Cantering

[Miriam]

I am a real coward when it comes to cantering. If I am asked to canter then the panic button goes, if however the horse takes off then I am not so bad (a case of tough luck). I feel that I am out of control and have no control over the horse what so ever. Can anyone suggest a way of relaxing.

[Maisie]

Hey there,

You could try relaxing by breathing very deeply, down into your stomach and the rest of your body. That kinda works for me...sometimes...but my instructor always blots out that feeling by shouting his head off at me :)

Also, remember to push your stomach out when you breathe like this. It's hard work but it's worth it. I'm also a panic at cantering...and I hope to correct it soon. It worked when I jumped (I'm a huge, HUGE coward when it comes to jumps, even tiny crosspoles).

Good luck to you! :D

[DavidH]

Your problem is very commom and stems as you said from felling a lack of control. A good way to overcome this is to build up your confidence through very short canters. Initially start with just a couple of strides then go straight back to trot. Keep doing this until you feel really confident about the downward transition to trot. Then increase to 4 strides and so on. Another little tip - make sure you are not leaning forward and loosing your contact when you ask for canter as this will cause a lot of horse to speed up their trot before cantering which is vary uncomfortable.
Remember - How do you eat an elephant? (One bite at a time!)
Good luck!

[Kelly Lee]

I have ridden for 2 years and just started feeling comfortable about 4 months ago. I found cantering without stirrups on the lunge line with my instructor really helped.I know that you may think - without stirrups...are you crazy!!!!- but it teaches you the most valuable lesson. Deep in the seat. You learn to rock with the horse. I found that when I was having the problem I would tense up and then come out of my seat, lean forward and all of my control would be gone. Then I would panic because I really DID NOT have control. Now that I can sit it feels like the most comfortable gait in the world. Also, work on your sit trot for balance and becoming one with the motion of your horse.

Good Luck!!!DON'T put pressure on yourself. One day it will come.

Kelly

[Dace]

One more way to gain confidence - hacking. With long strides of canter. :)

I'm riding almost one year and I wasn't progressing fast enough :), mostly canter felt out of control [like autopilot, I couldn't concentrate what I was doing] or too scary [if the horse got a bit faster or started shaking head]. I was forced to ride without stirrups in the lessons all the time, my instructor said it looks ok, but I still didn't felt comfortable.

Then I was forced to change riding school and besides lessons in the new school I started hacking once a week. After just 1 or 1,5 months I was "cured". Now I can canter whenever, on whatever horse. My fears are gone and I know I'm controlling the horse.

Here comes my explanation for this. Firstly if you start cantering in the fields it feels all the same as in the school, just don't stop and canter away. After 2 or 3 minutes of canter there comes the message "Brain to body! Brain to body! Why all the stress?" I mean the horse is relaxed, there are endless fields in front, nothing bad happens and at least my poor brain couldn't keep me in stress for no reason. :) Suddenly I felt totally relaxed and finally could enjoy the canter.

Ok, by next hacking the panic started again, but for shorter time and after some time it was completely gone. Of course it is very important where to hack out, especially for new riders. I'm the lucky one - there are really endless fields with no roads, cars, people, anything that might spook the horse.

I hope some of our tips will help you. Keep trying Miriam!

[Miriam]

Thanks to all of you who replied. I now do not feel alone as there are a few who have gone through this similar experience. I have talked to a girl at the yard I am at and another girl there apparently had the same fears. She hacked out with the first girl (who is doing her riding instructors certificate) and she said that she now does not look back. The more cantering she did the better it got. Hopefully once Rhianna is fit again we will get the hang of things.

[Somethingroyal]

Another way ( found this most useful) is to sorten your reins and sit deeply into your saddle. You might want to try a sadlle w/ a deeper seat to help you feel secure. Just be careful when you have short reins, horses can brace against them and run. Make sure you follow your mount's head w/ ** hands and when u want to stop just half halt and maybe circle.

[jillaroo]

Hi Miriam,
Canter has been such a huge issue for me too, and I scribbled about my last lesson in response to Nikki's cantering post, but I wanted to add it here as well because it really was almost a revelation to me. Like you, I hit the panic button as soon as the word canter is mentioned and no matter how much I think I have taken control of my nerves the minute the horse goes back for the strikeoff I tense, lean forward, and everything unravels from there. So sick of this ordeal every week I booked a private lesson to work just on canter. It was in a small ring so I didn't have that fear of the horse taking-off into no-mans land. We started-off with me holding onto the front and back of the saddle, which makes you sit deeper in the saddle. The other main thing was that I had to move my legs back further than I would normally have them - it felt a little like the kick for breaststroke; frog legs. That really keeps your bum in the saddle. We then progressed to letting go of the front of the saddle, and then letting go altogether. It felt so smooth and easy to sit that I felt like such a twit for getting myself in such a state over it. I felt relaxed and balanced. I really hope this helps because I know how miserable it is when you are anxious and you feel as though you are never going to get it right as much because of fear as anything else.