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| My mare and I have always "argued" over left circles. She likes to drop her shoulder and stiffen her neck and root out against the bit. I'm about to try a draw bit I spoke to the bit maker about who basically said as far as a gentle bit that helps with suppleness- this one will do it if it's an issue a bit can solve.
I'm also about to start riding for a few weeks (1-2 days a week), with a professional barrel horse breeder/trainer here locally so I'm sure she can help.
Mare isn't sore, recently adjusted (didn't need adjusting anywhere except her pelvis), doesn't need injecting and isn't sore. I honestly think it's just a bad foundational habit. She'll make the PRETTIEST right circles and I spiral in for slow work and the right is perfect, so I do a ton more work on the left, because she just gets so far ahead of me that we either do big left circles with a straight neck or I try to get her nose and she sits and turns on me. AND she is always in a hurry to the left. No smooth low-headed circles like the right. Our only "problem barrel" is the second because I find myself lifting her with my hand because otherwise we'd rake it over- she just sits, stiffens up and spins back with no suppleness or bend. Aside from general circles, walking, trotting, etc. to the left with her in the correct position, any other tips or thoughts? I have videos I can text of runs so you can see what I mean at the second, but I can't upload them because I'm apparently tech stupid on BHW. Lol
It almost "feels" like and I initially thought, "she must be sore," the way she stiffens, but I've had her checked by farrier, vet, & Chiro- it's just a body position habit I guess.
I'm hoping our upcoming troubleshooting lessons will help! |
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Veteran
Posts: 119
Location: NeverLand | Maybe find a professional upper level dressage trainer in your area. May sound crazy but I had a friend that had an identical problem you are having but to the right side. spent a week or two with a upper level dressage trainer and got the problem fixed and they have never looked better... |
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Regular
Posts: 65
| FearTheBigGrayHorse - 2017-06-19 6:10 PM
Maybe find a professional upper level dressage trainer in your area. May sound crazy but I had a friend that had an identical problem you are having but to the right side. spent a week or two with a upper level dressage trainer and got the problem fixed and they have never looked better...
That actually makes a lot of sense! The lady I'm going to ride with is an amazing horseman (horsewoman? Lol) so I'll see if she can get it sorted out and if not I'll start looking around for that! |
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Veteran
Posts: 233
| FearTheBigGrayHorse - 2017-06-19 5:10 PM
Maybe find a professional upper level dressage trainer in your area. May sound crazy but I had a friend that had an identical problem you are having but to the right side. spent a week or two with a upper level dressage trainer and got the problem fixed and they have never looked better...
I'm going to second this. Having ridden upper level dressage horses, there's no difference in 90% of your foundational work. . . Except a barrel pony can cut'n' turn to make a dressage horse cry. |
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Elite Veteran
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Location: Mountains of VA | Horses are naturally right sided or left sided...........your horse needs to be going left to the first barrel. The problem IMO is in her right stifle. It is probably stiff/weak plus she is right sided. I agree with other posters, working with a dressage trainer will greatly improve you and your mare. Work on balance in both directions, hind quarters in, using your left leg to help her bend around going left and your right leg to help her get her hindquarters in. It is extremely hard to get horses to travel the same on both sides. |
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Location: South Dakota | Are her shoulders level? If you stand on a chair behind her and look towards her head, is there a bulge on one shoulder, with the other being flatter? Is one front foot noticeably bigger than the other? Hi/Low Syndrome will cause some of issues you are experiencing. My mare has Hi/Low, and struggles with left turns, and finds right turns much easier, but she will float out. I spent a small fortune on bits, and tried different styles of working her, and finally figured out, it was a physical issue...You mention she is in a hurry to the left, and they will do that if they are unbalanced. A good farrier can help if the condition isn't too bad...hope you get things figured out. It is so frustrating. |
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Regular
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| hotpaints - 2017-06-19 8:24 PM
Horses are naturally right sided or left sided...........your horse needs to be going left to the first barrel. The problem IMO is in her right stifle. It is probably stiff/weak plus she is right sided. I agree with other posters, working with a dressage trainer will greatly improve you and your mare. Work on balance in both directions, hind quarters in, using your left leg to help her bend around going left and your right leg to help her get her hindquarters in. It is extremely hard to get horses to travel the same on both sides.
I have had her joints checked and maintained so I don't think it's a stifle issue but I will have the vet specifically check again, Thank you. I don't want her to be in any discomfort so this is step one in my book. |
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Regular
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| ridejg - 2017-06-19 8:40 PM
Are her shoulders level? If you stand on a chair behind her and look towards her head, is there a bulge on one shoulder, with the other being flatter? Is one front foot noticeably bigger than the other? Hi/Low Syndrome will cause some of issues you are experiencing. My mare has Hi/Low, and struggles with left turns, and finds right turns much easier, but she will float out. I spent a small fortune on bits, and tried different styles of working her, and finally figured out, it was a physical issue...You mention she is in a hurry to the left, and they will do that if they are unbalanced. A good farrier can help if the condition isn't too bad...hope you get things figured out. It is so frustrating.
