Correct lead...My horse is dumb

[Nynx]

After two years of riding my horse, I come to learn he is left handed and only left handed. He will only carry a left lead at a lope/canter.

Now you ask, how did you never notice this before (, stupid)? Well, he is mighty comfy to ride in a lope wrong lead or not. If it should feel funny, but it doesn't probably because hes so used to doing it that way and he's all muscled up for it.

After a super frustrating ride, I now come to you, Horsetopia, for advice. What would you do to fix a horse that don't wanna lope on the right lead (clockwise)? He'll can do it in general, I round penned him and he CAN do it, I just need to retrain him.

Unfortunatly, I cannot really tell what lead he is on even when I look down to see which leg is going out more so I am going to work on this when my sister is out to holler directions at me.

If it were up to me I probably would just leave him to lope wrong as its still comfortable for me, but he's my sisters horse and she wants him to be bettered, she just doens't want to do it herself.

And, I was wondering if anyone thought a chiropractor would help at all. I've been trying to track one down anyways but thought I'd get an opinion anyways...

Thanks in advance

[Red Gate Farm]

Smaller circles will force him to take the correct lead or fall over. The horse will choose to take the right lead, rather than lose his footing Humans is sneaky!

Glance down at the shoulders while loping. The shoulder and leg moves together, so if you can tell a right lead from a left lead, you know which shoulder you should see leading. Double check with your spotter until you are confident you can tell, at a glance, which shoulder is leading

Remember to only glance. If you keep looking at the shoulder, you're not looking where you're going.

[repetesis]

My first question is he an OTTB? They only ever learn to use their left lead. And my girlfriend that raises TB's said they are sometimes hard to retrain. She and her daughter start a lot of colts for the track and they teach them left and right leads. Just in case they don't make it running. The other thing is if some one left handed trained him that can make a difference.
I would do as RGF said and start in small (10 meter) right hand circles. Balance him with your left rein and lift your inside right rein slightly, and at the same time use you seat and legs. Put your left leg slightly behind the girth/cinch and keep your right leg on the girth/cinch and push him forward in a circle. All of this said, I am asuming he canters off your leg? This usually works for me. Maybe someone else has a better idea. Good luck on your horse.

[shorty45177]

Start in a round pen. Bend his head so that you can see his right eye slightly. Do not overbend. Use your right leg behind the cinch (maybe try a humane spur too) to pushing his rib cage to the outside. This will put him on a correct bend. When you feel his weight shift, cue him with your left leg to lope. If he doesn't pick it up, stop try again and this time after you get the bend, lean slightly to the inside. You should really work on it on the ground first, and not just in a round pen as sometimes they rely on the round pen. He should be able to do it on a long lounge line. Then saddle him make him do it on the lounge line. Still no success? Line drive him and teach him to bend correctly from the ground first. Then move to the round pen. If he has mastered all this, then he should be able to do it with you on his back.

[JoAnne]

A way to "trick" them into the correct lead, ( it can be done in western saddle too, as the jump will be real small) first, train him to jump a small cross rail, just high to make him break into a canter after you trot up to it ( about a foot and a half high in middle) Trot to it, the horse will naturally break into a canter stride when landing. After he is good at it, set the jump up so that you are on a circle to the right, trot to it, the circular bend and your looking to the right on landing should make him land on the correct (right) lead. When he lands on that lead, praise him, encourage him to canter on, round and round till he gets strong and confident on it.

After a few weeks, remove jump and circling to the right, try asking for the canter in the same place the jump was, as he will connect going into the lead at that spot. Then, you can "graduate" to asking for it in different places. hope this helps!

[Nynx]

Thanks for all the replies!

To repetesis, no he is not an OTTB. He's a silly QH. At least he would have an excuse then, lol.

I will not use spurs on him, humane or not, because he reacts strongly to leg cues. A light squeeze will sometimes set him off to "missfiring" or doing some weird version of foxtrotting with no foxtrotter blood in him. I am not against spurs at all, I use them on the other horse I ride, I just don't want to surprise him and end up in the next county.

I am doing the leg cues right like Shorty said, as I way instructed by my sister. I am just frustrated, but my sister said it's like trying to get a right handed person writing well with their left hand. It's not gonna happen in one day, so I just need to be PATIENT. I am not so good at being patient...

And thanks JoAnne, I had thought of the jumping idea but thought it was a little hairbrained because I ride Western, but I can always give it a shot, right?

If anyone has any more ideas, let em loose! I appreciate everyone's input!

