Unbalanced Circles My horse drops his shoulder when I'm turning circles. That is a very common problem. A problem that all horses will exhibit, each and every one of them, during the early stages of training. And if you can use your legs very strongly, balance with your seat and use your back very effectively, it is a problem that is easily solved. Some horses just gain experience and stop doing it, and some have to be corrected by training. If you aren't as strong as the average horse trainer, or if your horse is a little more than what you can handle sometimes, try these two methods. I teach it to my students, and have had good luck with it. Dropping the shoulder to the outside. The blue circle is what you wanna ride. The pink circle is what your horse gives you. The gate... well that's the gate. LOL. This is what your horse says... 1. "Ok, trot... yeah, no problem, trot is good." 2. "Oh, trot a circle. Alright, circle is good." 3. "Hey, look at that... We get to go to the gate. Alright!!! Really good." 4. "Almost to the gate. But last time we had to go past the gate. If I speed up, she'll know I wanna go to the gate, and then maybe we're done. Speed up is good." 5. "Oh no, we aren't going to the gate. And she's not letting me slow down. This is not good. But I can go to the gate, I can, I can go to the gate. I can turn my head and still go to the gate." 6. "Ah sheesh, we're past the gate. But trot with my head turned works pretty good. Maybe if I speed up, and head straight for the arena fence, she'll give up and let me go to the gate." 1. "Dang, that didn't work. Guess I'll just trot." ... Keep going with #2 As your horse makes that circle and specifically as he makes the mad dash for the gate, you'll notice a speed up. That is really where the key is. He is carrying himself in pretty good balance as he goes around the top part of the circle. But as he speeds up, he will transfer weight to his front end. And as he weights his front end, he will loose ability to turn. So he solves it by turning his head. Which throws him off balance even more. Now, to keep going forward, he has to throw out the outside shoulder to even keep going. And seeins he's headed for the gate (where he wants to go), he ain't about to slow down. So out the shoulder goes, and seeins he's now totally off balance, the hind end goes in gear, to try to catch some of this, and as it comes in gear, he'll speed up even more. Now you're past the gate, and he has to make a decision... Slow down and obey (and weight his hind end), or speed up and force you to get in his face to turn him. So here is how to deal with it. You'll still need to use your legs, but not quite as strongly and precisely. 1. Pick up the trot. 2-3. Watch your speed. Specifically, even for a western horse, your rhythm and impulsion. Make sure he's really going the speed and balance you want him to have. 4. This is where he will start thinking about heading for the gate. Give him a check. 5. This is where he'll pick up speed. Stop him. If you can let him settle, let him. If he wants to act like an idiot, just back up a couple of steps, and then walk from 5-6. 6. Give him a good request for lateral movement to the inside of the circle. Make sure he doesn't speed up as he goes sideways. You might have to stop him again, move to the inside of the circle a couple of steps, and then keep walking. 7. Pick up the trot again. Really authoratatively pick up the trot and mash him right forward. Go go go go... As you progress you'll want to shorten the distance that you walk. You'll feel him stay in balance underneath you longer, anticipating the stop on 5, so you can ride by 5 till you feel him speed up and loose balance. Then stop him. Ideally stop him afore he looses balance, but after will work too. Anyhoo, you'll feel it. Then you can start just slowing down at the trot and asking him to stay in balance with your leg. If he gives you any guff, stop, move to the inside of the circle and go again. Dropping the shoulder to the inside. The reason your horse does this is very similar to the above description, but it is a separate problem altogether. While the other problem can be fixed with a set of transitions, this one requires precision lateral work. If you aren't sure how to make your horse sidepass or flex, click here for instructions. Your horse will start dropping his shoulder pretty much always in the same spot. You can use that knowledge to time your correction. Right before he starts speeding up and dropping his shoulder to head back to the gate, ride a very clean, somewhat abrupt transition to the walk. Immediately start flexing him to the outside at a walk. Keep that flex for a few steps, then do a hip-around to bring you back into the general direction your circle is going. Then ride another flex till you get to the point where he usually stops trying to drop his shoulder. Undoubtedly, your signals will have to be very authoritative. This is one of the spots where you and your horse hash out which one of you will be in the lead. Winning this battle will go along way towards building a better broke horse. And since this will be in part a battle of the wills, do whatever you need to do to get it done. Wearing spurs is a good idea here. Get help from a trainer if you have to. Do Not loose the correctness of your aids, as you work on this. Click here if you aren't real sure what correct aids are. The next step is to gain obedience at the trot. At the same spot, ride a very correct, abrupt halt, then back up for several steps, and immediately out of the backup, flex to the outside for a few steps. Right out of the flex, ask for a few steps trot, then ride another abrupt halt, back up and flex. That should get you to the spot where your horse balances by himself again. And you can ride the rest of the circle at a trot. As you build obedience, you will want to progress to the trot. As you work on this, you'll feel your horse become less set on dropping his shoulder. So eventually you can pass the regular spot and got into the corner of the circle. But attempting to do a full circle at a trot, will only invite your horse to drop his shoulder again. So ride him past the regular trouble spot and just a few steps afterwards, ride one of the halt-back-flex combinations. Be vigilant for any sign of disobedience from your horse. If he even thinks about dropping his shoulder, ride the combination. Be sure to bring him right back to the trot after each combination. Dropping the shoulder should not be an excuse for your horse to be allowed to walk. (They can be so sneaky...) And last, but not least, we will try to stay at the trot. Ride a flex to the outside at the trot. Only give as much leg aid as you need to, to keep the flexing. Not feeling your horse and what he is willing to give you, can result in him leaning on your leg. So be sure to ask and receive, ask and receive, pressure and release. When you get good obedience at this point, you can start letting him have his own balance thru the circle. But as soon as he starts leaning to the inside again, you'll want to sharply flex him to the outside again. Remember, this is a spot where you and your horse are wrestling for control. And you definitely want to be the winner in this match. Read this to find the correct balance in your partnership with your horse.