You know, I haven't set up a chair behind her but I will in the morning! Thank you! |
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 382
| My mare will do this when she feels like it LOL! Super bendy horse but she will do what you are describing minus the neck. Breaking at the poll and one rein stop type exercises along with lessons from an eventing now barrel trainer helped me.
Your barrel trainer/breeder
Dressage trainer/rider
Breaking at the poll
Breaking to the sides and one rein stops
Edited by barrelracer63046304 2017-06-20 9:44 AM
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 Gotta Have a Gray
Posts: 899
Location: Tex. Panhandle | Find a barrel, a bush a cone .... i dont care. Start with a walk or a trot if you can. Keep a slightly bigger circle, 5-7 feet from the object and keep is consistent all the way around. The horses nose should be slightly tipped in (enough to see the corner of the eye) and the rib cage should be bent. The horse should actually be reaching across with its inside hind leg, keeping its hip under it. It might take 3 circles, it might take 13 ( or more) but you keep working under the horses body is soft and its circles are even then you aloow for a closer, tighter cirlce at the very end .....like turning a barrel. However much you work to the right, do twice as much to the left. I've had days where this is ALL ive worked on. Using any object to make sure they listen. Sometimes we get it right off and others it takes a little longer when we first started working on this. Once you have it at a slower pace, then move up to a lope. We worked on this drill at a clinic with sev NFR girls and it made a world of difference in my younger mare that came to me stiffer to the right. We still warm up this way when we can!! |
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Regular
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| barrelracer63046304 - 2017-06-20 10:42 AM
My mare will do this when she feels like it LOL! Super bendy horse but she will do what you are describing minus the neck. Breaking at the poll and one rein stop type exercises along with lessons from an eventing now barrel trainer helped me.
Your barrel trainer/breeder
Dressage trainer/rider
Breaking at the poll
Breaking to the sides and one rein stops
I really think it's just her "feeling like it" too lol! She'll break at the poll beautifully, her neck bends but when it does she FOLLOWS her nose. Quickly. Lol she just gets stiff as a board. I tried to upload a video to YouTube where you can really see it (it was a messy first run back for both of us from a lot of time off, but you can really see it, she raises her head and keeps that neck so straight ??) but it's not working for me lol
It almost looks like it hurts her to Ben her neck left, like she's sore but we stretch, flex, walk tight bent circles FINE. So frustrating. Definitely going to find someone who knows more about fine tuning and has more experience with different things than me! I haven't tried one rein stops. How should I do that, correctly?
Thanks so much! |
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| Rough-up cowgirl - 2017-06-20 10:02 PM
Find a barrel, a bush a cone .... i dont care. Start with a walk or a trot if you can. Keep a slightly bigger circle, 5-7 feet from the object and keep is consistent all the way around. The horses nose should be slightly tipped in (enough to see the corner of the eye) and the rib cage should be bent. The horse should actually be reaching across with its inside hind leg, keeping its hip under it. It might take 3 circles, it might take 13 ( or more) but you keep working under the horses body is soft and its circles are even then you aloow for a closer, tighter cirlce at the very end .....like turning a barrel. However much you work to the right, do twice as much to the left. I've had days where this is ALL ive worked on. Using any object to make sure they listen. Sometimes we get it right off and others it takes a little longer when we first started working on this. Once you have it at a slower pace, then move up to a lope. We worked on this drill at a clinic with sev NFR girls and it made a world of difference in my younger mare that came to me stiffer to the right. We still warm up this way when we can!!
I was also shown this exercise at a clinic and it works! You're right- sometimes she just nails it and sometimes we're dizzy from all the circles it took haha. I can usually get her to respond somewhat to this drill but every now and then she'll run back to tight on me. So so turny. Ok, I'll do this more! I feel like when we do this vs when I'm asking for nice supple warm up circles it's a different horse and all is forgotten ?? Definitely worth trying consistently though! Thanks! |
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Expert
Posts: 1599
| rae2 - 2017-06-22 10:41 AM Rough-up cowgirl - 2017-06-20 10:02 PM Find a barrel, a bush a cone .... i dont care. Start with a walk or a trot if you can. Keep a slightly bigger circle, 5-7 feet from the object and keep is consistent all the way around. The horses nose should be slightly tipped in (enough to see the corner of the eye) and the rib cage should be bent. The horse should actually be reaching across with its inside hind leg, keeping its hip under it. It might take 3 circles, it might take 13 ( or more) but you keep working under the horses body is soft and its circles are even then you aloow for a closer, tighter cirlce at the very end .....like turning a barrel. However much you work to the right, do twice as much to the left. I've had days where this is ALL ive worked on. Using any object to make sure they listen. Sometimes we get it right off and others it takes a little longer when we first started working on this. Once you have it at a slower pace, then move up to a lope. We worked on this drill at a clinic with sev NFR girls and it made a world of difference in my younger mare that came to me stiffer to the right. We still warm up this way when we can!! I was also shown this exercise at a clinic and it works! You're right- sometimes she just nails it and sometimes we're dizzy from all the circles it took haha. I can usually get her to respond somewhat to this drill but every now and then she'll run back to tight on me. So so turny. Ok, I'll do this more! I feel like when we do this vs when I'm asking for nice supple warm up circles it's a different horse and all is forgotten ?? Definitely worth trying consistently though! Thanks!
