We have a 3 year old Quarter/Standard bred horse who won't lunge clockwise.?

Question

She is very good going counter clockwise but when we try clockwise she almost looks and feels like she is going backwards. She seems nervous and keeps trying to come into the middle.

She is a very sweet horse and trys hard to please and makes this very strange.

If I walk beside her on her left side (outside) she is fine.

Could she possibly have a vision problem?

Answer 1

Many horses develop bad mouthing problems as they learn to put extreme amounts of pressure on the bit,unfortunately some of them get very protective of one side of their mouth and will not co-operate in fear of pain to their mouth and its usually the opposite side to which you think.eg.she won't flex or lunge to the right or clockwise because she thinks the left or outside rein will cause discomfort to the left side of her mouth.it sounds a bit confusing but a good horseman will sort this out in about half an hour for you.

Answer 2

a vision problem could be possible, or, she could be just like a million other standardbreds and not good flexing to that side.  Almost all horses are one sided and must be taught to flex.  Try a simple excercise with her to encourage her to flex in the "wrong" direction.  Take your long line, run it around her and ask her to turn off away from you with the pressure of the rope.  Clockwise is the qrong direction for a race horse and a standardbred is a race horse.  Give it a try, teach her to flex in the "wrong" direction and she'll learn to give and lunge opposite for you.