Young mare who doesn't understand she has 4 legs

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Jimmy260910

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My friend's horse is a 6year old 16.1hh mare, currently ridden in a hanging cheek happy mouth snaffle.

When she's trotting and cantering it's as if she forgets she's got two back legs and will move her body in two separate directions.

When cantering she'll often start off correct and then go disunited.

We believe she was originally trained in draw reins as her head carriage is fixed.

We've had her and teeth checked and all seems to be good.

Just wanted to know if anyone could recommend any exercises for her as we're running out of ideas

many thanks
 
If she feels or looks as bad as you describe I would be getting a vet in to have a serious look at her, it could be anything from wobblers to KS or pain in her stifles or hocks and they need to be ruled out first, then I would get a physio involved to get her loosened up and working more correctly, they will also be able to suggest appropriate exercises that should help.
No horse should seem to be moving in two directions even if draw reins have been incorrectly used the horse should still move fairly normally once they are allowed to.
 
Has she seen a physio / Chiro? My youngster struggled to be straight (on two tracks) and the Chiro found a 'knot' that was preventing him from truly bringing his near side hind under and this was causing him to almost 'crab' in trot and canter. After 3 sessions it improved massively that he was frequently placed dressage and showing
 
shadowboy said:
Has she seen a physio / Chiro? My youngster struggled to be straight (on two tracks) and the Chiro found a 'knot' that was preventing him from truly bringing his near side hind under and this was causing him to almost 'crab' in trot and canter. After 3 sessions it improved massively that he was frequently placed dressage and showing
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Physio came out last week and found nothing wrong with her back which honestly shocked us all, she'll start off working correctly and then it's almost like she gets worried (we can tell this because she wobbles her lip - which is her stress response ) and thats when she goes wonky.
 
be positive said:
If she feels or looks as bad as you describe I would be getting a vet in to have a serious look at her, it could be anything from wobblers to KS or pain in her stifles or hocks and they need to be ruled out first, then I would get a physio involved to get her loosened up and working more correctly, they will also be able to suggest appropriate exercises that should help.
No horse should seem to be moving in two directions even if draw reins have been incorrectly used the horse should still move fairly normally once they are allowed to.
Click to expand...


We had the physio out last week and they said that nothing was wrong with her back but will mention to the owner to possibly have a vet look at her thank you :)
 
Provided she has no physical issues, the stuff below is working really well for my young one.
If she was started incorrectly or too quickly, try taking her back to basics, improve the walk and trot with circles and transitions until it feels balanced and then work up to the canter slowly. Worked wonders on mine who didn't know what to do with her legs but tucked her nose in. Spent a while riding on longer reins wide apart to channel her and encouraging her to work from behind. Also once she understands something and goes well I use this as a rescue move if she starts to panic when I ask something new which she hasn't quite got yet as it builds her confidence.im taking it slowly to make sure it is all correct.
 
I think I know what you mean. When I had my mare she had done a lot if showing and didn't know she could extend her neck this meant when she got nervous or excited she would lose connection with hind legs and go disunited a lot. This also caused tight hamstrings, which made the problem worse

I spent a lot if time teaching her to relax and stretch down in the walk and trot. Then the canter. Never asking for canter unless the trot was mega relaxes and head long and low. It has worked wonders. She does still have moments when the excitement of jumping take over, but we just slow down and go again
 
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