Collection in Canter

[makebelieve]

I cantered Solo once a week ago, and I'll go for my 2nd try tomorrow but I have a question about her collection.

She felt really uneven and unsteady, while panting. This of course has to do with the fact that she hasn't been worked in months. She was dripping in sweat by the time that I was done. I don't think she was very collected when I was cantering, as it was very unsteady. I got a few nice paces but most of the time it was all over the place. Maybe it could be to do with the fact that I was only allowed 1/4 of the arena because these kids NEEDED it to do their course OVER AND OVER. I could have really used the space.

Anyway, what could I do to help her to become more collected? My posture could apparently loosen up a little which I can work on but what else? I was sort of tense because she wasn't exactly going slowly at the canter. And doing it in an extremely small circle didn't help one bit. I think that I could have better used the space. And right when I was cantering, the kids were cantering their ponies right into Solo, making her kick out at them in all directions. What an ignorant instructor! Especially when I've never cantered on Solo before. Yet her students are way more important jumping this one course for the 100th time!

Sorry to rant, just expressing myself. We had to share an instructor and had 2 different lessons going on. I had privates because I needed to work on contolling Solo. And it really helps when there are other little kids jumping and cantering their poor horses over one course too many times. I feel bad for the kids and the horse because I know its not their fault they're made to do it. On the other hand, they had no respect for me, rampaging into my horse with their little ponies scaring the heck out of Solo even more while trying to get her into a nice canter.

[galadriel]

Collection takes a tremendous amount of strength; it comes after hours and hours and hours under saddle.

I think you probably meant balance. A lot of horses are unsteady at the canter when they're green or returning to work from a break. It has a lot to do with natural one-sidedness; the horse is stronger on one side than the other. Circles are also much harder than straight lines, and asking a horse for a teeny circle at canter takes lots of strength and precision.

To help the horse develop its strength on both sides, it helps to stretch, lunge, and ride at a canter on a *straightaway* so that horse does not have to turn circles.

[virtuallyhorses]

What sort of training and work has your horse had until now? and how much work did you ask for before your horse was 'panting' and 'dripping in sweat'?

Collection is the last step in the training scales - horses which are rigourously trained for dressage may not be asked for true collection until they have had many years of consistant training. So if your horse has not had this training and is only just coming back into work then it may not be appropriate to be asking for a collected canter.

In the circumstances you describe it may be a better idea not to work on canter at all, but instead to work on relaxation (long and low) in the trot so that when you do canter you can transfer those same exercises into canter and they will be familiar and reassuring to the horse. Trot work will also help to condition your horse to more work without causing too much strain.

[makebelieve]

I cantered her for 5 minutes or so, the last 5 of my lesson. She hasn't cantered in a while though from what I understand. I have lunged her for other reasons for about 15-20 mins just trotting, to take the edge off of her (Usually she bucks and rears during this time, but has gotten much much better at calming down.