wishes4kissez - 2015-12-06 6:14 PM A friend asked me to put some rides on his two geldings over the winter. One of them had absolutely no clue how to lope under saddle or on a line. I'm pretty sure no one had ever asked him lol. After a few weeks and some great cardio workouts trying to push him into a lope he has the cue down but in one direction he always has the correct lead and in the other always the wrong. Even on the lounge line he picks the wrong lead! Never have seen a horse do that before. I have tried everything I can think of to help him, shaping him, bending to the outside, small circles etc I just can't get him to switch or pick th correct lead. Sometimes he feels like he's going to but will hesitate and then pick up the wrong lead. He's been under saddle for many years but never any formal training. I asked a trainer friend and she suggested holding him in a small tight circle and pushing or even tapping with a whip till he changes but he's unbalanced, awkward and I am just not sure that's a fair way to do it and I am a little afraid he will either fall or buck. He's trying to be good he just doesn't seem to know much. He's started tossing his head pretty bad as well and I have the slightest rein pressure and light hands and I already had his teeth done. Only riding in a three peice snaffle. Suggestions?

Fairweather - 2015-12-06 5:57 PM

Chriro is a good idea - he's probably out of whack anyhow from taking one lead all these years and he's over developed on one side.

A few things I do with one like that.....to set them up, I just barely want to see the inside eye. If you really crank them to the inside, it actually pushes their shoulders to the outside and they'll pop a shoulder and take the wrong lead every time. So I don't want a whole lot of bend to the inside - just enough to suggest we're going in that direction. 

Reins, I block with the outside rein and keep it close to the neck. Inside rein, I open my hand away from the neck to give them somewhere to go.

Outside leg back, inside calf off completely but pushing with the thigh. 

As far as sitting, depends on the horse. Leads do start at the hip and you can sit harder to the outside to help push that hip to the inside however some horses will naturally come underneath you in an attempt to balance instead of moving away. If that's the case if you sit slightly heavier in the direction you want to go, they'll automatically take the lead in that direction.

Doing a good bit of lateral work from the ground and under saddle asking the hip to move over and still move forward will help tremendously. It loosens them up, gets them lighter, and it helps them feel & understand what they need to do for that lead. 

When they finally take the correct lead, I stop them before they get a chance to stop on their own and I get off and loosen the cinch right then and quit for the day. I will do that the first few rides and then I'll keep the strides short for a while to help build some stamina and confidence.