I have an OTTB who is struggling to pick up the correct canter lead to the right. He works lovely on the bit and has beautiful flex on the right rein but as soon as you ask for the canter he either immediately picks up the left lead or just runs in the trot. Have tried various tricks but any ones you may know are welcomed greatly! When I got him he physcially didn’t know how to pick up the right lead canter. He gets it right about every 1 in 10 tries and no one way of asking seems to work consecutively.
[Side note: he has recently been seen by the chiropractor, saddle is custom made and molds to the shape of his back even if he changes, teeth are fine and he loves the bit he has(softest/thinnest rubber you can find). I too have been to see the chiropractor and oesteopath and have had other riders try out the canter to see if they can suss it out]
A lot of people seem to think OTTBs don’t canter on both leads, but they do! 
In myself, I’ve always found that if I have an issue getting a lead (particularly on my OTTBs), that I’m not keeping my inside seat bone truly forward in the moment of the transition. Inside seat bone/hip positioned forward, outside shoulder slightly back. And exaggerate if my horse isn’t reading my aids correctly, refining as they get it. So maybe try exaggerating your body positioning.
Things Take Time Start teaching this on the lead the horse prefers.
Teach horse to leg yield Ride FWD as you finish LY do that a few times then use canter aids as previous poster suggested–you might want to add some vocal encouragement-- once you get canter right keep going in a light seat much praise. It takes time to change the muscle memory and remember Allow OTTB to GO many understand voice commands better than Leg or rein,
I approached it from a standpoint of both strength and just not being used to using the left hind for pushing off to the canter. For the strength, I used shoulder-fore and haunches-in to get him used to weighting his left hind leg. To increase his odds of understanding which leg I wanted for the depart, I used leg yield before asking for the canter depart to set him up for success. Worked great.
Thank youu, I will try all these out. His left canter he pretty much picks up straight away but will try the lateral work before asking for the transition.
Something to add, he will happily do flying changes to both directions. He’s an odd ball
Not uncommon at all. First, does he lunge at the canter on both leads? Is there a difference in his way of going on the lunge line in either direction? I would start there for strength building and doing multiple prompt upward transitions to get him strong and comfortable.
Then I would pick up his good lead and establish a nice forward canter. In the canter come across the diagonal as far as you can and as close to the corner as you can, simple change to a trot, leg yield over into corner, finish changing bend, and pick up the bad lead.
The momentum of the canter helps get the horse in the right mindset.
The leg yield helps set the horse onto the new bend without drama.
The corner helps force the new lead without physical force. He’s faced with a very awkward transition to his good lead or a simple non thinking transition to his bad lead.
As few trot steps as possible so the horse doesn’t think about the upward transition. If you’re pretty sure you’re going to hit the way before making the transition you’re far enough. If you have time to organize the trot across the diagonal you’re too far away and he has too much time to think about what he’s doing and consider evasions to avoid his bad lead.
You want to do it fast and smooth so he doesn’t even know he’s picking up his bad lead. Surprise! Good boy!
Do this consistently over and over for as long as it takes until the simple change on the new lead is comfortable and the canter under saddle is comfortable.
When that happens do your simple change in the corner, canter a few laps on the bad lead, transition to a trot on the long side, pick up the bad lead again in the corner. After that you can slowly weed out the corner change. It has never ever failed to work for me.
For an anxious horse for me I have found that fussing with shoulder fore and haunches in gets them really worked up because they know that you are trying to trick them and you have to get handsy to avoid the horse pretzel to avoid the correct bend. The dirty corner change gets it done without fuss.
As others have noted, this is about both strength and straightness. I find the LY to canter set up helpful for many horses, but not all.
[QUOTE=Lucy_Lunt;8561485]
IHe works lovely on the bit and has beautiful flex on the right rein but as soon as you ask for the canter he either immediately picks up the left lead or just runs in the trot. [/QUOTE]
In case I am picking up on something in this description, is it possible he is overflexed to the right? (esp. if the right is his “soft” side) It may be that you need to prepare with more straightening, which might feel like 1 .counter flex/counter shoulder (for a stride or several strides) 2. to release to straight (initially just a stride, esp if that straightness feels “new”)and 3. to canter right.
