What's the problem?

Charliepony

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for a friend!

if a horse is falling out of circles on the right rein, and going disunited and bucking at canter on that same rein, when neither of these things were previously a problem, what is likely to be the issue?

Vet and physio say horse is fine, saddle fitter says saddle is fine, though they have decided to try another saddle. their arena surface is quite deep/puddley, could this cause those behaviours or is something more going on?
 
that's what i think they'll have to do. my immediate thought was hocks, being worse on one rein seemed ominous to me.


just a bit delicate as friend has literally just (six months ago) bought horse after having worked with her for two years. had a 2 stage vetting which she passed, she is nine. it's one of those 'horse of a lifetime' things, absolutely dreading there being something seriously wrong.
 
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Sounds bit like something my horse used to do. Apart from the falling out on one rein/disunited/bucking issues he also found it easier to work with his nose stuck out. We think he had an old back injury (soft tissue), after a thorough vet exam examination to eliminate any other issues, working with a physio really helped him. To start with he was quite rigid in his back but after the physio, which included H wave therapy, his reflexes improved dramatically. There were some rider issues - I was pretty novice and unbalanced myself which didn't help, but there was definitely an underlying problem as, though never the easiest of rides, he became a much softer, happier horse.
 
Is the horse just weak behind? I had a tb a while back who used to resort to bucking whenever he lost his balance which was often on a circle, especially the right rein which was always his weaker one. I had him looked at too to no avail and we just put it down to general weakness. I did a fair bit of hill work with him in trot and canter (in a light seat) as well as practicing transitions on the lunge with loose side reins. In time the bucks turned to going disunited and eventually he was strong enough to work round in a nice balanced canter.

Hope your friend manages to get to the bottom of it, horses are such a worry!
 
she is a tb, doesn't have the best back/hip conformation, but friend has been riding her for two years and this is a recent thing apparently! i guess she could be getting less exercise because of the weather, and she was out 24/7 and now on in at nights.

horse still does it with other riders!

friend wants to see if things improve with different saddle, so will keep you updated.
 
yep she was! only issue is no yards round here offer that, though she can go out 24/7 in the summer, so if that makes a difference she will rethink, but it would mean going on grass livery somewhere with no facilities.
 
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