Cross leading: why and exercises to prevent?

[islandrider]

My horse is getting much better at the canter but still cross leads at times. Both leads. Often he corrects within a few strides, sometimes not till he is going around a corner. I am trying real hard to get my timing down. Doing several canter/trot transitions seems to make it better. Sometimes I think he might need a sacral adjustment or something, but he is a huge and easy mover normally with great hock action, so don't think that is it. Anyone?

[Trixie's mom]

does he swap in front or behind?

[islandrider]

does he swap in front or behind?

He swaps behind, nearly always good in front.

[CatOnLap]

how old is the horse? I have a young athlete who easily cross canters and mixes it up in the pasture so badly sometimes I think he has 5 legs. Since he can actually canter in this discombobulated way, he started doing it under saddle when I began to ride him. Disconcerting! However, my horse did not swap leads, he departed wrong.

Lots of work on suppling, bend and hind end engagement later, he now consistently canters true, even in the pasture and is demonstrating clean flying changes while at liberty. We are about to start schooling the changes under saddle.

If your horse swaps leads while cantering, I would wonder about a hidden pain issue, or a rider balance issue, particularly if he is older and previously did it right.

[islandrider]

My horse is 18. His prev. owner used him for endurance (arab) pretty much never cantered him. When I got him he had been relatively unused for a few years, very stiff. Now, 4 years later, he is a completely different horse. We are working on transitions, lots of bending/suppling, lots of trot and canter. He seems to take up a clean canter more consistently after lots of leg yielding both sides, weight shifting type exercises. He has always (from what I hear) had a weaker RH, showing up now perhaps with the cross-leading R. I should add that until I got him he had ill-fitting tack which caused a lot of atrophy and tightness. It has taken all of these 4 years to rebuild his topline, get the tight muscles loosened and the loose, tightened. Amazing progress-getting beyond this phase will be even better.

[Horsepower]

My trainer has told me to be sure to have a strong outside rein (I lift it a little for him too) to help my pony who also is weak in one direction pick up the correct lead. When I forget to help him with my outside rein he will pick up the wrong lead. Hope that helps. Other than that, since you say he is weak on one side, I guess you already know to work that side to help strengthen it.

[AnotherRound]

Rider balance, horse conformation issues; lack of conditioning or strength to sustain the canter correctly, or pain. Sorry, without knowing the cause, hard to suggest how to correct.

[grayarabpony]

AR is right. Also simply could be the horse is crooked.

[Mallard]

Check his hocks...

[islandrider]

Support on the outside rein really, really seems to be key here. Thanks everyone as usual for such helpful replies!

[purplnurpl]

Rider balance, horse conformation issues; lack of conditioning or strength to sustain the canter correctly, or pain. Sorry, without knowing the cause, hard to suggest how to correct.

My votes there.
May be time for some hock injections? Has he been vetted lately?

[Eclectic Horseman]

Because this horse cross canters in both directions, I would not suspect a veterinary issue. I would suspect lack of good basic training.

The horse is not "dressage straight." That is to say that he is not bending at the ribcage on curved lines, instead he wants to be "stick straight," jacknifing at the shoulder and throwing his haunches to one side to avoid bending through the ribs. When he throws his haunches to the side, he will swap leads on the hind legs to balance.

All the exercises that you can do to teach the horse how to bend around curves will be helpful. You have to retrain him to carry himself and the rider properly, and to step under his body, bend and take weight on his inside hind leg. Exercises that help with this are turn on the forehand, first in one spot and then in motion. Riding a square, with turns on the forehand in the corners. Leg yielding and spiraling on a circle.

Once the horse learns to take and keep the right bend at the rib cage and to step under with the inside hind, he will no longer throw his quarters to the side and cross canter.
Good luck.

[slc2]

lessons. bend, straighten, go forward.

it's also good if you do lots of transitions, and at least for a little while, transition to trot BEFORE he loses his lead. canter only one circle, trot. trot a while, then canter again. build up his muscle.

the biggest cause of swapping behind is not having a correct bend. watch the horse on the longe, he will straighten for a second right before he drops his hind leg. because he takes an incorrect bend, he drops one hind leg and loses the lead. if you maintain the bend and forward, it is very, very hard for them to go to the outside and drop their hind leg.

[atr]

And you must stop and restart, not just let him go on and correct on his own, so he gets the concept that this isn't what he should be doing. You can be nice about it, but the work should always be correct--so don't leave cantering until you've done everything else and the horse is tired, make it part of your warm-up and do a lot of it early in your ride.

[islandrider]

Yes, everyone, you are all so right. Except that my horse's hocks are fine...He is getting the bending figured out slowly. I can see his "muscle memory" shift from his previous way of moving to his new way of moving, but it is slow. And he is 18-but, I feel that this work is a sort of "insurance" for old age-keeping his body fit and even. On top of it all, he REALLY enjoys it, once he knows what we want him to do. After all, he is an Arab, and the more I can keep his brain busy with things like "Simon Says Right Lead" he is curious, willing, and full of energy.

[grayarabpony]

Arabs are famous for this (getting crooked, then tense, locking back, switching behind). I wonder if it has to do with being short-backed. An excellent exercise for working on a horse's straightness is countercanter. When my horse gets wound up or she's not relaxed in her back a bit of a half seat can help -- it's hard to sit a tight back without jarrying both of you more. Another thing that's helped my horse is that when she is relaxed in her back to really let her stretch her neck at the canter -- it really helps her to balance and go straighter.

[islandrider]

Arabs are famous for this (getting crooked, then tense, locking back, switching behind). I wonder if it has to do with being short-backed. An excellent exercise for working on a horse's straightness is countercanter. When my horse gets wound up or she's not relaxed in her back a bit of a half seat can help -- it's hard to sit a tight back without jarrying both of you more. Another thing that's helped my horse is that when she is relaxed in her back to really let her stretch her neck at the canter -- it really helps her to balance and go straighter.

That is really interesting. I am also JUST recovering from a lower back injury, in fact this week is the first week in perhaps 4 years that I haven't hurt, knock on wood. I feel like I am sitting him so much different now without my own tension. There were times I didn't ride because I didn't want to add to his crookedness! He often stretches way down when cantering correctly, and I've let him, as it seems like it would feel so good. The tightness he had in his trapezius (SP) muscles was absolutely off the wall, it made him totally inverted. Just in the last 6 months he's developed a proper neck, wish I could post pics! So, yes, thanks for that. Also, I have wondered about counter canter.
Sometimes I let him do some circles in counter canter, but usually not because I asked him to do it, it just seemed to be a good idea to develop balance. Oh, and BTW, he IS really short-backed. I love this forum!

[JackSprats Mom]

My youngster (also arab) did this chronically, my trainer fixed it by lifting his shoulders and getting a true bend ie got him truely straight and now he stops.