Do you ever find that your horse moves like a dream on the left rein, but feels like a wooden plank on the right? Or do you feel like your saddle always slips a little to one side? Don’t worry: your horse isn’t “difficult.” Just as we humans are left- or right-handed, every horse has a natural bias. In this blog, you’ll learn to recognize the 5 most important signs.
Why is a preferred side a problem?
A horse that is crooked does not distribute its weight evenly across its four legs. In the long term, this can lead to injuries, overuse, and a frustrated rider. In the Art of Riding, “straightening” is therefore the foundation of everything we do. But before we can train, we first need to know what’s going on.
The 5 signs of a crooked horse:
1. Difficulty bending to one side
This is the most obvious sign. On the “concave side,” your horse can bend easily, but often falls over the outside shoulder. On the “convex side,” it feels as though your horse doesn’t want to bend at all and protests against the rein aid.
2. The saddle shifts to one side
Do you feel like you’re always leaning to one side? Often, this isn’t due to your saddle, but to the horse’s natural crookedness. Because of the crookedness, the saddle shifts to one side.
3. Difference in rein pressure
Does your horse take much more support on one rein than the other? A crooked horse often uses the rein as a “support” to stay balanced, instead
4. Difficulty initiating the canter
Does your horse always initiate the canter well on one side, but on the other side is it a struggle, or does he break into the wrong canter? This is a symptom of crookedness
5. Crooked movement on the straight line
If you’re riding on the track and you notice your horse’s hindquarters turning inward (he moves like a “crab”), this is a symptom of front/back crookedness
The first step toward a straight horse
Do you recognize these points? The first step you can take is to learn more about the types of crookedness your horse has and the symptoms associated with them. I’ve created a free course on this topic; if this interests you, you can start right here.