Posted 2010-03-12 1:05 PM (#117497) Subject: Lead Changes
Veteran
Posts: 274 Location: Memphis, TN
I got a new horse. Bought her for trail and light ranch work. 12 yr old, very nice cow horse and good on trails.
I rode her in a small round pen before purchase an she knew her lead changes, etc.
Now back home I am very pleased except one thing.....she is always on left lead. Will not pickup right lead at all.
I setup a small round pen and have been working her, even on longe line, but she hates right lead. (Picks it up about 10% of the time) Could she have a skeletal or muscle problem? Farrier says she looks good and all my friends cant find any fault with her except the right lead balk.
Posted 2010-03-12 1:37 PM (#117500 - in reply to #117497) Subject: RE: Lead Changes
Regular
Posts: 90
You could first begin my feeling her muscles along her back, hips, shoulders etc. Feel(flat palm and with pressed thumb or finger) for tightness, heat...compare left and right sides for conformity. Sometimes this gives you a place to start. When she lopes, are her rear legs/feet moving in a normal stride length? or do they appear shortened? Does she hold her head high? Does she hold her head to the outside of the circle when lunging? Does she act a little frantic when moving in the direction in which she doesn't pick up her lead?
Posted 2010-03-12 3:31 PM (#117507 - in reply to #117497) Subject: RE: Lead Changes
Veteran
Posts: 274 Location: Memphis, TN
Muscles tone is good, cant feel any problems. She has very high withers is the only noticable thing. She seems very stiff when pulling her head to the right as in streaching exercises and her lope to the right does appear to be shorter strides. Out in the pasture when playing and running with the other horses her lope is beautiful. Under saddle or in round pen she will not pick up right lead. She has not been ridden or worked in 2 yr. Been out to pasture due to a divorce so I am just starting to get her back in shape, and she is coming along nicely except for this one thing. Head set is pretty good for a horse that has not been rode much in the past few yrs....she will lower it if I ask, and does not turn it to the outside in round pen. I can ask for a left lead an she picks it up perfect. Ask for right and she will go into a choppy jog and not pick it up.....eventually if you let her she will lope off on wrong lead.
Posted 2010-03-12 7:41 PM (#117518 - in reply to #117497) Subject: RE: Lead Changes
Regular
Posts: 90
Try loping her off in a straight line in the pasture, or wherever you and her are comfortable. If she does have a problem, the circle is going to make it worse or maybe I should say more painful. Just try and ease her into it. There are a lot of things that can be amiss, I just have and am still in the process of dealing with a severe sacral injury with my gelding. Hope yours is something else!
Posted 2010-03-14 10:06 AM (#117566 - in reply to #117497) Subject: RE: Lead Changes
Regular
Posts: 90
Being familiar with what is normal in your horse’s legs, along with his normal way of going, will help you know when something isn’t right. The more severe or recent the injury, the more heat, pain and swelling that occur. Sometimes there is an enlargement in the area without lameness or obvious pain. When these enlargements occur though, it is still cause for concern. A veterinarian can palpate (feel) the leg and tell which tendon or ligament is involved, but a confirmed diagnosis comes from ultrasounding the affected area.
Ultrasound is the most basic and useful tool to evaluate these soft tissue injuries. From these images we can see which structure is damaged, the extent of damage, the location, and we can measure the damage. MRI is also used to diagnose soft tissue injury (see sidebar), as well as scintigraphy (scan).
copied. You need to do ultrasound rather than x-ray, but if your normal vet is very good at palpating, you can start there.
Posted 2010-03-14 5:16 PM (#117576 - in reply to #117497) Subject: RE: Lead Changes
Veteran
Posts: 186
After the chiropractor, and rulling out physical problems, go back to basics like you would a baby, ground work lounging. Bend- Bend - flex - She is 12 what is that in human years? If you tried to make me write with my left hand it would take alot of retraining. Myself if it was just a trail horse I would live with it -enjoy the left lead
Posted 2010-03-14 7:22 PM (#117580 - in reply to #117497) Subject: RE: Lead Changes
Expert
Posts: 1723 Location: michigan
I agree- if your dealing with a trail horse and not planning to show/compete..then you might be money ahead not going through with x-rays ( which will only tell you so much) or even a chiropractor. It does sound more like a problem with flexibilty. If you want to pursue it, you can start bending and flexing on the ground with just a halter and lead rope. Asking the horse to flex towards you and also asking him to bend low to his chest. Holding each bend for a few seconds, then adding time to deepen the bend. Slow and steady ground work using a bitting rig ( to allow a bend)is helpful not asking for a canter right away but just walking and trotting.Once he becomes comfortable and lighter at each speed and gait..then progress to the next one. Keep in mind this can be along process.
Posted 2010-03-14 9:27 PM (#117591 - in reply to #117497) Subject: RE: Lead Changes
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 368 Location: Georgia
Both my horses are "only" trail horses but I still took the older one to a chiropractor when he was having issues and the man was a HUGE help and it was not near as expensive as you would think. He worked on the younger one a couple of times too. The most expensive thing was paying for the fuel to get there and back as it was a 2 1/2 hour drive to the chiropractor vet. I only stopped taking my horse when fuel went to over $4.00 a gallon. Even most non chiropractic vets can do a simple test of certain postions on the horse to check for soreness. You might want to at least consider having this done to make sure your horse is not sore or in pain.
Posted 2010-03-14 9:37 PM (#117592 - in reply to #117497) Subject: RE: Lead Changes
Location: KY
Ike: Hello from Kentucky. Perhaps your girl needs to see your equine vet and find out what is going on. Hope you find out that she is just left handed and a little stiff....and flexibility work will solve her issues. Happy trails.