Forcing a canter lead generally produces front to back departures. The change of lead should be back to front. I believe the primary issues is strength, and at this point, it would be detrimental to force the lead IMO.
If the canter is not solid on both leads, the flying change should not be attempted.
Also, I would not drill changes. It can create anticipation, tension and frustration. Tension must be avoided when asking for changes.
Some suggestions:
Strengthen the hind end. If it is a left hind weakness issue, lateral work (such as shoulder in on the left rein) will increase the strength in the hind end. Be careful not to shoulder in too steeply as it will actually disengage the hind end. Hacking, hill work, cavaletti, backing, etc will all help improve the gaits.
Suppleness. Track horses are generally unsupple and it is not uncommon for them to favor a lead. I think it’s great that you are doing chiro work. Stretch him side to side on the ground and under saddle. Each lead creates a contraction of muscles on one side and a lengthening of muscles on the opposite side. He is likely stiff on his left side.
Counter-canter: Counter-canter strengthens the canter and develops balance. You can counter-canter a horse until he begins to “beg” for a change in lead. This would then encourage picking up the right lead having counter cantered on the left lead. It is beneficial to work the easier lead before asking for the difficult lead.
Sometimes it takes asking for that lead several times, and then once you have it, keep it, develop it, and strengthen the horse. He will then improve over time. Make sure your aids and seat are on point. Ensure that you have a clear distinction in your aids between a left lead and right lead.
[QUOTE=Lucy_Lunt;8562122]
Thank youu, I will try all these out. His left canter he pretty much picks up straight away but will try the lateral work before asking for the transition.
Something to add, he will happily do flying changes to both directions. He’s an odd ball[/QUOTE]
One would suspect that the flying changes would be the result of the combination of an unbalanced horse, and an abrupt change of direction. Correct flying changes come from the use of the riders legs an seat.
As far as longeing on the R rein at the canter, I have seen horses put on the longe and cantered down to less then a 10 m circle, who still did not change, no matter how long on the longe.
I have seen some that will change over a 2 foot jump, however in order to accomplish that the rider must be quick enough to change aids if any learning is to occur. I have also found it useful to wait until the horse was capable of S/I, and then asking when headed into a corner on the right rein.
All of this takes time and patience, there are no quick fixes.
IME, the horses that I’ve worked with that have had difficulty picking up a lead (OTTBs and a cute little QH mare) were actually holding their hip in the lead that they were picking up. Canter is on a bias, so in order for the horse to pick up a R lead canter, the horse’s hips also need to be positioned in right lead canter - which is why a soft bend to the inside is necessary.
When you ask for the canter, the horse has to keep the inside bend so that the hips of the horse are set for the correct canter lead. A lot of times, a horse will quickly switch the bend - the inside rib cage will come against the rider’s leg, and while they may or may not stay soft on the inside rein, the horse’s hips become positioned for the wrong lead. They are basically in renvers at that moment - which prevents them from picking up the right lead.
My fix for that is to make sure that the horse can pick up both leads on the longe. If they can’t, I work through the canter on the longe - and aim the lash right at the flank of the horse as I ask so that the horse contracts that side - putting the hips in the proper canter position.
If the horse can pick up both leads on the longe reliably, I use a 20 meter circle, leg yield out of the circle and ask as I’m coming up to the corner - really pushing the horse over with my inside leg so that the horse stays in position and connected on the outside rein and can’t stiffen on the inside. If the horse picks up the wrong lead, I softly bring them back and repeat. I don’t drill transitions, if the horse picks it up, I keep them in canter for a bit to gain strength.
A strong preference for one lead can mean it’s uncomfortable to use the other. If he usually uses the left lead at liberty, check to make sure the left hock isn’t an issue.
I will try all of these, thank you! To those asking about on the lunge he does not canter to the right on the lunge. When I ask for the flying changes I ask by coming down the long diagonal and changing the bend and changing the inside leg however this does not work when I ask for the canter straight from the trot. He does have some old racing injuries and damage to the left hock may have been one of them, I will check with the race trainer.
