previously felt less mobile on the left rein as he has had problems with a bone spavin in his right hock and stiffness through his right side. So what I am seeing presently really does not follow what I would have expected from him.....
 
You are quite right Mickey, don't let your waist collapse to the right. The right seat bone should almost 'follow' the horse's long back muscle across towards the midline/spine to place a bit of weight (but not pushing down) on the inside so he knows to keep the bend (so more slide it across than push down but keep your postural muscles engaged). (You can practice by sitting on the backs of your hands on a chair and pretending to bend right).

Re the right hock there could be a situation where he has not wanted to bear weight on his right hind so much as his left and that would cause him to carry it out to the inside on a right bend as it is then not stepping under his body and taking the full strain. Was he better right before the spavin resolved, during or after? It can also get confusing with the good side/bad side as they can often change - or do we just notice one side is now more correct so the original good side doesn't feel so brilliant!?
 
OK - So I am 'thinking' of gently allowing my right seat bone backwards and almost diagonally across to the middle of his back - Am I correct? I always get confused with this but I presume the outside hip should be leading???

Re: the spavin: Sadly he has had spavin in the right hock since I have owned him as a 4 yr old. After many years of 'on and off work' for the last couple of yrs he has been sound and is going well. He has a slightly strange action in walk though as he tends to push the hind legs inward and then throw them outwards (the 'lady with wet knickers walk'!!) I would say he has always felt more relaxed on the right rein than the left (but now the left feels better). Until the last couple of yrs he always had tremendous problems striking off on the right canter lead (right rein only a problem). He was doing this when I purchased him and I should have seen the warning signs then really.

Thanks for your help, you seem very knowledgeable....

To make matters more complicated - I broke my back 18 mths ago so I have metal in it.....probably this is not helping either!!!!!
 
An update WRT this: I rode today. In walk on right rein horse still had tendency to fall out to left. But, his whole body appeared to be bending right not LEFT. When I straightened him and applied inside leg keeping a hold of outside rein he did move off the leg (reluctantly) forming a banana shape to the right. I think the problem is he is flexible in his left side and likes bending to the right (but bends too much). On the other rein he finds it harder to stretch his stiffer right side, hence there is a lot less bend. The main issue here now is rider error. I need to be more disciplined in keeping a secure contact on the outside rein and not tugging to the inside. Need to watch my balance/seat and not collapse hip. I am weaker through my left side and I think this is inhibiting things.
 
TBH, I think you need an instructor on the ground to see what the horse is really doing (as opposed to what it feels from tha saddle that it's doing), and to suggest corrections.
 
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