My horse won't turn left!

leigh1973 · Yearling

My horse won't turn left!

Jackie Cochran · Advanced

I was hoping someone else would give you ideas!
So your horse will not turn left and the canter/gallop. Is he on the left lead?
First, have you had the vet out to check your horse's legs? When he checks the legs ask him or her to check the top of the shoulder too.
If your horse was tied up he may have wrenched his neck at some point. Maybe a chiropractor could help there.
You did not say how long you've been conditioning him. This conditioning takes a lot of time for a completely unexercised horse like yours. I would consider stopping all galloping now and work just at a walk and slow trot. When you ride in the ring do plenty of slow circles and serpentines. If you have some hills you can speed up the conditioning process by going up and down hill. Start at a walk, and over several months work up to a trot. This is hard work for the horse so start slow.
Your horse has to learn how to use his body effectively, both ridden and when he is on his own. This will take time. Be patient and you will be rewarded.

Barbara F · Grand Prix

You need to have him checked, as it sounds as though he has some sort of physical impairment. Can he walk left? Trot left?
Can you lunge him to the left?

On another note, anyone who leaves a horse tied to a tree 24/7 should be immediately reported for animal cruelty. I hope you reported the people.

Marlene · Advanced

Observe him when he is at moving at liberty. Does he ever turn left at lower speeds, or when you are leading him at walk, trot, then turn left. Does he ever step to the left, when motivated, say to move over to take a treat.How about flexions to the left, stiffness could point to problem in vertebrae. If previous idiot owner had him tied 24/7 to teach him not to pull away (a weird technique I have heard of), he may have a history of neck problems)
One thing to check is for a problem in the hoof. Some horses have chronic laminitis, hoof abscess, or navicular pain which might not bother them just walking straight, but will crop up on a sharp turn left or right. Does he behave worse on hard ground vs. softer, another sign of possible hoof pain.
I also would not rule out vision problems, but they are pretty difficult to test.

-- Edited by Marlene on Saturday 5th of February 2011 11:20:26 AM

Nikki Salo · Grand Prix

This is a pretty interesting thread with lots of ideas, thanks for sharing this with us Leigh.

First, I can't believe that somebody would leave a horse tied to a tree for so long, I hope they end up tied to an livid mare for 24hrs.

Anyways, my thoughts are (and it is hard to know without seeing the horse), that he may not be conditioned enough to safely gallop. Do you do any suppling exercises in your warm up? Bending the neck, the barrel, lengthening/shortening stride etc?

Like others have mentioned, I would stop cantering and galloping at this point. There could be an underlying physical issue that needs to be sorted out to begin with and it is possible that you are becoming upset/bracing knowing that he isn't responding in these gaits and it could be a contributor to the issue as well.

My first thought was teeth, but you said those are fine, so my thought is not to rule out a vision issue without having a veterinarian look at his eyes (as well as a thorough check up!). Does he bulk when you wave a hand quickly past both eyes? Do his pulps regulate when a light is shined on his eyes and then removed? Lots of things can cause problems with binocular and monocular vision in horses.