closing thighs in canter

[sophie33]

As I have excitedly posted elsewhere I am finally begin to relax in canter in the school. However, in my last lesson my horse was v speedy and bouncy. My instructor was telling me to close my thigh to slow him - fine but as soon as I tried I started bouncing out the saddle. I couldn't simultaneously relax enough to move with the horse and squeeze my thighs to slow him. Any tips would be much appreciated.

[xLuckibrunette]

Awh it is not very fun to ride a bouncy horse. One thing you could try first of all to slow him down & possibly get him to have a smoother canter is half halts. That is when you squeeze the reins, release, squeeze the reins. This way it could slow them down when your thighs get tired.
If your legs are getting tired quickly you might want to work on strengthing your legs to improve riding. GOOD LUCK.:)

[sophie33]

Thanks Luckibrunette. The problem is that, like most novices, I tend to use the reins too much. As this horse has a sensitive mouth the instructor is trying to get me to use my legs more to slow the horse. At walk and trot I feel I've cracked it. But in canter it makes me bounce...

[adanac]

when you bounce at the canter when you are going up try moving ** hands forward a tiny bit. i hold my hands low so i just imagine as the horses head goes forward moving my hands up the neck (but not touching it!). i also use a shorter rein on faster horses so i hold mi hands a little furter forward then i normally do hope this helped

[Jenni]

i woudl say the explantion is a bit confusing (from your instructor) by closing your thigh i think you may be literally squeezing your legs closed. Am i right?

this will make you grip, tighten up and bounce more.

think like this, if i had a giant hand(:rolleyes: only explanation i can think of) and tried to pinch your knees together into the saddle on either side of the horse whilst cantering, how woudl the rest of your body react?

You would probably loose your balance, and the upper half would get thrown about.

I would suggest rather than closing, you concentrate on stretching down with your legs this will bring the leg closer so you have a better feel of the horse but the muscles wont tighten. also to slow him down sit nice and tall , ry to sit deep into your saddle (keep nice and tall though) and ask him to wait with the rein, rahter than a constant pull.

Remember you are paying money to be taught, if you dont understand or need a better explanation then ask, thats what instructors are for. :D :D

[sophie33]

Okay thanks Jenni that is really helpful. From what you say I think the instructors description / my stupidity (take your pick :p) was making me squeeze for too long and 'pop' out the saddle (that describes how it felt anyway). I will try to concentrate on stretching my legs down next time. However, I should also momentarily tighten my thigh and seat muscles before using the rein to ask him to slow shouldn't I? When I do that at walk and trot it works in anycase.

[SupaTania]

i think your instructor was attempting to teac you seat aids. Clinton Anderson does a brilliant job of starting/stopping his horse simply from his seat. He did a beautiful canter - halt transition without reins.

By squeezing your thighs, you are meant to be blocking the movement of the horse, making it hard for him to keep going at a high speed. You are not supposed to squeeze your knees towards each other though. Its more of a shift in body weight backwards, with a tightening of the thighs to block his movement, and cause him to slow down. once he's slowed down you go back to riding normally.

Its quite hard to explain and probably even harder to do. I was working on it at the walk/trot, but haven't done it in months.

[Wobblydeb]

Ditto what SuperTania and Jenni said :p

I was taught by one instructor to "block the movement" with a squeeze or a brace - probably the same thing your instructor is teaching. I can only get it to work in walk though. :o

Another instructor has taught me to relax downwards with my heels and bring my shoulders back. I can manage this in all paces, so that is what I use now :)

[Jenni]

Wobbkldeb used the word i was trying to think off. :D

Brace !!

rather than thinking squeeze just think, brace and hold your position for a second or two and push your bottom down into the saddle and that shoudl help slow down.

it might take a couple of tries to figure out how to do it all at once but you will get it no problem. Also you wil have to see what works for that horse. Just try and watch there reaction.

One thing with a horse that rushes is if you try to get into a pulling contest with them, they will always win.

Have you been taught a half halt yet. this helps, maybe ask your instructor to teach you this to help you slow him down.

[dancing-horse]

relaxing in your canter is hard enough, and even harder with a horse that has a bouncy stride. have the same problems with a sitting trot when I ride a lesson horse at my barn. His bounce is so bouncy, we almost have to slow him to a walk to make it a little bit more simple. Try slowing your horse down with your reins by using small half halts until he gets the hit. This is gently squeezing and releasing the reins. Keep being persistent until he listens to you and if he speeds up, do the same thing again. You might want to strengthen your thigh by doing exercise like leg lifts and more sitting trot work. My trainer had me do two point with no stirrups and that helped my thight immensely.

[sophie33]

Thanks everyone. I think I understand better what I am being taught now and will try to put it into practise next lesson. So I need to think brace not squeeze and combined with pushing my bum down into the saddle! Its also nice to know it isn't easy - makes me feel less useless!
Thanks again