Down Hill sideways

[DesertRose1]

:S Good Morning all.

Got a Question. Our old mare has this habit of going down hill sideways. Doesn't matter how big or small,She just kicks her back legs around and goes down sideways. She is around 20 so i know it would be hard to teach her other wise. Any suggestions on how to tell her that is not acceptable?

Thanks Lonnie & Karla

[whinny]

haha at least she dont go down like i do..at a roll...if she goes down side ways its because at her age she is finding the compy way to move her body..older horses have to contend with the same pains we do..so finding the safest and best way for her to decend is what she is doing..i had a qh who would take a hill slowley but go down like a rocket head first..and buck..well if that wasent horrifiying..never broke him of the habit..so i just never did hill with him after that lol.so id rather make it to the bottem sideways and safely then change the old ways of a older horse ..

[luvallbreeds]

If you need to be able to tell her while it may be OK to travel at a side pass on some inclines, a simple bump in the road does not call for full side pass you will need to control her hind quarters and at 20 she can still learn some new tricks
Can you yeild her hindquarters from the ground? can you yeild her hind quarters under saddle on flat ground? Get those those two tasks down and then when you approach the down hill and she starts to bring her hindend around que that hind quarters back to the proper postion and take the down hill one step at a time slow and straight. Making corrections to the hindquarters when needed. Use a very small hill for practice...sense you mentioned the habit she has involves any hill, any size. As she gets better you can try going down bigger hills, at a faster walk. You may find it might be more helpful for her and you to take the down hill at an angle, but not allow her sidepass. If she indeed has an issue with arthritis. Just because a horse is 20 does not mean it has arthritis, just that the odds are higher that it does.