[glideride]

Okay, I have my Arab doing very well counter clockwise on a circle at the trot...But, when we go clockwise he seems to want to drop his shoulder in as we bend around the circle and I am wondering what I am doing wrong or if it's possibly because he may be stiff on that side. He will straighten out just fine but when I use my outside leg a little behind the girth, and my inside leg at the girth, keep my outside rein as a supporting rein should I be pulling up on the inside rein to keep his shoulder from falling in???

[LindaMM]

Make sure you are not droping your own shoulder. First and foremost, our position affects the balance of ours horses underneath us.

[k212703899]

No I wouldn't be pulling with the inside rein. Think of it as 2 doors. The outside door / rein is shut.It doesn't move have steady contact. The the only options is because the horse has to go somewhere , is to open the inside door. Really really open towards the inside of the circle ,keep the inside rein open . May be give and take a little with the inside rein,slowly gently.And push with your inside leg .If you have to kind of tap tap him to let him know "hey my leg is here" let me know if that worked for you

[Outrider]

Originally Posted by glideride

Okay, I have my Arab doing very well counter clockwise on a circle at the trot...But, when we go clockwise he seems to want to drop his shoulder in as we bend around the circle and I am wondering what I am doing wrong or if it's possibly because he may be stiff on that side. He will straighten out just fine but when I use my outside leg a little behind the girth, and my inside leg at the girth, keep my outside rein as a supporting rein should I be pulling up on the inside rein to keep his shoulder from falling in???

Your horse is going crooked.

What is happening here is the outside hind leg is traveling outside the body of the horse and as a result is not in a support position. So now the inside hind leg is traveling inside the body outline to support himself. This imbalance throws the haunches out and forequarters in and the horse leans to the inside.

There are various lateral movements that will help to get the horse to bear more weight on the right hind leg such as shoulder in and leg yields and that way can be very effective.

There is also another route you can take. My premise in riding is to always position the horse to do what is asked of it and in the above scenario the aim is to get control of the hind legs getting each one to bear equal weight thus straightening them. You have two choices. Move the rear to match the front or move the front to match the rear. Both methods are viable and both methods will work.

So if by attempting to straightening the the horse by controlling the rear position to match the fore by driving forward to make the lazier outside leg work more is not satisfactory then you can opt for slowing the horse down and manipulate the horse's position so it is properly aligned. This is done with slower careful movements where you can have more control on where every foot is. You will work the horse both left and right in large turns and circles until both legs equally push off. Increase impulsion and speed and difficulty as the horse shows it is more capable of performing the required movements without over weighing one side to the other.

One of the biggest problems with most horses being unable to comply with the riders requests is the horse is traveling crooked and that will be compounded if the rider also sits crooked so look to yourself also. You could be making it difficult for your horse to go straight if you yourself have collapsed on that same side.

[horserider001]

I agree with outrider. Your horse is being lazy and not putting the effort to make a true bend. Do you wear spurs? It will help you get more respect of the leg aids. My horse first had this problem too, I went back to the basics to gain respect of my aids.

As you first posted you said you used the outside leg a little behind the girth and the inside leg at the girth...remember...this may be confusing your horse into asking for a canter so make sure to give solid and clear aids. Good luck!

[glideride]

Thanks so much for all the advice, I have vacation for the next week so this will give me something to work on. I will be sure to see that I am clear on the aids and that I am not doing something to cause this.