Posted 2010-03-15 3:33 PM (#117614 - in reply to #117592) Subject: RE: Lead Changes
Veteran
Posts: 274 Location: Memphis, TN
Thank you all so much for your input. I've had the horse for a couple months now and just cant see any physical or conformation problems.....thats why I was confused as to the right lead balk on her part. She does everything else without hesitation and if I just let her, she will do it all "left handed" as someone else said.
Anyway.....my best horse buddy here has told me the same as a few of you.....to start back with the basic flexing exercise, ground work, and see how she does. She seems to think the horse has never been asked to do anything right lead.....whoever had her before just got on her, worked a few cows on the farm and rode trails.
As soon as it dries up so I can ride I will be doing that. Its been raining here for seems like two months. I should be raising hogs in the mud at our barn. Will let you know when she gets it....or if I find a medical issue. Thanks again.
Posted 2010-03-16 11:31 AM (#117675 - in reply to #117497) Subject: RE: Lead Changes
Expert
Posts: 1723 Location: michigan
something to consider is you can do some exercises while she in a stall or in a grooming stall- just stand to one side and with the lead rope attached to the halter, you can bend her towards you releasing when she gives. You can adjust the height-ask her head to go towards the withers,then ribs and then forearm. This can also be done with a carrot..stand by her hip an encourage her to reach for the carrot all the way to her hip. Naturally, this will be more of a progression but doing this on each side will get her flexible in the neck and shoulder area. Do the same for her poll with a carrot ask her to reach down to the chest,knees then ankles.
Posted 2010-04-29 11:01 AM (#119501 - in reply to #117497) Subject: RE: Lead Changes
Expert
Posts: 1723 Location: michigan
lead changes start from the hips and go forward from there. I might suggest a chiropractor look and see if the hips need adjustment. I had a mare that also had trouble with leads and i could feel how stiff she was on the left lead. A chiropractor made the difference. I would continue to do stretches to limber her up on both side...plus incorporate some leg yields into a routine..it might help her hip. Another exercise is to bend her head to the left ( or right ) and then have her turn the opposite way in a circle ( you need to have her responsive to your leg. You can also do this on the ground...run a line from the bit to the right side of the saddle but ask her to move counter clock wise...then switch it round)..this will encourage her to lift her shoulders which is also something she needs to do in a flying change.
Posted 2010-04-30 2:02 PM (#119551 - in reply to #117497) Subject: RE: Lead Changes
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 330 Location: northeast Texas
You said you tried the horse out and she picked up her leads fine. Then you got her home and started riding her and she stiffened up and stopped picking up her lead while under saddle. That tells me she has an issue. You also said she had been turned out awhile before you bought her. That tells me either she had an ongoing issue before you bought her and they turned her out awhile to let the soreness heal up before offering her for sale, or that your saddle is pinching her withers (you described her as high withered) and making her sore and stiff. If she had an issue before perhaps it was their saddle also pinching her high withers or perhaps it originates from another injured area. I would first really check my saddle fit. Then I would really check over her withers,shoulders,hip and hocks. I would have her withers, shoulder, hip, hocks and gait looked at by a competent lamenss vet. Sore hocks can be a cause of lead issues. A flexion test might rule this out. I might even place a call to the previous owners and ask some questions. There is no reason for a horse to be stiff and one sided even if she is "just a trail" horse. A horse in pain from saddle fit or previous injury cant be expected to painfully carry a saddle and rider over miles of trail and negotiate trail terrain. If its a training issue it should of been present on the first ride.
Posted 2010-05-02 7:05 AM (#119606 - in reply to #117497) Subject: RE: Lead Changes
Veteran
Posts: 274 Location: Memphis, TN
CTR, your points are well taken and I agree. But my vet and farrier looked at her, (no xray or anything more than watch her move and feeling her withers and legs) an we dont see a lameness issue.
I will get a couple of my friends who are more experienced than I to ride her with their saddles and see where we go.
I think my saddle fits properly but am open to suggestions as I really like this horse and this right lead balk is the only issue.
This horse has Impressive blood line, NN, stocky muscular build. Saddle is Billy Cook Wade, FQHB.
Posted 2010-05-02 7:17 AM (#119607 - in reply to #117497) Subject: RE: Lead Changes
Veteran
Posts: 274 Location: Memphis, TN
CTR, got locked out on pc before I could finish.
2 yr turnout was due to divorce but I don know of any previous lame issues.
Lady left horse with original owner (who still has her parents on site) intending to claim her after things settled down....but it just did not work out and she moved out of state
The day we first rode her was with anoher saddle. Will try anoher saddle.
Posted 2010-05-04 12:20 PM (#119709 - in reply to #117497) Subject: RE: Lead Changes
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 330 Location: northeast Texas
Ike, I was just meaning I would explore a physical issue before I considered it a training issue. Psychological issues which become training issues can be started by a physical cause. A lameness vet exam would have done a hock flexion test and then probably Xrays of the hocks if there was any positive action to the flexion. You can perform a hock flexion test yourself. Pulling the front leg forward and stretching it out high can show shoulder soreness. Lameness doesnt necessarily mean the horse "limps" or favors a leg. Lameness can mean unsoundness, which is a blemish or issue that may or may not hinder the horse's performance. If the horse doesnt actually limp but their performance is off due to a soreness then it is said to be an unsoundness. Since a horse's canter departure starts with the impulsion from the hind end, thats usually the first place to look after ruling out saddle fit. Of course most horses are more one sided. If someone did not correct this during basic training than it can become an ingrained habit to favor one lead.
Lead Changes
