what to do with hands in trot -> canter transition

[rabbit]

I figure that I'm not doing the right thing as the horse just gets faster and faster in trot and does not canter :(

The leg aids I use are inside leg on, outside leg on behind the girth.

I haven't ridden my horse for over 2 months (she is a baby and is having some time off) and have been riding 2 other horses and still have the same problem. <sigh>

My instructor said I'm letting the horses run through my hands, but I thought that if I held the reins more firmly, it would be telling the horse not to change gait, but to go faster? (ie. closing the forward door)

Its particularly a problem on my horse as I have to canter from rising trot as she is young and can't yet take sitting trot. She has huge movement so the faster her trot gets, the more unbalanced and less co-ordinated I get, so I have to abandon the whole transition attempt, go back to a walk and start again. When my instructor rode my horse just before she was turned out (the horse, not the instructor !!) , she said that my horse didn't want to go into canter and stiffened its back - this was in response to my unbalanced riding.

I assume that the faster the trot gets, the more unbalanced the horse and the more difficult the transition becomes?

I suppose thats two questions really -

1. What to do with hands in a canter transition ?
2. How to prevent the horse from speeding up in trot rather than making the transition ?

or the impossible question number 3
How on earth does one learn to sit to the trot (or rise without getting eternally bounced :( ) on a Clydesdale cross with a huge rolling movement?

[nutkin]

As your horse is young and unbalanced she will find it difficult to canter in an arena especially if the arena is not very big. It is easier to teach the canter in a field as your horse will not be worrying about the corners. Your horse is rushing because she may not understand what you are asking her to do. When you ask for canter it is important that you have a steady trot with plenty of impulsion so that the canter is not flat. Before you ask for canter take sitting trot for just a couple of strides half halt and then ask. This should help stop your horse from falling onto her forehand. If the trot is just getting faster then do not ask for canter but keep giving half halts and slowing your rise til she steadies up and brings her hocks back underneath herself. Make sure that you practise asking her for canter when lungeing or longreining her from the ground and once she is doing this happily and when you ask you can try asking for it in your ridden work.Use your voice as you would on the lunge when you ask for canter and you should see an improvement. It doesn't matter if you only get a couple of strides of the canter before falling back into a trot at first but as soon as you get canter make sure you really praise your horse to let her know she has got it right. It will take time to get more strides of canter but you will get there eventually.

[soulburyrider]

not sure if it's nay help but I often have a similar problem and I ride a number of different horses in my lessons. One of my problems is that I try to 'heave the horse into canter ' which does nothing at all apart from make the trot more frantic.

Your reins need to be the correct length so that you feel a good contact down them ....it's all very well giving the leg aid but if the horse hasn't got anything to ride into then he won't bother.

I have a tendency to throw away the rein or pull my left hand up (a sort of knee jerk reaction with my hand! ) consequentially I jab the poor horse in the mouth so I have to tell myself (as per my instructor ) to keep the hands down on the neck.

Also make sure you are sat back as per above and heaving the horse into canter means I leap up the horses neck consequently making the horse fall onto his forehand and making it hard work for momentum and the horse to bring his back leggs under him.

Another tip is to look at the outside ear this keeps your head (the heaviest part of your body ) up and not as I have a tendancy to do look down to the inside.


Well that show you my faults !.....perhaps you can glean something from that .

[kedwards]

My instructor said I'm letting the horses run through my hands, but I thought that if I held the reins more firmly, it would be telling the horse not to change gait, but to go faster? (ie. closing the forward door)

You should keep about the same amount of contact during the transition that you have during the trot, neither dropping nor taking the reins. Suddenly dropping the contact will cause the horse's balance to fall toward his front end and make it more difficult for him to move into a smooth canter depart.

Think about holding the contact with the outside rein. If you use the inside rein when asking for the bend, be sure to release it forward as the horse begins the depart.

[Vicki&Milo]

Sorry, I haven't read all the replies, so if I repeat or diasgree with anything, bare this in mind.
I think you have kind of answered your own questions really, to stop the horse getting faster (and bouncier) and becoming unbalanced you need to steady the horse and bring her to a more collected and active trot, running on is actually a sign of laziness in this way.
I would actually querie what you said about taking the reins making the horse go faster rather than change gait, the collection and then leg aids dhould encourage a change of gait. Also remember that canter is not actually much faster than trot, and can be slower, keeping this is mind might help.
I used to ride a young Shire x (I think-he was 17.3hh and used to log!!!!) who basically just ran and ran and ran when you tried to get canter-the ONLY way to get him to canter was to bring him into a really really active but collected trot (almost on teh spot) and then give very definite leg aids, as my instructor used to so delicately put it-"kick and pull, kick and pull"-perhaps not the best way to put it, but it definitely worked!!
I would say though, to get this sorted on another horse before your mare, as, like you said, she's young and still unbalanced herself.
Good Luck :D
Vicki xx

[Baileigh]

Like others have said, keep the same amount of contact on the reins - you can control your trot through the rises you are doing, which you can use to speed up or slow down the pace, it's all about timing, for my mare, I sit for a beat of trot (where I would have been rising, if I was doing rising trot), give her my leg aids, push forward with my seat and squeeze on the reins, and she moves off into a canter.

For sitting trot, try holding yourself slightly out of the saddle at first, not rising, but getting hit by the movement of the trot with each stride, then you can get used to the movement without being bounced about all over the place, gradually you can then sit naturally to it, once you've adapted to the beat. This worked when I went from riding a 13.3hh pony to a 15.2hh standardbred mare whose trot was so fast that when I tried to sit to it, I ended up halfway up her neck!