Canter problem

[Brychen]

My horse can canter well hacking out, however we are having problems cantering in the menage.

We have moved to a new yard with a lovely big school, he will only canter a short way before grinding to a halt. he hasnt the best canter in the world when scholling, but it had improved at the previous yard. he isnt labme or sore.

he tends to fall in and go on the forehand. His trot used to be quite poor , head up, on the forehand etc and we have improved that over the last sis months so now he rounds up easily and looks quite impressive! I now want to get his canter to the same stage.

Any exercises/suggestions?

[anuvb]

First and foremost are you backing up the rounded outline with leg yielding and suppling exercises in trot? If you don't he won't use his back end and will find it difficult to stay in the canter and even harder to maintain the outline. If this is the case then you'll need to talk it through with your instructor. Canter is only maintained through impulsion from the hind legs and you may find you need to work a lot more on your trot work before he has the muscle to keep the canter going for a prolonged period.

However, if you are doing the above then to keep him cantering - make sure you warm him up properly. Up and down transitions. Walk to canter, then canter a few strides and back down to walk, trot to canter down to halt etc etc. This should get him pepped up and listening to your signals. Increase the length of time you canter between each transition. Work on a circle rather than the whole school and vary which end you use (if he does it in the same corner each time perhaps there is something he doesn't like?). Half halts as you trot, canter etc to help you keep the inside hind leg engaged.

If he is falling in then you need to combine your leg yielding aids with your canter. Lots of inside leg to push him out. A good exercise in trot is to bring the horse into a small 10metre circle and leg yield him out on to the 20m and immediately ask for canter once you reach the 20m circle.

Once you have him cantering for more than a few strides then try either sitting deep in the canter or sitting in a slightly forward light seat and see which one he responds best to and build this into you transitions - over-exaggerate your signals to get him going forward and slowing him down into the halt.

If you think at some point during the canter he is beginning to slow down, use you whip to tap your boot loudly and this should keep him going - back it up with strong leg aids, a light seat and give with your hands.

Hope this helps

[cvb]

One question is why the difference between school and hack. Is it a 'different' canter. e.g. he tries to go slower in the school because he knows there are corners and he is concerned about falling over ?

If you think this may be it, you could try working on your canter out on a hack - shorten and length the stride and so on. Then when you can get the kind of 'schooling' canter you want on a hack, come back into the school.

Work on your transitions for a while rather than the cnater itself. if you get a 'perfect' transition the canter will follow.

Also you can try this - ask for the canter transition on the long side and as soon as he canters, go in a gentle 20 m around to the other long side (half a 20m circle). When you reach the opposite side, ask for the downward transition.

(we always tend to ask for the transition on a corner when we are training - but maybe this is not helping you and doing the transition elsewhere could help).

And the reverse of this exercise, work on a 20m circle in trot, ask for the transition and then go large at the first chance.

good luck

[ros]

Don't forget that cantering in a school is a whole lot harder for the horse than cantering out on a hack. He has to cope with corners, and as he's going much faster it isn't as easy for him to regain his balance if he falters, which can zap his confidence.

You've managed to improve his trot with patience, so there's no reason why you shouldn't improve his canter in the same way. A few strides of good canter are far better than a whole circuit on the forehand, so if you get those few good strides, come back to trot and reward him before he gets unbalanced; next time you'll get an extra stride, and another and another until he finds it easy to maintain. Don't spoil it by pushing him on when he's falling on his forehand.

[Brychen]

thank you all for responsinding. I read your advice with great interest.

I tried the cantering in different rythems ( collected extended) hacking out last week which helped me get the rythme of his stride more.


tonight I tried cantering half circles which my horse coped better with. I also tried cantering short streches ( six strides or so) then trotting and cantering again. This also seemed to produce a little bit of a better canter. Id o all the canter work after about 10 /15 mins walk on either rein and trotting with lost of transitions and circles.

it was noticible though that a forward seeat produced a much better pace ( well more speed) and he seemd happier. maybe the secret is to try forward and gradually sit to his canter as one of you suggested?

I guess like the trot which is now quite good, it will take TIME. maybe six months or so to get some sembelance of balance and cadance. However I can see the light at the end of the tunnel now!

Thank you again for your help.