I have a horse that is naturally much more dominant towards his left lead/left diagonal in trot than his right. He willingly does everything I ask both directions but has to work a lot harder to the right. He recently had his hocks x-rayed and flexion tests with no issues found. He does have KS but is in a maintenance program for that. What are some exercises we can do to help even him out on both sides?
Decades ago, our best jumper had a reaction to a shot of aspirin and, once healed and his neck back to normal, he had trouble turning his head/neck in one direction.
The vet fixed him some blinkers like these, solid cups, that he had cut a small opening on the opposite side of where he was stiff:
http://www.bigdweb.com/Hood-Nylon-No-Ears-Sewn-On-Cups/productinfo/5115/
He said to put it on him for a little time every day, then for more, but not over an hour, so he had to turn his head to his stiff side to see.
We also handled him from the stiff side, got on from that side and did pole grids on the ground from both sides, leading him and riding him, asking him more from that stiff side.
We also did more mountain riding with him, over all kinds of terrain, up and down slopes.
We used carrot stretches to help him get more and more movement and, after several months, he was back to normal, could turn both ways the same.
Now, your horse’s problem is not on his neck, but maybe some of this could possibly help him?
Wow the blinkers thing is interesting. But yeah, my guy definitely has no trouble bending his neck both ways. I have been doing trot poles (starting with one and now up to 4 cause that’s all I have in my indoor) and lately we’ve started cantering over just one pole. Normally about 50% of the time when asked for the right lead, he’ll pick up the left, realize it’s wrong, and switch it on his own all within maybe 3 strides. After working with the canter pole a few times he got much better. Unfortunately we won’t be getting out on any trails until late spring due to long icy winters here so hopefully some things in the arena will work.
If he is not picking up the correct canter lead, he does not know how to give with his hips, so I’d start there. I do a lot of lateral work with everything. Counter bending will really help them stand the shoulder up and bring the hind end underneath.
[QUOTE=Palm Beach;8429473]
If he is not picking up the correct canter lead, he does not know how to give with his hips, so I’d start there. I do a lot of lateral work with everything. Counter bending will really help them stand the shoulder up and bring the hind end underneath.[/QUOTE]
Yes, your second post seems to indicate a training, not physical problem may be causing him not to pick that one lead properly.
Does he has the same problem with your trainer riding him?
[QUOTE=Palm Beach;8429473]
If he is not picking up the correct canter lead, he does not know how to give with his hips, so I’d start there. I do a lot of lateral work with everything. Counter bending will really help them stand the shoulder up and bring the hind end underneath.[/QUOTE]
Here’s the thing. Under saddle, he always gets the correct lead either direction. On the lunge line he only gets his rt lead on the first try about half of the time. Oh and I don’t have a trainer currently (I have ridden with various trainers for over 15 years though).
[QUOTE=Rusty15;8429399]
He recently had his hocks x-rayed and flexion tests with no issues found. He does have KS but is in a maintenance program for that. [/QUOTE]
Have you had a chiropractor check him?
The OP may ought to ask this question on the health forum, in case this may be a physical problem?
Jane Savoie has a great video and I can’t find it right now!!! Boo!!! http://www.janesavoie.com/help-stiff-horse-bend/ Here’s a good start but the video is super helpful.
I ride better tracking left and my horse is also left dominant, and I have actually used Jane’s method and am getting good results.
Basically, in my horse’s good direction (the one in which he bends easily, tracking left) I ride him counter-bent. In his bad direction, I do a 10 meter circle and try to maintain that bend as long as possible. It is very hard initially so I did a lot of it at the walk and built up to a trot, and added to the amount of time. Whenever he lost the bend or was really bulging against my aids, I’d do another 10m circle to re-establish the bend. I saw results after the first ride.
I did this without an instructor as well, but it can be very helpful to have eyes on the ground, or at least have someone video you so you can make sure you’re not contributing with bad posture habits. I definitely do.
I also do unmounted and in-hand work with my horse who is really one-sided. I like to long-line so I can ask for bend and counter bend without my weight on him, and I even do unmounted work just standing beside him, using the reins to get bend and to work on moving away from pressure. I do think that in-hand work can be very tricky though, timing is maybe even more important than when under saddle. But it has been very helpful.
I also do the hamstring stretch with this horse just about every ride or workout session as I noted he is extremely tight in his hamstrings. Every horse I’ve ever ridden has been better on one side, but this horse is the most one-sided I’ve ever ridden or seen.
If this only happens with a bit and does not happen in a halter or free lunging I would get an Xray of the head. I have a mare that went side sour slowly over two years and after countless tests we finally xrayed her teeth. low and behold she had a root cracked in half in the upper left. Her previous floats by the dentist all seemed to go well and never had a problem other than not wanting to canter right with a bit. X ray was only a few hundred but I wish I did that fist
Years ago, when my tb lost an eye, he became very one-sided since he naturally tended to move to the sighted side (right). It got to the point that his musculature was uneven and he began interfering severely behind. In his case, clearly knowing the cause, I started by longeing him only to the left, the week side, combined with in the saddle work to strengthen that weak side, including some hill work. It did take a good eight weeks to get him evened out, it’s not something you can rush when it’s a function of rebuilding muscle tone, but once I had him ‘evened out,’ the problem did not recur.
I would second “meatogre’s” Jane savoie’s article. If you are starting with a young horse it will be fixable fairly easily. If the horse is older it can become something of a constant challenge.
Just thought I’d update this quick. Thank you for the replies everyone. First in response to melhorse, I regularly ride him in a rope halter, side pull, snaffle, and a short shank myler depending on what we’re doing and how lazy I feel about putting a bridle on lol. He responds well to all of them (the snaffle being his least favorite because he prefers the myler mouthpiece and the snaffle is just a regular French link). Anyhow, we’ve been doing a LOT of work with poles since we’re trapped in the indoor for the foreseeable future. I often set up a set of 4 trot poles and/or a couple single canter poles spaced out and he’s getting better at being aware of his feet and picking up the correct lead on the lunge (again, he gets it right 99.99% under saddle). Something clicked in his brain and he’s finally been really r e a c h i n g down into the bit and working low and round. Not in a frame, and I don’t hold his head anywhere, just let him stretch as much as he wants and driving him with my seat. I’ve been working on shortening and lengthening his stride and lots of serpentines and leg yields. His trot is significantly more even than it was. His canter we are still working on. He wants to lean and stiffen in the corners sometimes and smaller circles to the right I still have to really set him up with my leg as well as direct and indirect reining but he’s getting better. I still plan on having the chiro out asap. I really want to get him reaching down and rounding at the canter now that he’s doing it so well at the trot. I think that would help a lot.