Not to hijack the thread, but what do you do when you have this mastered at walk/trot, and it all goes to h&LL at a lope? Finished better last night, but it was not fun getting there! Hotter mare, rode in twisted snaffle with martingale. |
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Gotta Have a Gray
Posts: 899
Location: Tex. Panhandle | If she goes in to tight, counter arc her off of it and go right back to it till she listens to YOU. I have one that is very turney also and when I felt like she was pushing to get closer I'd either couter arc her off or using my inside leg, push her out to an even bigger circle. Thats the first thing we do when we warm up! I want her to bend and shape for me as soon as I touch the rein and give pressue with a leg. How long we work on it depends on how quickly she softens (and stays soft) we might go on to soemthing completely different but the moment she gets stiff we go back to working. Mine is really bad about wanting to get stiff going to the 1st. She was allowed to do it bf I bought her w the trainer she was with and she still has brain farts ...... but we are getting there. Seems like it takes so much longer to correct something then it does to just do it right while training them. |
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Gotta Have a Gray
Posts: 899
Location: Tex. Panhandle | If it were mine, I'd slow them back down to a trot for a few circles and make sure they really do have it correct slow. Then keep working at it on the lope. You might not get it perfect for sev days (or longer) but always finish with them making progress and with something YOU are happy with. When I first started, mine might do 2 barrels left great but when I got to that 3rd it fell apart. I just kept working at it till the last one was better then when we started it. You will NOT blow a horse up or ruin one with this. It's meant to make them think (not just lope circles) is the head tipped, are they lifting up in the shoulder and bent in the ribs, is the hindend up under and driving. This accomplishes alot. We worked 2 weeks on this (sometimes thats ALL we did) before mine were doing it right as soon as we started it. One picked it up alot faster. |
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Expert
Posts: 1599
| Rough-up cowgirl - 2017-06-22 1:50 PM If it were mine, I'd slow them back down to a trot for a few circles and make sure they really do have it correct slow. Then keep working at it on the lope. You might not get it perfect for sev days (or longer) but always finish with them making progress and with something YOU are happy with. When I first started, mine might do 2 barrels left great but when I got to that 3rd it fell apart. I just kept working at it till the last one was better then when we started it. You will NOT blow a horse up or ruin one with this. It's meant to make them think (not just lope circles) is the head tipped, are they lifting up in the shoulder and bent in the ribs, is the hindend up under and driving. This accomplishes alot. We worked 2 weeks on this (sometimes thats ALL we did) before mine were doing it right as soon as we started it. One picked it up alot faster.
Thank you! I switched to a lighter bit and kind pitched her away and rode a lot more with my body/legs. Changed EVERYTHING. I was riding her face to much and she was losing her hind end. We ended great last night! |
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Regular
Posts: 65
| Rough-up cowgirl - 2017-06-22 2:43 PM
If she goes in to tight, counter arc her off of it and go right back to it till she listens to YOU. I have one that is very turney also and when I felt like she was pushing to get closer I'd either couter arc her off or using my inside leg, push her out to an even bigger circle. Thats the first thing we do when we warm up! I want her to bend and shape for me as soon as I touch the rein and give pressue with a leg. How long we work on it depends on how quickly she softens (and stays soft) we might go on to soemthing completely different but the moment she gets stiff we go back to working. Mine is really bad about wanting to get stiff going to the 1st. She was allowed to do it bf I bought her w the trainer she was with and she still has brain farts ...... but we are getting there. Seems like it takes so much longer to correct something then it does to just do it right while training them.
I am about to sound like the world biggest idiot but I haven't even tried counter arcing and she's so eager to please I KNOW this is just a bad habit and that will probably be an awesome exercise ego help her listen. I'm going to have the trainer I ride with show me that specifically. She's HUGE on slow work so it should be good |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 585
Location: Texas | I would x-ray her neck. Neck problems are overlooked. |
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