Subtle Signs

One of Peebs' biggest issues is his right side.  He has always felt slightly dropped right.  He doesn't like bending right; putting his nose in the air and tilting his head to the left is his favorite thing ever, after food. Cantering to the right can be pretty awful at times.  Cantering jumps to right is something we've just started doing, and again, can be pretty damn awful. He loves to ignore my hand, counter bend, throw his haunches to the inside, and run full tilt at the jumps. 

So imagine my surprise when a couple weeks ago during our last jump school when another boarder commented that Peebs looked really straight going right. Say what?!  This was maybe the second or third time I've ridden with this other boarder, she's usually out at different times than me.  We had had some really awesome fences going left, so I decided to be brave and canter the single cross rail going right.  He wanted to be strong and run at it, but after other boarder commented on his straightness, I realized that he was in fact, straight.  He was still high headed and strong, but he wasn't twisted left or throwing his haunches around.  And he didn't switch leads over the fence like he usually does. Huh.

Earlier this week I was riding when a couple other boarders came out and we started talking.  As I was sitting on Peebs it felt like he calked a hind leg to rest, and I pushed him forward a step to square up.  But he still felt uneven. I asked the girls if he was standing square, and they said he was.  For the first time ever, his right side felt a touch higher than his left. When I rode last night I tried to pay attention to his evenness, and again, he felt even if not slightly higher on his right side. I guess all of my work focusing on his right side is staring to pay off. Now, if we can just canter on the bit and not run at the jumps, we'll be golden!