[Reyven]

Alright, well I know that horses can cross canter, but I don't know why. Is it something they are taught to do at some point in their life or is there some reason such as balance or injury that causes them to cross canter? Is it that they were never truly taught how to canter??

The reason I ask is because when I first got my girl, she would cross canter; no matter what direction we were on, no matter if we were going straight or in a circle. When I last rode her in a canter (which was January) she didn't cross canter as much, but would sometimes pick it up like that. I would bring her to a trot and try again and then she would pick it up correctly.
So why do horses do this??

[Just_me]

Here are a couple of reasons:
*Saddle doesn't fit creating pinching or pressure points.
*The horse is not sufficiently strong enough to strike off on the outside hind.
*The horse is not balanced enough to strike off correctly.
*The rider is crooked, leaning, blocking or some other riding error that prevents the horse from striking off the outside hind.
*The horse is crooked, bent improperly and therefore unable to strike off correctly.
*The horse simply doesn't understand what's being asked.
*The horse is physically incapable to striking off with the outside hind due to some physical ailment; misalignment, tight muscles etc...

I would get a chiro and or massage therapist out.Once you've eliminated any chance of a physical pain issue, then you can be sure it's a training/rider issue.

If she is lacking strength, then you need to strengthen her and improve her balance through appropriate gymnastic exercises(cavalettis,transitions,hill work etc ).No more cantering until she willing gives it of her own accord. There's tons to be done at walk and trot to strengthen her, but I really think the biggest underlying problem is something physical that's causing pain and discomfort.

If the horse is able to canter correctly on the lunge line,round pen or pasture,you can rule a few out.

[Reyven]

Thanks!
Well she could get it fine in the roundpen and the field so my first assumptions would be:
balance with the rider
saddle fit (am getting a new saddle so we'll see)
didn't understand when I asked (she hadn't really been worked with in years)
or weak in the hind end at first (she was a bit underweight as well, not to mention under muscled)

[shakti21]

Do you mean cross canter or just that she isn't taking up the proper lead?

[Reyven]

I definitely mean cross cantering

[cowgurly02]

Dodger used to cross fire after every time I'd ask for a flying lead change the one way. He could easily change his front lead, but just didn't understand that we wanted him to change his hind lead as well. My trainer worked him through it though and now he does flying lead changes really well both ways

[idlewild]

Just Me said it all.
I see alot of cross firing in young horses who just haven't developed the proper muscle to hold the canter. It just takes time and paitence to teach them to canter correctly.

[Reyven]

I see alot of cross firing in young horses who just haven't developed the proper muscle to hold the canter. It just takes time and paitence to teach them to canter correctly.

Well she is an older horse, but she was definitely under muscled, so this may have had something to do with her cross cantering. Once she started building muscle a bit, she would pick up the regular canter more frequently. Maybe she still picked up the cross canter every once in a while because of habit, or she was still getting used to working so much??

My trainer worked him through it though and now he does flying lead changes really well both ways

Haven't learned how to do flying lead changes for her yet. I think we need to get down transitioning correctly first But it'll come eventually!

[Jaybee]

One of my friends was having trouble like you, her horse just picked up the wrong lead. He'd do it fine on the ground, but once a rider was on top he picked up the wrong one. After some talk with the old owner she found that he had been trained a different way, we were asking him backwards :>!! Now she knows what the problem it is just the simple task of retraining him to the other cues. which means a lot of transitions.

[Chantal.]

is feels so funny doesn't it when you ride. lol