Reschooling horse - canter issues

[gordysgirl]

I am in the process of reschooling my OTTB. His walk & trot are coming on very well, and we can now establish a nice relaxed, balanced rhythm. I would now like to move onto some canter work. When hacking out he canters beautifully, relaxed, balanced and comfortable. However when I ask for canter in the school, he almost seems to panic and will either rush off in trot or if I get canter (which takes a lot of effort) it will last a couple of strides, and he will either buck or jolt back to trot. As he does this so well out hacking is it possible that the size of the school could be bothering him? It is 20 x 40, but I wonder with him obviously only being using to cantering / galloping along straights or gradual bends, that maybe he feels he cannot get round the corner as it is too tight?!
Also any tips on improving trot / canter transitions in order to make them more fluent. At least if we can improve these, then we can start on just a few strides until he is more balanced, and then work on lengthening the periods of canter.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
By the way I am having his back checked friday, just to make sure he is comfortable.

[racipaci]

I am having similar problems with Dave, he too is an OTTB and I've just managed to get his walk and trot mastered! however he has a problem with transistions in that he throws himself forward through the transistion and races off round the school.

I'm gradually overcoming this by making sure the trot is collected and bouncy and he is soft before asking for the transistion, I then make sure I am sat back and not allowing him to pull me forwards, this way he has to get his hocks underneath him and the transistion has slowly improved.

It is difficult and if yours is anything like mine he tries his heart out he just gets very confused after eight years of racing that when I ask for canter I don't mean as fast as possible.

I think yours could just be unbalanced and unsure, try getting the transistion right first before attempting the canter, if you make him push off from his hocks he will automatically be more balanced.

Just stay calm too it makes Dave ten times worse if I get all wound up! :D

Rachel

Edit to add: try trotting a ten metre circle before you ask for canter too, that makes them pick up the inside hock and strike off correctly :D

[Katharine]

Is there a large field near you that you could use to practise cantering in? If he canters quite happily on hacks you could find that he will not feel as restricted in a field and you may be able to start on a large circle and decrease the size as and when he finds his balance?
How is he on the lunge? Does he canter ok then?
With him being an OTTB you are probably right in thinking that he is just worrying about how he is going to get round those corners!!
Good luck!
Kat.x

[maren]

hi
i'm working with my ottb on canter transitions from the trot too!...when i ask from the sitting trot he acts as if he's been smacked with a crop and takes off on the forhand with lots of little leapy-bucks and flying changes. it takes about a minute of this before he'll settle into a more balanced canter, and then he'll get proppy and stop. he has trouble finding a middle gear in the canter. however, he can canter very nicely on the longe, and he's extremely athletic and i don't think it's a balance issue (although we will cruise along motocycle style if he's being really fast!) i think it's more an effect of his previous training: he gets really nervous when i sit and ask him to canter...it's almost like it flips a weird racehorse switch in his brain! anyhow, here what we've been doing:
instead of asking for the canter from the trot (which seems to totally freak him out!) i'll trot him over a small crossrail and let him canter out. i'll just let him keep cantering in large circles at the end of the school and i stay off his back. think cross-country three-point position. he's still a baby and pretty fresh off the track and doesn't yet have the back muscle for me to sit heavily...it also allows him to find his balance and move more freely under me. i can't tell you how much his canter work has improved! i'm not worrying yet about leads, and i'll let him countercanter if that's what he wants...i'm more interested in him becoming balanced and steady and even. if i feel like he's about to break i'll give a little cluck and keep my lower leg on, but i won't sit down and leg him. i also keep my reins pretty loose (if you hold them tight he bears down and runs...very racehorse...or flips his nose in the air and jumps up and down in place!) and constantly stroke his neck and tell him how good he is when he is cantering slowly and calmly. (not giving him a lot of rein support also slows him down as he can't rely on my hand for balance..he concentrates a lot more) when he speeds up too much or starts to fall to the inside i'll lift my inside rein to ask him to come off the inside shoulder, and this usually slows him down as well as rebalances him. as long as i'm relaxed and don't make a big deal out of it he manages to keep everything under control.
i'm so excited that there are other people on here with ottbs that are at the same stage in training! we'll have to start an ottb board in here :p

