# My horse drifts!



## georgiadavidson (Aug 5, 2012)

Can someone help me? My horse has started drifting when ridden, for example, ill be on a 20m circle and she will pull/drift out?:-(


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## churumbeque (Dec 20, 2009)

georgiadavidson said:


> Can someone help me? My horse has started drifting when ridden, for example, ill be on a 20m circle and she will pull/drift out?:-(


 Don't know your skill or the horses but obviously use your outside leg and make sure you are not leaning out. pull her back in and bop her with your leg


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## Cherie (Dec 16, 2010)

STOP pulling on the inside rein. Most horses start drifting because they WANT to be somewhere else. Then, when their rider tries to keep them going the direction they want them to go, they just pull harder on the inside rein. The result of this is the horse 'over-bends' or 'rubber-necks' and their weight automatically goes into their outside shoulder. The harder a rider pulls, the more they over-bend and the more they drift into that outside shoulder.

The way to fix this is to limber up the other side of the horse which is usually stiff. Sometimes, it is so stiff that the horse drops that shoulder. 

Next, teach this horse to do leg yielding exercises yielding to the outside leg on the direction he drifts toward. Always do leg yielding exercises AWAY from the gate or barn or herd that he want to drift toward. He MUST learn to obey your leg.

Finally, when you ride, only use enough inside rein to bend your horse enough to barely see the corner of his inside eye -- never more. If he does not follow his nose, DO NOT PULL HARDER. Use enough outside leg or use a bat on his outside shoulder or do whatever it takes to make him follow his nose. When you pull on the inside rein, you not only support him drifting out but you encourage it. He uses that pull to brace against and it supports him drifting into that outside shoulder. When a horse is trying to drift out, the inside rein should be loose and the outside rein should be tight enough to keep him from over-bending. It actually steadies him.

There is one thing more you can do if he bolts out and gets completely out of control. As odd as it can seem, if a horse is bolting and you cannot turn him at all, take the outside rein and pull him around sharply to the outside. He WILL turn that direction and you can pull him around and get him stopped. This is a safety feature that almost every rider of a bolting horse can do but few riders think to do it.


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