Hard to get right-lead canter with an Icelandic horse

Hi! 🙂 Many Icelandic horses find one canter lead or the other difficult. There are a few good ways to work on it. You can, for example, start from the ground on the lunge and teach the horse to strike off on a loose line towards a corner from a calm, relaxed canter. That way you teach the transition itself and it makes sense to the horse to pick up the correct lead. You then do the same when you ride. Trot calmly on a loose rein, roughly across the diagonal towards the corner, and there you offer the canter calmly and smoothly, just as you did on the lunge.

Another way is to ride in trot, ride rising and with intent, and just before the transition, change the diagonal. It is surprisingly effective.

Remember to make it easy for the horse by asking for the transition where it makes sense to strike off on the correct lead.

Good luck!