[JoAnne]

I have seen people do low jumps western, perhaps shorten the stirrups, if he overjumps grab some mane! the important thing is not to grab their mouth. read up on it, before you jump, get him used to trotting over ground poles first.

Some people like to place a ground before the cross rail to steady the stride. He might just trot over the cross rail when it is low, don't punish him for that, just raise it high enough to force him to hop or jump it, at which point he will land in the canter stride ( hopefully on the lead of the circle direction)

First jump him on a straight line a few sessions till he is calm and liking it, then introduce the circle to get the lead ( not such a small circle that will unbalance him.)

[Kristen]

Definitely get a chiropractor to look at him. If he is capable of picking up the lead in the round pen, then something could be sore in his back once you are on him.

You don't necessarily have to use a jump to get him to pick it up. Even just a long pole on the ground, trot up to it and as you approach ask for the right lead and when he is about to go over the pole, get him to lope. It's a lot easier than it sounds. This will keep his body (and yours) straight and it should be easier to pick up the lead. SOmetimes if you're overcueing him and falling into the circle (unintentionally) your horse won't pick up the lead.

Good luck!

[ruffian]

All the suggestions are great, esp Kristen, your body balance is so important, if you are leaning into the circle or even forward, it throws your weight onto his forehand which makes it harder to get either lead, esp a tough one. Think of sitting straight with weight on your outside seatbone (right lead, left seatbone) so that you help him find balance. I find lifting the inside rein a little helps me with this concept.
It could be a physical thing with him, even though he can do it without a rider, He may have back issues, or not enough power through the left hind to push into the right lead. Watch him closely when lunging and when he's being ridden to see if there is a difference in the way he moves on each side.
I would try any and all of the above suggestions, just keep in mind, it may take a while. When I have a horse that I know can do both leads and he won't take one, I counter canter (bend to the outside/wrong lead but keep him on the cirle going the other way. This is hard work and they often switch just to get a break.

[Perrys_mama]

Someone might have already suggested this, but start the lope from tight in the corners, and make sure that you're asking at the right time. I forget which time that is (back foot forward???) and when you ask, use your crop or reins to indicate which leg you want him to use by tapping.

Thankfully Spook learned her leads all ready...and I don't think Perry can actually get his slow self up to a lope

[miss leanne]

A lot of times, a horse will develop muscling for only one lead and will favor that lead every time he's at a canter. I'd recommend longing him on his 'off' side to develop the muscles it takes before asking him repeatedly under saddle (which can throw him off balance) to take his off lead. Make sure that he's not longed too hard, and that you always have proper leg protection on him.

[calicocalgirl]

One of the kids I worked with had a horse that took the right lead (not the left lead) all the time and had gotten so used to going wrong she was very hard to change. I would go with the longing or round penning especially if you dont really know your leads. By the time you ask her and throw her off balance if you have to really look she could have gone a good bit before you get to fix her. If you can see it on the ground work her on the ground so she doesn't have to balance you.

[SunnyKS]

Are you showing him at horse shows? If your not then (okay this is going to sound stupid but) why do you need the other lead? If you're not showing him and he's a comfy ride on a counter canter then who cares!

I ask because my friend bought a horse a few years ago that had been a well-known walk-trot horse but they don't show. Turns out the reason why he was a walk-trot horse is because he never look his right lead. She sunk tons of money into ruling out medical problems, hours in the arena trying to fix it, $400 at two different trainers and he still won't take it. I finally asked her the "why" question. After she sat there for a few minutes pondering she about smacked me and started yelling at me for not pointing out sooner that they didn't show so who cares!

Just a thought....

[cleo-bo-beo]

I used to ride a QH that wouldn't pick up his right lead; he knew how to do it, but he'd throw a fit if you asked him. Only his owner could canter him on that lead...but he was always a really strange horse.

[miss leanne]

Not to be rude, but it very much DOES matter if a horse won't pick up both leads. A horse that doesn't pick up both leads is OFF BALANCE and a horse that is off balance is prone to falling. And a horse that is prone to falling is dangerous. That's just my opinion.

There are many many ways to get a horse to pick up leads. Roundpenning works WONDERS for it, though it can tend to make a horse hot if done incorrectly.

I'd get him going on the off lead and press him until he switches leads. When he goes to the right lead, keep him on it for a few strides and then reward him. Then try again. He'll get the picture sooner or later. Don't forget to work him both directions, but concentrate on the off one for sure.

Again, good luck and like I said there are more ways than this to get a horse to pick up it's leads, I'd just start on the ground first and work up to doing it in the saddle, especially if you're not clear on what the correct lead looks and feels like from his back.

