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Leads

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#1 ·
My pony WILL NOT pick up the right (literally the right) lead. He will pick up the left but not the right.

Seriously, the lady who owned him had a pony club THEY GOT RID OF HIM because they could not get him to pick up the right lead.

I'v had him check out, there is nothing physically wrong with him.

I'v tried everything.
 
#2 ·
will he do it on the lunge line? in the pasture? does he know he has a right front foot?

saddleseat trick (been very successful so far):

- take pony across the ring. as you are approaching the rail, turn his head to the railside, and cue with your leg while lifting in a bumping motion with left hand. don't quit until you have a canter. (cue from the walk)

hope this helps
 
#3 ·
there was a horse at my old barn that would not pick up his left lead to save his life....we managed to possibly get it twice but not for long.

Have you tried doing circles? And going smaller until he switches?
What about flying lead changes if he knows that...
How are you asking for the canter? If you ask in a certain way, how about trying different ways of asking to see if possibly he is getting cues confused.
That's all I can really think of....guess I wasn't too helpful
 
#6 ·
hmmmm....I really have no more suggestions, thankfully all the horse's I've ridden know their leads so I've never really had to work with a horse like that.
What about cantering figure eights? Stopping him in the middle to a trot, then ask again to pick up the new lead. That's my last idea
 
#8 ·
I'll try the saddleseat trick tonight actually. But no, he doesn't switch he just breaks. Alot. He hates to canter, its like almost too much of a hassle for him and he'd rather just trot. Seriosuly, it takes alot of effort for me to get him to canter in general even in an open field. I don't know why.
 
#11 ·
From all that has been said, it sounds like a physical issue to me. Have you had a chiropractor work on him? What about massage? That would be my first course of action. My warmblood could not pick up a correct lead when I first got him, not even when I free lunged him. I had the chiro. out and his back was really screwed up, which was my feeling. He's had a couple adjustments and now he's doing ten times better.

Also, I would have his teeth checked. But not by a vet. Nothing against vets but they have no idea what they are doing inside the mouth. They spend one to two days learning about the mouth and that's it. An equine dentist is better. One thing that could be going on is your pony may not have a lot of contact on his molars. For a horse to know where his body is in relation to time and space, his molars must have contact. About 70% of the horse's perception happens in the TMJ and if the molars don't have enough contact the horse won't be able to tell what his body is doing. My warmblood has this issue. He had been over floated so he doesn't have the molar contact he should and the dentist said he isn't surprised that his canter seems "off." In my words, it's like he doesn't know what his body is doing sometimes, like how he carries himself or the shape of his body. That's because his TMJ is off, but thankfully he's only 7 so this will change. The dentist told me that in 6 months I should see a big change. Your pony may have also been over floated, he may have bit seats, his incissor angle might be completely screwed up....so many things could be going on. But not every equine dentist is created equal. The guy we use is certified by Spencer LaFlure and is also an instructor of Spencer's. Spencer has a completely different way of doing teeth, starting with the incissors first and not the molars. This has made massive changes in all of our horses and all of our friend's horses who Mike (the dentist) has floated. No one else will ever float our horse's teeth. I would highly suggest getting one of Spencer's people out to look at your horse.
 
#12 ·
Sounds like nearly everything has been tried already with this boy- but have you tried leg yielding in trot for it?
IE: Trot on a 20m circle on the right rein, slowly bring it in to as small as he can handle comfortable (ie 10, 12m), then leg yield back out on to the larger circle. Do it a couple of times, then as you are leg yielding out, ask for the canter. He SHOULD pick it up on the right lead, as he's already bent around your inside leg. Then again, sounds as though he can pick up the left lead no matter what so may not be that simple! Give it a go though- was the only way I got my OTTB to pick up the right lead after always preferring the left.
It's going to feel tremendously unbalanced though!
 
#13 ·
Hmmm.

I had a pony like this... not quite as perisitent though!

You could try trotting him in the smallest circle he can maintain, then ask for the canter. the second he canter relaease the circle. If the circle is amll enough, it should be impossible, or at leats very very difficult for him to pick up the wrong lead. Make sure you open up the circle as soon as he picks up the correct lead, as he will be very unbalanced on it due to avoiding it for so long!

Another trick I used it to bend him around a pole/barrell at the trot, and halfway through the (tight) turn, ask for the canter. Again it works off the principle that on such a small circle and such exagerated inside flexion it should be near impossible for him to pick up the wrong lead. If he is lazy, maybe carry a whip to make sure ha takes the canter at the right point during the turn.

Another thing I make sure I do is only use my outisde leg to cue the canter... it makes it very clear to the horse which lead you are asking for... Eventually, anyway!

Hope this helps!
 
#14 ·
Well seeing that he just coliced about 3 hours ago and now i must stay up all night to watch him. I didn't get a chance to work with him. But im telling you, its nothing physical, we have had his teeth checked by a equine dentist. Seeing as it takes more then half the ring to get him to canter WITH pretty heavy duty spurs. I don't know what to do
 
#15 ·
Oh no is he okay? I hope he recovers... colic sucks...

I was just thinking of something else though- do you jump him, and if so, does he canter after the jumps usually? Could always try hooking a sharp right turn a few times after a jump and seeing if he picks up the lead that way!
 
#19 ·
i use to have the same problem with my horse believe it or not i did alot of trot work and got him really balanced dont ask for the canter until you can feel his hind end straight with his front end dont let him swing either one out to the inside or outside. maybe try spurs to make a very clear signal! dont give up it took me 2 years and i had my first hunter show the other day and we got all our leads and got grand champion in out division hard work always pays off oh and one other thing try lunging in side reins it works wonders to getting your horse balanced and working from behind! hope it helps keep us posted!
 
#21 ·
When he gets better I would stop trying to get the right lead but concentrate on having him listen more to your seat and legs.

Specific exercises that will both strengthen and make him more receptive to your individual legs are what is needed here.

Exercise one..... Shoulder in. This is to introduce the legs in controling his body position and where he places his legs.

Exercise two....Turn on the hind....or pirouette. This can be considered as the follow through to the shoulder in as you will allow him to turn farther around and allow you as the rider to "feel" where the horses legs are moving under you.

To attain the right lead I prefer to ask from the walk and not the trot as it often ends up as a running gait that becomes unbalanced and then ends up as an unbalanced canter.

To ask from the walk attempt this on the left lead so you understand the feel. On the turn on the hind you will in the beginning allow some enlarging of the turn on the hind legs so they actually do a very small circle ( 4-6 meters) and you will also allow some small lateral sideways movement. What is imparative is that you will be a left or right rider ( depending on the lead). This means you will sit more heavily on the side of the lead you wish. You will also ask with the heavier weighted inside hip,leg at the moment the the outside hind leg has moved over and about to land inward under the horse.

If you time your aids correctly you should get an instant canter and it is imperative you REMAIN weighted on the lead side. I would plan this last exercise in the middle of the arena to allow forward movement into the canter. The next step is to reverse and try with the right lead.
 
#23 ·
The shoulder in will get him more responsive. It will also allow you a chance to feel what he is doing with his legs.

To take the shoulder in ( maybe working on that movement a little more to the right) then that next step which is the pirouette which could be referred as a continuation of the shoulder in with a turn it will be from the change from one to the other ( or inbetween shoulder in/pirouette ) that you will attempt the canter.

The above movements not only help with correct leads they are used in the correction of many difficulties horses have in understanding what you want.
 
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