Jelly legs after cantering!

[Trewsers]

Hi there, has anybody got any advice for somebody like me who has been learning to ride 4 months and is now TERRIFIED of canter?!!! Have just started the past three weeks towards the end of my lesson and have started finding myself DREADING it!! I seem to lose all sense of balance and just panic - my legs were like jelly again last night after I'd got off! I use the same school horse every week, who is a steady cob but he does seem to get quite excited by canter and doesn't take any persuading to go into canter. I seem to spend half of my time trying to slow him down before I ask him to canter as am worried it will just end up in a full blown gallop (highly unlikely in an enclosed arena I know but my imagination runs away with me!). I thought I was making such good progress too - I only have two lessons a week and up until this point I was really enjoying myself. I don't want there to be things I can't do like cantering - I want to do it as I'm going to be buying my own horse eventually (mainly for quiet hacks) but I want to be reasonably capable of being in control in all situations. My instructor is really good, she's always reassuring me and giving helpful hints, but I just seem to lose all reason once the horse strikes off into canter and feel as though I simply have to cling on (even resorted to grabbing a handful of mane the other day as we went into a corner as it seemed preferable to tumbling off!!)

Can anybody offer up any advice?
Thanks

[MysticKitten]

I don't really have any helpful hips as I am totally like you. I've been riding for 8 months (one lesson a week) and I'm just learning to canter and I was terrified. I started a fear of cantering thread in the Starting Out forum and we are not alone!

My instructor changed the horse (or in my case pony) to learn to canter. She picked the smoothest cantering pony on the yard to help with my fear. Maybe another horse on the yard would be easier for you, but maybe you might feel more comfortable with a horse you know. They tend to swap you around on different horses quite a bit where I have lessons.

I've got to the point where I can do a few srides of canter without blind panic, although I don't feel at my most relaxed! I think it's a case of small steps and not feeling pushed into anything you feel uncomfortable with.

[Trewsers]

Thanks for that Mystickitten ! Good to know am not alone. Am going to try a different horse next week just to see if this helps. I will just have to keep on trying - at least its not just me!! :D

[carrimclaren]

First of all don't worry about it. I lost count of the amount of times i had to grab onto mane, neck strap, front of saddle (you get my drift) when i first started to learn canter. Most people do so don't worry about having done this, it's natural. Canter will seem really rushed and quick compared to anything you've done and it will seem scary (take a look in starting out, there's quite a few posts on it). Even people, like me, who have been riding for a while still don't quite have the hang of it yet :D It's quite normal to be worried about it and i suppose i don't really have any worthwhile advice to give. All i can say is just try and relax and don't worry about whether your feet or hands look right, just concentrate on trying to move with the motion of the horse.

Good luck and you'll soon start to enjoy it i reckon.


p.s place your trust in your instructor to pick the right horse for you. If you don't trust them then there's something going wrong. I trusted mine to put me on a horse that wouldn't speed round and she always got it right.

[Grace O'Malley]

Four months really isn't very long to master the subtle nuances of balance and weight control. I'm always amazed at how fast people seem to be brought along in their lessons. I guess instructors feel students will get bored and lose interest if they don't get to go fast...fast. If folks feel ready and are happy, great! But I guess my point is, if you don't feel ready, I'd back off and focus on getting comfortable with all kinds of trot--fast, slow, rising, sitting, different horses, and all the kinds of spooks, stumbles, and tempermental head-tossing or kick outs that can easily unbalance a rider. The faster the horse is moving, the less time you have to react to anything unexpected, and that *is* un-nerving.

I've been riding for years, and I still find canter stressful--more or less depending on the horse. So do a lot of people on this board! You'll get there; what's the hurry? :D

Grace

[Maria]

Why not go back and focus on consolidating the work in trot and walk until you feel more confident. You might find some lunge lessons will help. Or perhaps some private lessons.

I developed a real thing about cantering after I'd ridden for many years. Some lessons on a residential course (including lunge sessions) and then a helpful and inspiring instructor at home, helped me tackle the problems.

[MysticKitten]

Grace - it's reassuring to hear your comments on fast moving lessons. I have to admit I have got a bit of a complex about my progress after reading a lot of the posts on NR.

My school seems to have a very different approach to teaching to all others. I was on the lunge for probably my first 12 lessons learning feel and balance. I had to be proficient at rising trot with no wobbles and hands out to the side before I progressed to being off the lunge and learning steering, leg aids etc. So my progress seems very slow compared to others on NR. I had an experience at the weekend that's made me look at things differently. I went to a different stables and had a lesson as part of a fun day (which was excellent). There was someone there I was chatting to who had probably had a bit less instruction than me who was cantering and had done a few small cross country jumps. My progress complex kicked in straight away! However as the lesson progressed this person was picked up on using their reins to balance, arm position, had never done sitting trot. I realised then that I had just been learning and working on different skills. I'm not saying one of us was 'better' than the other, we had just been working on different aspects.

I think the moral of this little ramble is that if you don't feel happy to canter just yet there are other things to work on. :)

[Laetitia]

It's quite difficult to achieve a balanced good walk and trot on a horse and there are different speeds to those paces to learn too -so I should concentrate on those before scaring yourself to death with canter that you don't feel ready for. L

[timarti]

Took me almost 3 years to get brave enough to canter, LOL :p
What really helped was learning in 2 point, rather than trying to 'sit'. It was much easier to keep balanced and I could use my hands resting lightly on the withers for re-assurance, rather than hanging on the reins. I also started riding Icelandics, (lower to the ground!) and was mostly outside on a large oval track, rather than inside a school, where the walls and corners seem to come up so quickly. ;) Learning on a horse that has a balanced canter and doesn't lose it on the corners also helps a lot. It is also much better when I recall that I should be breathing. :D

[maya-m]

Exactly! Don't get a complex about 'the others'.

You have to keep on working on your own balance and position, it really does take time and effort. Some instructors introduce you to canter at a point where they feel you can cope, as they feel you may find it easier than trot, in some ways.

BUT there is a difference in canter speeds, and each horse is different. The one they put you on is easy to get into canter, which is a kind of advantage, but if you go into it from walk, it will usually be a more collected and pleasant pace to start with, than one from trot. And if you tense up, lean forward, and can't stop the horse, then that's not helping either - you are telling him to go faster!

I have been learning for 18 months, am still only just beginning to get the hang of canter, and have just had a lesson where I've been advised to go back to working on my position, at slower paces. I feel it was good advice. So don't feel anxious about it, just keep working on the preparation, and one day it'll come, and you'll wonder what you ever found scary:).

[clipclop]

Hi Trewsers

It is a common problem, you are not alone.

Try not to worry about it and focus on what you do feel in control of. If you feel good in the trot do a lot of trotting first to boost you confidence.
When you do feel like cantering just do a few strides then come back to trot.

Maybe half a circle in canter and the other in trot. By doing just half circles it will give you a feeling of more control. It will also get the horse to listen to you more as well.

Stick with the half circles for as long as you like cos one day you will say to yourself lets go all the way round instead of just half way round. Eventually you will feel more confident to go furhter and further.

[Trewsers]

Thanks Clipclop - its good to know lots of people feel the same! I had a really good lesson the other day and am slowly building more confidence, I guess I can't wait for the day when it just feels natural and I don't worry about it! I've had a lesson on a lunge rein which helped no end too. :)