[Faceman]

Well, just remember it could be a lot worse.

Casper's idea of changing leads is when he wakes up long enough to shift his weight. He does it about every 30 minutes so he won't get all bulked up on one side...

[miss leanne]

Originally Posted by cleo-bo-beo

I used to ride a QH that wouldn't pick up his right lead; he knew how to do it, but he'd throw a fit if you asked him. Only his owner could canter him on that lead...but he was always a really strange horse.

I used to ride a horse that wouldn't pick up his left lead. He had a club foot on that side, I think he was chronically sore on that side. He would do it, and then switch right back.

Nynx, have you checked for any lameness on his off side? Shoulder soreness, back soreness, even neck soreness, can cause problems like that, not just leg problems.

[SunnyKS]

[quote="miss leanne"]Not to be rude, but it very much DOES matter if a horse won't pick up both leads. A horse that doesn't pick up both leads is OFF BALANCE and a horse that is off balance is prone to falling. And a horse that is prone to falling is dangerous. That's just my opinion. /quote]

I guess what I'm looking at is the difference between can't and won't. I would agree that if for some medical reason he can't pick up his lead he might get himself out of balance and fall. But if he can pick it up in the pasture on his own and just doesn't do it on command then I can't see him letting himself get unbalanced.

Depends on what your doing. If you're just cantoring in a straight line once in a while or easy trail riding he should pick up what he feels is best. At that point you have to decide if it bugs you. If it does then try and fix it. If it's just something you noticed or someone pointed out but doesn't really bother you then I really don't think it needs fixed. If you're barrell racing or pole bending well then heck yeah he needs to be able to switch leads.

Have you watched him in the pasture to see if he can take it on his own?

[Smilie]

Hi
Well, some things seem very ovious to me. If you do not know which lead the horse is on, I strongly suspect that nether you or the horse knows the corrrect cues to set a horse up to take the correct lead
The horse was probably never taught to take requested leads, so has developed a favorite one for travelling on, making the re-training a bit more difficult than teaching a colt correctly in the first place.
Yes, rule out a physical problem first, then set about doing suppling and body control excercises that set a horse up to take the correct lead, not by tricks like poles or unbalancing him in a turn where he must take it or fall down,but by body position which makes it easy to pick up the correct lead anywhere and any time. The horse becomes dead leaded.
Basics you need
collection
hip control
shoulder control
Until a horse learns to pick up the correct lead by seat and leg alone, you will need to be able to hold him with rein pressure, having him give at the poll and drive into the lead from behind, not out of foreward momentum, thrown away
The hip is moved into the direction of the desired lead by outside leg, inside shoulder is kept elevated by inside rein with nose slightly in the direction of the lead, if in a circle. You then ask for the lead departure without letting the horse trot faster into it, but by stepping under himself and driving foreward. Your own weight is shifted to your outside seat bone, un weighting the inside shoulder-making it easy to pick up that lead
The horse is not dumb-just never taught correct body position for lead departures, therefore communication is lacking

[Nynx]

Thanks again for all the replies everybody!

To anybody who inquired, no we don't show, I've never even trail ridden him. We are arena bound. Lucky for me my horse doesn't find the arena boring but I sorta do. We might even get out and hit the trails this summer if we don't all melt first.

The horses I ride are my sisters and she knew he had this lead problem but never got around to fixing it. Now her mare just had a baby and she most certainly does not have time for him.

And yes, I did ask if it matters if he's on the right lead or not because he's a do-nothing sort of horse( and I was hoping it didn't matter), but she said she wants him to do stuff the right way, just like she wants me to take lessons so I learn the right way. Just because you don't show doesn't mean you can do whatever because it "works" as in you don't hurt yourself or the horse. I wish it did because I ain't made of money and lessons cost some!

I am positive I need to go back a few steps in his training. He and I need to brush up on some stuff I take for granted and I will definitly look back on this post and write down the tips I've gotten.

And as a note, he can lope on the correct lead both ways with a saddle on in the round pen and with me on him, I think he's just so used to doing it one way that he's unbalanced on one side and needs muscling on the other to get him to where he can go both ways comfortably.

My sister's riding instructor has agreed to come out to our barn now and then to give me lessons on my "own" horse which is a fantastic opportunity, but it will probably kill my self esteem. Up until now I have been riding the "I don't fall off THAT often" way.

BUT if anyone read I did mention I wanted a chiropractor to pop him back into place but have been having a hard time finding one. If anyone knows of a horse chiropractor in the San Antonio or Austen Texas area, lemme know please.