[gordysgirl]

Thanks guys,

racipaci - gordy has always done this amusing leap into canter (which he does out hacking but is getting better!), which I presume is from being in starting gates when racing. It kind of throws you back of balance but at the same time automatically brings his back end underneath him as he jumps from behind if you see what I mean! I will definately try the 10mtr circle idea. Its nice there are other people out here who are in the same position as me - gordy like yours, does always try his heart out but does find this whole schooling thing very confusing!

katharine - we did have a large field which I was using to do some canter work in, and he was definately improving (although every now and then it kind of reminded him of the gallops!), unfortunately that needs to rest for this years hay! Hopefully end of June when its cut, I will be able to use it again to practice. His transitions in there were really nice.

I just don't think he feels he can actually get round the corner without toppling over.

racipaci - did you find dave was very unsupple and stiff when you started with him? If so did you find any excercises particularly helpful to encourage some flexibility and bend?

[gordysgirl]

maren - just got your msg after I posted mine! we have just started some jumping (he hurdled so hedges are easy but coloured poles very scary!), so I will try the crosspole idea. He trots beautifully up to them, then leaps about 4 foot, and then canters quite nicely off, if I can keep the canter up maybe this will help!

[racipaci]

Dave was unbelievably stiff when I got him and found it so difficult to lift his back and work from behind. He is still stiff on the left rein but not so much.

My instructor helped a lot with his bend and flexibility, she made me slow everything right down, Dave would initially get confused by my seat and leg and start cantering behind and trotting in front. Once he started realising that my seat controlled his pace and not the reins I started slowing the trot right down so that he had to take careful steps and use his behind, this involved doing lots of ten metre circles using just the seat to turn him on a very long rein with barely no contact initially, another good exercise is on a twenty metre circle to vary the speed of the trot with the seat and then spiral the circle in gradually at a slow trot then leg yield out. These were all quite simple excercises which achieved a slower more controlled trot and better bend without stressing him out too much.

Once he had cottened on to what I was asking he would try very hard, but I had to take it slowly and keep reminding myself that he was very weak in his back and found it physically demanding.

We are now progressing onto leg yielding but I still incorporate lots of ten metre circles as they did seem to be the key. by slowing the trot right down initially Dave had to think about what he was doing and where he was putting his feed and eventually his head dropped and his back lifted and from then it was easier to improve his flexibility.

I have now started to push the trot forward more and take up more of a contact so things are definitely improving.

As for jumping - Dave was a hurdler too and is enthusiastic about poles now, however the slightest leg pressure when approaching the jump causes him to take off from wherever he happens to be! but at least he's keen! :D

[maren]

heehee! they're so cute the way the concentrate so hard and work their hearts out for you. i love how biggsie keeps at least one ear on me constantly to see what i want, and whenever we approach a new task or obstacle both ears come back and he listens with his whole body to what i'm asking. :) he's just adorable!
when biggs is really being a pistol and not listening or bending i'll start doing big figure eights with him. the change of bend every circle really gets him paying attention and loosens him up. i'll also use an opening rein as well as a neck rein when i ask him to turn and bend (think both hands over to either the right or left by about 5 inches whenever you are asking for bend around a curve) an opening rein works really well with green horses, as it actually guides their head in the direction you want to go, rather than the more indirect aid of squeezing back. the neck rein on the outside keeps him from bulging and asks for bend through the neck and shoulder, and your inside leg on the girth will encourage him to bend through his body. i also make a point of really looking where i want to go...not just with my eyes but turning my head in the direction of travel...makes a huge difference on a green horse. i am very distinct and deliberate when i change the aids through the middle of the figure eight, and biggsie is really starting to figure it out...we're now working on shoulder-in down the straight sides (more success some days than others! :rolleyes: )