There is a fairly easy fix for horse cut corners. It begins, as the resolution of all problems begins, on the walk. The gait is the slowest gait and the easiest gait to control on a horse, and it is where all training begins. Practice riding your horse at a pace around the arena, making him walk around the corners to a point where he has almost no room before allowing him to turn; at the same time, apply the leg that is facing the center of the arena (inside leg) behind the webbing firmly. This tells the horse that it is not allowed to take shortcuts. Do this at every corner of the arena you reach, each time you firmly apply the inside leg; thus telling the horse that it has no choice but to come around the corner. You’ll want to do this in both directions, which will teach the horse to always stay on the edge of the arena when riding around a corner; Also, praise him every time he goes around the corner without fighting your help, this will really reinforce his good behavior and desire to please you.

Once you have him doing very well around corners at a walk using those cues, and you feel confident that he is doing well, try him out at a trot. That way, you can tell if you’re ready to listen at a faster rate. If the horse continues to listen to prompts, reward it with praise and softer cues. If you choose to ignore prompting from him, take him for a walk and resume the exercise while walking, strongly indicating with your inside leg behind the cinch and bringing him almost to the corner. This tells him that in order not to have the assists snapped, he should come to the corner. Once he is obeying you again, try trotting again. Anytime he doesn’t hear at a faster pace and starts taking shortcuts again, bring him back on the trail and use your cues hard.

As he becomes more accommodating and listens to the trot, you can lighten your assists: use your softer legs and give him more rein to allow him to get around the corner without cutting into it. He will tell him that his good behavior made you trust him and he will be happy to oblige. Trust him, but if he goes back to the old behavior of taking shortcuts, immediately fix the problem by making him walk again and pushing him into corners. He will eventually learn that in order to move at a faster pace he has to get into the corners smoothly and avoid jolting towards the center of the arena.