Stronger vs Weaker Side

[knightrider922]

I’m trying to bring my young teen horse back into work after time off…won’t see trainer for another couple of weeks so thought I’d ask for help to refresh my memory.

I’ve been slowly bringing him back and as part of the program, I’m lunging with side reins. While riding, I feel like going left is more difficult to get a bend, going right is alot easier and much less resistance. He’s super flexible this way.

But when I lunge with side reins, I feel like going to the left he’s more relaxed, uses his neck muscles better and seems more rythmical. Going to the right I feel like he doesn’t used his neck as much and seems like he’s more strung out looking. I also don’t feel like he relaxes the same way.

Is this odd? Either I’m feeling this completely backward or he’s not the same lunging vs riding? In his younger days we worked on this with trainer and I thought I had a good memory of how he should go and the right seems like its not working the same. Anything I should look for or work on till next time I see trainer?

[MysticOakRanch]

Most horses do have a stronger and weaker side - you hear people discuss “stiff side” - the stiff side is usually the stronger side. The more flexible side is usually the weaker side. Note I say “usually”. Of course there are exceptions to everything!

The majority of horses are stiff right - but I’ve had two now that are stiff left (which means stronger left) - it is not all that unusual. Sounds like your horse falls in that category.

Horse is coming back to work, take it slow, work on suppling him, and realize it will take a bit longer to get that weaker right side back.

Are you riding? If so, do a little nuchal ligament flip right to left, right to left, that can help gently supple the jaw/poll. Work on carrot stretches for stretch and bend both directions. And just slowly work up his strength.

[rjr]

Yes, horses are usually stiffer on one side than the other. But it isn’t always consistent as to whether the “stiff” side is the good or the bad side – and that might also depend on the rider, type of work and stage of training.

IMO usually the hollow (non-stiff) side will feel easier to ride. The mouth will be softer on your inside hand, and the nose will tend to point in the direction of movement when circling that direction. Sometimes that feel is correct because the horse is correctly bending. But other times the horse may travel worse to that side because he over-bends or bends mostly with his neck. Also, a rider who tends to over-use that inside hand might contribute to the over-bend and make the horse look even worse on that side. Or a good rider might be holding the horse straight so he moves very well that direction under saddle, but the tendency to overbend could show up on the lunge when the horse is being pulled by the lunge line and doesn’t have the rider to straighten his crooked movement.

There are many other combinations of how being stiff or hollow on a certain side might show up as being better or worse on that side, and how it might show up differently under saddle vs on the lunge, or even change over time. The horse will usually be quite consistent over time about which side is stiff and which side is hollow. But it might change over time which is more advantageous – i.e. if he horse tends to evade by pulling, he will be worse on the “stiff” side. If the horse is evading by curling behind the bit, it will be worse on the hollow side; And his favorite evasion may change at different stages of training.

[rjr]

Also consider the possibility that you might be asymmetric as well. If one hand is heavier, less steady, or tends to drop down, then the horse will brace more against that hand (and look stiff on that side). If you, as a rider, tend to sit to one side, then the horse will be less balanced, and have trouble bending when you are sitting to the outside of the curve.

If you don’t have a good person to watch you, try putting a video camera at A and doing a lot of turns up and down the centerline to see how symmetric you really are. Sometimes things that we think are the horse’s asymmetry are really the rider’s asymmetry.

[CenteredRiding]

What I hear you asking is why the difference between riding and ground reins?

The others have mentioned what might influence horse under saddle. I was wondering whether we (humans) might be more comfortable handling side reins on one side than the other - for instance, dominant hand influences a different rein (nearside or farside) in each case. Do we “like” handling more from one side than the other?

I have a pony who lunges in an egg shape. Is it me or is it him?

[merrygoround]

I have not yet met a horse that doesn’t bend better on one side or the other. Some the stiffness is subtle, in others it is pronounced. The younger they are when the problem is addressed the easier it is to fix.

I find it more difficult to deal with on the longe, shortening one side rein only bends the neck, when it is the quarters that also need to be controlled. Ground driving is good for those young and fit enough to keep up with a trot. Which is why I prefer working from the saddle even if initially only at the walk.

[Boo]

Yep…its normal for horses to be uneven. Just like us the have a tenancy to be left or right sided. Its why being ambidextrous as a rider is such a useful trait.
Im lucky my mare is naturally pretty even. If anything shes left sided and im right handed so we actually balance each other pretty well.