Young horse, canter lead

siennamum

siennamum

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Any clever little training techniques anyone has tried to teach a young horse to strike off on the correct lead?
Mine is determined he can only canter on right lead. We have some success with getting canter lead correct over a pole, and I can sometimes get the right lead when I feel he is about to strike off right. Generally though he flatly refuses to and I am getting very fit chasing him round.

We'll get there but it made me wonder what people have tried & if there are any clever little techniques which I don't know about.
 
although I don't like small circles on youngsters they tend to find it harder to strike off on the incorrect lead if on a small circle as so much of it comes down to correct bend. If the bend is correct you are 90% of the way there and by a few times using a smaller circle you get yourself that bit closer! For example ride a 10ish metre circle at A in trot and just before reaching A ask for canter so you have the bend from the 10m circle for the transition but then you can immediately go into a larger 20m if not large once you have the correct lead.

Although its incredibly hard on green youngsters also be very wary of where your weight is. If you are a bit skewiff (who isn't!) this could also easily be influencing the transition.
 
i do two exercises with my little man...
first one, get onto a figure of eight and change the rein in trot and then canter in the corner then trot across the next diagnol
also you could try putting a pole or small jump in the corner on a bend and trot up to it and ask for canter whilst going over, turning with your hands and legs into the inside....
hope you get what i mean!! :o
 
Have you tried letting him trot faster until he breaks into canter on his own, rather than asking him?

You might find he will favour his correct lead. It worked for my old horse and once he had the feel of how it should be, he took the correct lead when asked :).
 
My mare had a problem with left canter - as someone said above, she is very sensitive to weight aids ! Rising to the trot on the 'wrong' diagonal fixed it for us, as it made me ride the right side therefore getting correct bend and freeing up the left side to allow her to pick up the left lead
 
Santa_Claus said:
although I don't like small circles on youngsters they tend to find it harder to strike off on the incorrect lead if on a small circle as so much of it comes down to correct bend. If the bend is correct you are 90% of the way there and by a few times using a smaller circle you get yourself that bit closer! For example ride a 10ish metre circle at A in trot and just before reaching A ask for canter so you have the bend from the 10m circle for the transition but then you can immediately go into a larger 20m if not large once you have the correct lead.
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as above - try not to worry too much though, it will suddenly just come as they start to sort their balance out. with one of my youngsters if he went on the wrong leg i would carry on and change onto the correct rein then come back to walk. then retry on the initial rein. if he got it lots of praise with my voice, if not, regroup and retry.

good luck
 
Work on straightness and leave canter until you can flex horse to right and left then through this horse will strike off on correct lead. Shoulder fore into canter works but I don't believe you should ever ask for canter from rising trot nor from running unbalanced into canter either!!
 
Azmar said:
Work on straightness and leave canter until you can flex horse to right and left then through this horse will strike off on correct lead. Shoulder fore into canter works but I don't believe you should ever ask for canter from rising trot nor from running unbalanced into canter either!!
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Agree with this and would also be interested to know if he still struggles with getting the correct lead when cantering loose.

Funnily enough, I've had the same issue with my youngster..... was advised to forget about the canter in the school (just canter out hacking on straight lines) and work at getting a better quality walk and trot in the school, plus to work on some baby lateral work to increase the strength of the hind legs (canter can be about balance, but it can also be about the strength of the hind leg that has to activate to get the correct lead). Has worked a treat, and much better than bashing away trying to run the horse into doing a canter he's not ready for.
 
TarrSteps said:
Does the horse pick up both leads equally easily loose/on the longe? Does he do clean changes both ways?
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No. He always favours right canter lead, naturally he would never canter on left lead, although he will pop in very smarty flying changes if he needs to. He is marginally better on the lunge, but I really don't have suitable surfaces to lunge on at the moment.
 
Santa_Claus said:
although I don't like small circles on youngsters they tend to find it harder to strike off on the incorrect lead if on a small circle as so much of it comes down to correct bend. If the bend is correct you are 90% of the way there and by a few times using a smaller circle you get yourself that bit closer! For example ride a 10ish metre circle at A in trot and just before reaching A ask for canter so you have the bend from the 10m circle for the transition but then you can immediately go into a larger 20m if not large once you have the correct lead.

Although its incredibly hard on green youngsters also be very wary of where your weight is. If you are a bit skewiff (who isn't!) this could also easily be influencing the transition.
Click to expand...

I find it easier to encourage them to strike off right when they have some counter flexion (I wonder if I'm the only person). Having said that we only really do bend in walk at the moment.
 
woodlandswow said:
i do two exercises with my little man...
first one, get onto a figure of eight and change the rein in trot and then canter in the corner then trot across the next diagnol
also you could try putting a pole or small jump in the corner on a bend and trot up to it and ask for canter whilst going over, turning with your hands and legs into the inside....
hope you get what i mean!! :o
Click to expand...

