An Exercise For A Horse That Cross Canters

I am looking for help with regards to fixing a cross canter and knowing when the horse lands in the cross canter.

Some horses will land on a cross canter—occasionally. It’s rare, but it does happen. Riders can try to “lead” a horse with an opening inside rein over the fence to try and tell their horse which lead the rider wants them to land on. I have a great exercise for teaching horses to do a solid one-piece flying change—but it takes lots of practice over a month or two. Place two poles about a foot to 18” apart. Now, canter over these poles at a good pace. Make a giant figure eight, so you come into the poles on one lead then land on the other. Try to do that by turning your horse just as he leaves the ground to “hop over” the poles. So, if you are approaching on the left turn, just as your horse is about to hop the poles, switch to your right rein and pull his mouth some to the right, so he lands going to the right… some.

Did you know a flying change for a horse is very similar to a “SKIP” for a person? Think about when you skip. Isn’t there a moment when you “hop” up into the air? These poles artificially create that “hop.” You should hop over these poles 4-20 times per day for your horse to properly learn this “skip” technique. Each day you do the exercise, you can move the 2 poles to a different part of the arena. You can even have more than one pair of poles in the arena at a time. Most horses take anywhere from a week to a month to learn to do these flying changes. What you begin to look for is your horse switching leads IN FRONT of the poles! Now you are close. Don’t get discouraged. It takes some time, and it takes LOTS OF PRACTICE for your horse to “get it.”

You might also find this blog post helpful: Training A Sensitive Thoroughbred to Not Swap Leads by Bernie Traurig