Keeping a slow canter on the smaller equine

[notpoodle]

... appley and I had another Trec clinic this morning. Really trying to crack this slow canter business. it's so hard on a 12-oddhh pony

i always end up lifting my hands up high and pulling my legs and heels up to try and keep her a) cantering and b) doing so in a slow, semi-collected fashion.

it went better once i ditched the stirrups altogether but ... man this is hard!

anyone got any top tips for staying 'in shape' (eg not look like a crazed thelwell passenger!) when attempting such ventures?? other than ditching stirrups (luckily, I have pretty good balance so stirrupless cantering doesn't bother me)??

i can do it no probs on a big horse, but the littlies are hard to keep going (especially appley who can be a speed merchant and really finds slow canters very tedious indeed!!)

[newforest]

Collect the trot then ask for canter from that.

Or polework, canter over and gradually reduce the space.

The cob appears to have a natural slow canter, i wonder if the judges are mistaking speed for the fact the little legs move more. The cob for trot, her legs go like mad but we are no faster than her working trot. That is just her gait.

[popularfurball]

I would be doing balance work - poles on floor to force her to collect up, cantering circles and '8''s as well.

As for riding it, sinking my weight into my bum, and sitting tall / almost slightyly back with legs wrapped on.

Its something I havent mastered on madam yet, but thats what I find helps towards it - she is much more a nose out full speed kind of pony!

[Trewsers]

I too struggle to get a slow canter from storm. Tho she isn't that small she only seems to have a really fast ten to the dozen canter. Would love to be able to slooooowww it down....

[notpoodle]

thanks guys

polework is out, i'm afraid. I can just about canter over ONE pole on the ground (and that took 3 years in the making!), but cannot canter over more than one (complete phobia, i'd be making matters worse because then I'd REALLY be tense/terrified/quite probably in tears), unfortunately. we're not quite cantering circles yet either (slow process this schooling business, one lesson a week ....).

will try to work on the collection lark some more (we always go into canter from a collected trot in the school, otherwise she just speeds along in trot and wont canter!)

[tubby]

Try walk to canter as it makes the canter slower & more uphill,good luck

[Jane&Ziggy]

AHAHAHAHAHA!

Sorry, will stop mad laughing now.

When you find out how to do it, please tell me!

[notpoodle]

i sure will

[Joyscarer]

I see it as a balance issue as much as trying to get the pony to understand what you are after. I've found it much easier to get a beautiful slow canter from Joy since I ditched my weight. I'm sure it'll be even easier once I get flyer to ditch hers and muscle her up again when the kids go back to school.

Biggest factor other than that is getting a good impulsive but slow trot.

I don't continue with long canters if I feel her getting out of shape, instead I will treat it as transition practice and ask for a good transition back to trot before it all goes wrong. When I get a good trot again it's straight back into canter again.

I think when balance is an issue, prolonged canters do more harm than good.

[popularfurball]

Walk and Trot poles? Doesn't just have to be in canter?

[newforest]

Who has the phobia of poles, you or pony. If it is you long rein or lunge over them. Do it until it becomes just all part of life. Someone has left some driftwood somewhere, oh look we just stepped over it.
Then add poles or get on and walk over one. Build it all up.

A fast canter is probably one on the forehand.

[notpoodle]

we do a lot of walking and trotting poles in our lessons, fine with those, it's the canter ones I can't do. it's me, not the pony (pony is mostly phobia free!) good idea though to try the canter poles on the longreins!

we can do various trots, collected, medium, fast slow .... canter transitions are usually pretty tidy too - but then it's often 'whoooo! yippie! here i come! this is BRILLIANT!' - not so good if you're practicing for TREC

[newforest]

The thing with trec is you are being marked against other people.

My canter was too slow and i broke to trot so i scored 0, it is better to have a canter to get a score than lose it part way or step outside the poles. My friend won the control of paces for canter but scored badly in the walk because hope had slow one.

You could focus on other things as i find if we get fixed on fixing something it doesn't fix. But most important have fun doing it. I love trec.

[notpoodle]

Trec today we got 31 for COP, but i don't know yet how walk and canter were scored. I think we kept canter and might have broken to a jog in walk but hard to tell sometimes if canter was 'almost' broken or was ....