[Carol Ames]

I take your road, too!6592262]It tends to be personal preference, really, and that's one of the reasons why riding someone else's GP horse can be a lot more difficult than riding someone else's TL horse. I like the inside leg at the girth/inside seat/outside leg passively back to make sure haunches don't swing out, personally, so you outside-leggers may have some issues convincing my GP horse to canter.

Many roads to Rome.[/quote]

[Pennywell Bay]

Too bad OP said it was not going to work out. boo. All my hunters are inside leg/seatbone with the outside leg to stabilize. I do remember waaayyy back on the lesson horses it was "outside leg outside rein". Interesting. My BNT used to say "I don't care if you spit on his ear to cue him, get the correct lead"

[Come Shine]

My BNT used to say "I don't care if you spit on his ear to cue him, get the correct lead"

[SnicklefritzG]

My advice? If the canter cue is the only thing you can find wrong with this horse, then buy it.

[Gestalt]

Why isn't the horse working out for you?

Way back in my 4-H days I learned to cue canter with the outside leg and the horses nose turned out towards the rail. When I started hunters, it was outside leg back to hold haunches and the inside leg/hip to cue canter.

[SendenHorse]

Hummm.... I use the outside leg in my aid for canter. Never really thought twice about it???

[normandy_shores]

....And I've already said that after my second ride, I'm decidedly unimpressed. Not quite the ride I'm looking for.

There are others -- I tried two nice, very different candidates today, and have two more lined up tomorrow and Tuesday. Very optimistic about Tuesday, but he's actually very well schooled and fancy and so we'll see

[BrokenArrow]

That's news to me! Even when I was riding Tempi the PSG schoolmaster under my BNT with all her medals the canter cue was outside leg behind the girth.

Goes to show doesn't it?

Paula

Interesting isn't it. Both my trainers (local one and one comes from interstate every 6 weeks) both train canter cue from the outside leg. The reasoning coming from it makes the flying changes easier to train earlier on. The same is also said by another more 'classical trainer'

Both of the trainers are GP competitors with many successful years and horses under their belts. Though it has been interesting retraining myself to do it.

[Samigator]

too bad the horse didn't work out. I would absolutely buy a horse if the canter cue was the only thing you didn't like. . . that is easily re-trainable, as are many of the cues. My guy learned 3 different canter cues in the past 3 years- from a saddle seat cue, to an outside leg cue, and now he goes off my seat bones (with some positioning of my legs, but no pressure). Very easy to teach/retrain.

[Cincinnati]

That's news to me! Even when I was riding Tempi the PSG schoolmaster under my BNT with all her medals the canter cue was outside leg behind the girth.

Goes to show doesn't it?

Paula

EVERY horse I have ever ridden in dressage is cued by the outside leg along with the inside at the girth. And I have been riding dressage for 30 years. Never been penalized by judges, etc.

[Cat Tap]

I use both legs. Step into the inside stirrup at the girth, lighten inside seat bone so it can slide forward and brush the outside leg back all at the same time. Most of my horses seem to understand from my half halt and body language that the canter cue is coming up. This has worked for me with different horses.

I have also found with real greenies that some preferred inside leg and others the outside when I first try to teach canter transitions. I don't refine the aids until later on.

[NRB]

easy to retrain.

[merrygoround]

If you consistently use your inside leg, at the same time as the outside leg, and beforehand make sure the bend is correct, the horse should retrain easily. The outside leg should always be part of the request.

The horse being into the outside rein is a result of the balance between the inside and outside leg.

[nhwr]

The major drawback to using the outside leg for a canter aid is it makes getting straight changes more challenging.

As to the OP's original question, this isn't a big deal at all for a lower level horse. I often use the outside leg for support with greener horses.
To retrain is simple if your timing is good - just use your inside leg and lighten your outside seat bone instead of moving your outside leg back.