I see exactly what you mean. That's just the sort of thing I've been doing and gets the best result. Really just need to keep at it till the penny drops.
 
whiteflower said:
as above - try not to worry too much though, it will suddenly just come as they start to sort their balance out. with one of my youngsters if he went on the wrong leg i would carry on and change onto the correct rein then come back to walk. then retry on the initial rein. if he got it lots of praise with my voice, if not, regroup and retry.

good luck
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Oh mine will do lovely flying changes if I just persist. He will get there.
 
Azmar said:
Work on straightness and leave canter until you can flex horse to right and left then through this horse will strike off on correct lead. Shoulder fore into canter works but I don't believe you should ever ask for canter from rising trot nor from running unbalanced into canter either!!
Click to expand...

Oops, we are cantering willy nilly all over the place, generally he will pop neatly into canter, but does sometimes run, and I'm nowhere near sitting trot. We have very rudimentary flexion but generally don't do a lot of schooling as we don't have an arena.
 
Kelpie said:
Agree with this and would also be interested to know if he still struggles with getting the correct lead when cantering loose.

Funnily enough, I've had the same issue with my youngster..... was advised to forget about the canter in the school (just canter out hacking on straight lines) and work at getting a better quality walk and trot in the school, plus to work on some baby lateral work to increase the strength of the hind legs (canter can be about balance, but it can also be about the strength of the hind leg that has to activate to get the correct lead). Has worked a treat, and much better than bashing away trying to run the horse into doing a canter he's not ready for.
Click to expand...

This makes lots of sense. He will canter very nicely on hacks & in fact has only had a few sessions in the school. He just always canters on right lead!!
 
If he is choosing that lead at all times including when loose it would possibly suggest something is blocking him especially if he will pop in a flying change to return to that lead. Has he had the once over from a physio at all you may find he has an area of tension most possibly in the shoulder which is making the left lead uncomfortable hence always favouring the right.
 
Santa_Claus said:
If he is choosing that lead at all times including when loose it would possibly suggest something is blocking him especially if he will pop in a flying change to return to that lead. Has he had the once over from a physio at all you may find he has an area of tension most possibly in the shoulder which is making the left lead uncomfortable hence always favouring the right.
Click to expand...

His flying changes are onto the left lead when he's struck off incorrectly. He is (understandably- given his age) stiff and crooked and unbalanced and I suspect that's why he favours one lead, it's become a habit. As I educate him and encourage him to bend both sides of his body and straighten out I expect he will find it all much easier.
He did have an injury to his hips/tail in the Summer which has put his schooling back, but correct work will sort that.

I should explain that I don't have a problem with him. A few sessions in the school will sort this and it's not at all unusual for a young horse to be one sided.

I just wondered what techniques other people have used with their young horses.
 
Ditto the leg yielding. It also works when the horse is trying to rush into canter. Try a shallow loop on the right rein and then bend head to right whilst pushing body over to the left with right leg. Lift up left seatbone at the same time so the horse can come under you. A friends welsh cob used to charge off into full gallop when asked for canter strike off, and this exercise worked wonders. The pole idea is great, if you're in a position to use a pole. This way works out hacking or whereever.
 
gentle work on the lunge without side reins is what i do, quiet relaxed, tension is your enemy, if he goes off on the wrong lead very quietly bring im back to trot and establish a nice trot and try again.
most horses i have had cannot canter on both leads when young until they are ready, don't rush, work mainly in trot, to gain balance, when ridden try only on large circles, prepare well in advance, make sure you are sitting correctly and above all allow the horse to go forward into his canter by making sure you are not restricting him with your hands, make the contact soft.
on my horses in rising trot i sit on the outside diagional. Don't worry about it all too much, its one of those things if forced makes it worse, it will come right with patience and as the horse becomes stronger, fitter and educated
 
Probably most youngster would have a similar problem, just depends how balanced they etc.

I trained a youngster and had the same problem, it wasnt until someone watched me i found that i was putting more weight down in my right heal making the horse always strike of on the right lead, im not saying this is your problem but i had no idea i was doing it. Have you had someone watch you?

The leg yeilding is a good one and bending. Also found alot of transitions to get the horses power coming from behind.
 
Mine does this sometimes - he is mostly pretty good but always 100% on thr left and does sometimes strike off wrong on right rein. We also use a smaller circle at a or c to establish bend, and just working on the beginnings of proper leg yield and will def leg yield into canter. We also do most of our work in school in trot and walk ATM, building up his strength.
Having said that we have stopped it all ATM and he's on 6 weeks holiday! Well, halfway through already.
 
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