aids to canter - help been riding for 20 years and struggling!!!

[Lucy J]

so, now ciara has decided that she can move her back legs and can canter in the school i have been getting some lovely transistions and canter work from her, however, only when she decides to transition of her own accord, or if you put her over a jump to get canter. i really struggle to ask her for canter. she gets all tense head up feels like she's gonna buck then we just get an extended trot, or a run into canter. currently i need to keeo my inside leg back enough to keep her quarters engaged, which may also involve riding a 10m circle first before asking for canter, then i move my hands to her outside to free up her inside shoulder, sit down and use inside leg and kick with outside leg behind the girth, but i get the feeling i am tense and when i ask i am also akward in the sadde. now i know she is capable of perfect transitions on each rein i need some help on how to get her to understand when i am asking. any ideas? am i doing something wrong? once we are in canter its great, i just feel as if i am asking for the transition all wrong. cheers. :rolleyes:

[cvb]

mmmm

"currently i need to keep my inside leg back enough to keep her quarters engaged"

why ? why is the leg back rather than just on ? if she's not comfortable working through, then perhaps the canter strike-off is hard for her still ?

Ok - so back to basics for a moment. Trot - 2 time diagonals. Canter - 3 time. Outside hind, IH/OF diagonal, inside fore. So for the strike-off the OH/IF diagonal needs to be in the air, and then they need to change from diagonal pairs to 1-2-1 order.

So if your inside leg is actually asking her quarters to go out, you may be blocking the outside hind ? and/or confusing her as to what you want ?

The rider's outside leg is used behind the girth to ask for the transition because you are asking for that hind to do something different.

remember to breathe - this will help release YOUR tension.

[ridingwood]

Nice reply, cvb.

[Supercali]

I have this problem sometimes! If I try too hard`then I tense up and lean forward which then makes the job 10 times more difficult for the horse.

Try to see how the horse is bending around the corner, maybe she is drifting through her shoulder and needs a bit more outside rein to straighten her neck, or all the energy will be going out through the shoulder.

Get a nice trot going and don't worry too much if she does do a fast trot - just bring her back to a nice trot and ask again, backing your leg aid with a tap of the whip. I sometimes carry my whip in the outside hand if this is happening. When you ask for the transition, think 'sit down and back' although you are not actually leaning back, it should stop you from tipping forward.

Because it is difficult for her, only do a few paces before asking her to trot and then and gradually increase it.

I don't know how she is on the lunge but mabe she will benefit from canter work on the lunge and also bending/suppleing work.

Hope this helps. :)

[Supercali]

Forgot to add - if you ask her for canter on the lunge, use the same voice command when asking her when you are riding - it should help her understand what you are asking for.