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  Discussion on Wandering to the left
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Posted on Monday, Oct 29, 2001 - 4:46 pm:

I have a 4 yr old gelding that I just broke in May. I use training methods like John Lyon's and have had good results with Magnum. However, when we trail ride down the road he is constantly hanging on the left side. He's even slid into the ditch once. I prefer to ride him with a snaffle and he responds extremely well in the arena, he is beginning to neck rein and will "stop on a dime" without any pressure in the mouth. He also responds well to leg pressure in the arena. Does anyone have any training methods that might help us go down the road without doing a ditch baha?

Posted on Monday, Oct 29, 2001 - 6:21 pm:

Here in Vermont, we are required to ride on the right side of the road, as if horses are vehicles, but if my guys get to wandering too far over to a gully, I tighten (shorten) my reins (the right one a bit shorter) and bring my right hand toward my left hip to signal the horse to keep his shoulders left. I also use right leg at/or behind the girth to say, "Keep your body over." I guess I would suggest practicing some leg yeilding, then sidepassing in the ring and along the fence. Then when you are on the road, whenever you have the road to yourself, practice moving from one side to the other on rein and leg cues. I do this on every trail ride, especially early on in the ride. It kinda wakes the horse up, limbers him, and gives me an idea of how responsive he will be on the ride. I find that my horses are much better trained to left leg cues than to right leg cues due to the fact that we have to ride on the right side of the road.

I ride on lots of dirt roads, so I don't have to worry about a large volume of traffic, but some of the tractors and attachments take up almost 3/4 of the road. If you get into an emergency situation, and the choice is to stop or go in the ditch, then I guess I'd choose a stop, but usually I find the best thing is to keep moving and keep my focus and the horse's focus whenever something scary comes along.

Good luck.
Holly

Posted on Monday, Oct 29, 2001 - 6:56 pm:

Thanks Holly,

A lot of helpful info there. I have not yet started to work with him on sidepassing. I absolutely hate getting into his mouth with the bit (I have worked him very carefully to be light) If he were to leg yeild better that would solve a lot of the problem.

Posted on Tuesday, Oct 30, 2001 - 9:34 pm:

Hey, Tara,
I understand and agree completely. I don't think you'll have to "get into his mouth" except for using your regular rein cues. You can keep it as light as you want it. If you feel unsafe on the road, then wait until you have 100% response from him in the ring. Then you can add distractions along the ring fence and see if he will listen to your leg while there are distractions. Another technique might be to reinforce the cue to MOVE LEFT. That may sound silly if he is moving left when you aren't asking for it, but if he learns what the MOVE LEFT cue really is, then he will learn to wait for it instead of just moving left on his own.
Holly
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