[ImaTopGun01]

Well, tonight i thought id practice a little horsemanship pattern. there were 3 cones; canter to cone b, figure 8,(sideways 8)change, trot to c then back..

Well, it was diasterous. We'd start to canter between A & B and then when we got to our figure eight, our left circle would be fine, but he RUSHED THROUGH the circle to the right... fats trotted it and cut half of it off. the trotting and backing were no problem. But we ended up doing it over 10 x Is there anything we can do to get our lead changes fast, and get our circle to the right like the left..slow, and relaxed??

[Doll-Face]

Sounds like ya got a lefty on your hands Is he hard to pick up his right lead? Does he canter better to the left in general? Prolly what you'll have to do is a lot of right lead canter work, gradually working in the smaller circles. Its harder for them to canter in a circle like would be in a typical pattern, so therefore he was trying to get it done as soon as possible!

Good luck!

[jackiesbabyjet]

Only way to get rid of your problems is to practice and practice...

[mihorsetrainer]

ok, try practicing figure eights and circles, what you can do is mark out your circles with cones, divide the circles in quarters, so that when you line up the cones they make an X in the middle, and you use those points in the circle to help you get them round, circles take alot of work to get right. after you set up a figure eight pattern each circle with the cones, you can practice circles and lead changes, but dont do one circle, switch leads, one circle, switch, over and over, it will get your horse anticipating a lead change at the end of every circle, instead do one circle switch, 3 circles switch, and so on, change it up, do 2 circles, then 1, then 4, then 3, etc. also you can practice lead changes in a straight line so your horse doesnt think he only does them in a circle.
hope i helped, if you have any more questions im happy to help.
Kelly

[alana529]

When you find a problem, stop doing the pattern. Get away from the cones and school that element until it's good, then maybe try it again, or do something else. Running thru patterns over and over is a really easy way to get your horse anticipating, and you don't want that. When you're practicing, you don't have to do the pattern straight thru- if he's not doing his circles the way you'd like, just practice that for a while. And make sure you don't get nervous and uptight, that will feed over to him. Hope that helped.

[AQHA Hunter]

I would break it down in to parts before trying to do the whole pattern at once. Now you know your weak spots, work on just doing slow, balanced circles both directions. Then, work on your lead changes while changing direction across the diagonal, or on a big figure 8. When you have those, add the lead change. If you still have problems, try trotting one half of the figure 8, then loping the second half (alternate between loping the first half and second half). Work on your horse's flexibility and lateral work to make sure he's responsive and supple enough to do what you're asking, too. You might try counter-canter on a big circle. I find that it works wonders for freeing up the shoulders and improving balance at the lope.

[ImaTopGun01]

Originally Posted by Doll-Face

Sounds like ya got a lefty on your hands Is he hard to pick up his right lead? Does he canter better to the left in general? Prolly what you'll have to do is a lot of right lead canter work, gradually working in the smaller circles. Its harder for them to canter in a circle like would be in a typical pattern, so therefore he was trying to get it done as soon as possible!

Good luck!

yess! hes definitely a lefty picking up his leads to the right is usually difficult, but he evnetually ends up getting them after a couple tries. yea, i see what you mean, ill start doing more things to the right

AQHA Hunter: I would break it down in to parts before trying to do the whole pattern at once. Now you know your weak spots, work on just doing slow, balanced circles both directions. Then, work on your lead changes while changing direction across the diagonal, or on a big figure 8. When you have those, add the lead change. If you still have problems, try trotting one half of the figure 8, then loping the second half (alternate between loping the first half and second half). Work on your horse's flexibility and lateral work to make sure he's responsive and supple enough to do what you're asking, too. You might try counter-canter on a big circle. I find that it works wonders for freeing up the shoulders and improving balance at the lope.

hm... i never thought i counter canter could help i think ill try that too