Picking up the outside contact?

Question

I am wondering if anybody can give me any tips about moving my ottb into the outside contact off of the inside leg. He'll do this sometimes at the walk and trot but most of the time he'll fuss and not listen (he will work in a frame but now I want him to pick up the outside contact more). So, I give him a kick with my inside leg to get him to listen and he gets all upset and can't seem to focus. The worst part is at the left canter - he already has some issues picking up the left lead (we're working on it) but when he does, he's pretty balanced. The only problem is if I ask him to move off my inside leg and into the outside rein at the canter going (mainly) to the left, he switches leads on me and it takes me forever to get him to get the proper lead again. At one point I was bending him to the outside to get the correct lead and it worked every time, but I can't keep having to overbend him to the outside just so that he'll get the correct lead all the time. Anyone have any tips?

Answer 1

Work on the ground.  Ask him with your hand in the same spot that your leg would be, and if he doesn't listen, tap him with a crop.  Get him so he consistently moves over at a standstill when you ask him.  Then, lead him (or have someone else lead him) and press with your hand.  When hes good with it, progress to the trot.  Then get on and see how much he has improved.  To strengthen his left side, work him A LOT on a longe line at a canter.  Practice leads by counter cantering.  Good luck!

Answer 2

Often in order to figure out how to respond and get the desired response, you need to first understand what's going wrong in the first place.

You said "He'll do this sometimes at the walk and trot but most of the time he will fuss and not listen..."

When horses are inconsistent in correctly following commands and when they show resistance while a command is given -- I usually assume the problem is based in one of two secarios.

1. The horse does not fully understand what is being asked of them.  (Honestly, neither do I.  But what matters is that you know the response you want, and are consistent in your cue/reward)

2. The horse understands what is being asked, but a soundness issue is getting in the way of them following the cues without pain.

So, my advice would be to first check your horse for any soundness issues.  I especially say this because you have problems with the left lead -- OTTBs were raced going to the left, so the picking up left lead shouldn't be an issue.

Second if the soundness checks out OK -- go back to the walk.  Give your cue and when you get the response you want praise and back off.  Do this over and over until there is no inconsistency in his response to your aids.   Move up to the trot and repeat, finally moving on to the canter when his response is 100% consistent at the walk and trot.

Remember to not allow yourself to get frustrated and use your aids more strongly than what is needed.  No more kicking.  Especially not with an OTTB -- my OTTBs have been super sensitive and fairly high strung.  They are the "little bears" of horses because your aids need to be "not too hard, not too soft, but JUST right in the middle.

Good luck!

* ETA * No, actually race horses run on the right lead in the straightaways and left lead in the turns.