# Drifting and Dropping Shoulder



## Horsearelife (Dec 28, 2014)

Okay so my American Quarter horse is a great and athletic horse, but has started to when I lope in a circle to drift out and drop his shoulder. Any tips?


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

usually dropping a shoulder is connected to falling in on the circle. but you say he is drifing out of the circle.

snaffle or curb? direct rein or neck rein? past level of riding experience and what discipline. more info, if you please.


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## TXhorseman (May 29, 2014)

Consider the following and think about what might apply to your situation.

It is harder for a horse to canter a smaller circle. Therefore, a horse might try to enlarge the circle.

If a horse's hindquarters are not strong enough or supple enough to allow him to step beneath his body when cantering a circle, he might try to enlarge the circle in order to better perform the canter.

If a rider tries to turn a horse by pulling the inside rein, the horse might "break" at the withers rather than bending throughout its body. This can cause the outside shoulder to poke outward with the horse's body following. The horse's inside shoulder could drop at the same time.

Riders concentrating on one aspect of their riding or on a specific cue may be unaware of other things their body is doing at the same time. Probably the most common thing influencing a horse that a rider is unaware of is balance. When trying to apply a cue, the rider may shift his balance. Rather than responding to the cue the rider thought he was giving, the horse responds to the cue the rider was unaware he was giving.


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## Cherie (Dec 16, 2010)

Both falling in a drifting out are caused by trying to ride with too much rein and not enough leg and seat. 

The object of every rider should be to *keep a horse between your reins and between your legs!

*What does this mean? It means that you can point a horse's nose where you want it to go and that he will follow his nose with a reasonable amount of form. In order for that to happen, the horse must 'stay between your legs'. 

Your reins only tell the horse where to point his nose. He does not need to go there. You can be traveling west, your horse can have his nose pointed south but he can very easily bolt and run to the north with his head pointed south. A horse does not have to go where his nose is pointed. *He MUST go where his shoulder goes! 
*
So, to get a horse to follow his nose with form means that you must control his shoulders. Your legs and seat control his shoulders. Your reins do not control them. 

So, if a horse cuts a circle short and falls into his circle, you need to steady his head with a slight amount of bend to the inside and push him out with your inside leg. You CANNOT hold him out with your outside rein or you cause him to drop his inside shoulder. You must maintain the proper bend with you inside rein, steady him with your outside rein and DRIVE him out with your inside leg. You MUST make his shoulder follow his nose. You MUST maintain proper bend. * Proper bend should be enough bend so you can barely see the corner of his inside eye. *

Drifting out is handled just the opposite way. You must prevent 'over-bending' with a firmer outside rein. Again -- you want to barely see the corner of the horse's inside eye. It is tempting to pull harder on the inside rein to get him to follow his nose instead of drifting out. That only makes the horse over-bend and forces his weight into his outside shoulder and causes him to drift out worse. If the horse's head is looking toward where you want him to go *STOP PULLING! *Instead, straighten out the 'over-bend' in his neck with a firmer outside rein and use your outside leg, a spur, a crop on his outside shoulder or do whatever it takes to make him follow his nose. 

You cannot do this by pulling harder. You can only do this by pushing more.

It is much easier to get this done when a horse is well-prepared to move laterally off of your leg first. We use 'leg yielding' exercises to teach a horse to move easily off of each leg. We always push a horse, laterally, away from the gate or the barn or its buddies. So, if a person is in an ordinary oval arena, we will push a horse OUT on the far side (away from the gate/barn) and move the horse IN on the gate/barn side of the ring. If you cannot do this at the walk and the trot, it is foolish to think you are going to get it done at the canter.

Your horse may be different, but most horses have 'stiff side' and a 'limber side'. So, when riding in a circle with their stiff side to the inside of the circle, the horse will 'fall in'. They literally WANT you to support them and hold them out with your outside rein. Going the opposite direction when the horse's limber side is to the inside of the circle, the horse will want to 'over-bend' and drift out. 

This must be 'fixed' by getting the stiff side more limber. Then, both sides will be more balanced and the horse will learn to obey the rider's legs in the process. This should be a big part of the preparation for getting a horse ready to make circles.

As far as we are concerned, NO HORSE is 'broke' until it can lope an honest circle with good form, both directions.


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