Cannot get my head around canter leg aids

[Kirsty McDonald]

Just as a pre-warning, I imagine this post might end up being quite confusing.

So as the title says, I just can't understand canter leg aids! In walk I'm fine, I get the whole left-leg-right-leg thing to ask the horse to track up under himself, and trot is good too, but I just do not understand what I'm supposed to do in canter! The transition itself is getting there: sometimes I find myself still rising rather than sitting in the saddle, but only now and again, and a quick sitting trot soon gets my brain working with my body and it's fine again. We've been working on 8 strides of canter, 8 strides of trot and then back to 8 canter and so on, so I'm getting there with the transitions (but sometimes my brain forgets to tell my body what order to use the aids in in downward transitions and we end up with 10 or 12 canter before trot).

However, when I'm trying to keep the canter around the school I can't figure out how to use my legs without gripping up so then I focus so much on not gripping with my knees that my legs become useless, and my instructor is shouting "leg! leg! leg!" and I'm like "but how do I leg?!" I try to nudge with my heels, but I can't seem to get how to nudge without bringing my heels up. In my head I should be trying to sort of turn my toes out a little so my heels come in, but that just doesn't work!

Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

p.s. I've done some non-stirrup work and I'm fine with that (not tried non-stirrup canter though due to sometimes not sitting in the saddle during the transition) but once I get my stirrups back it's like I've never done it!

 

[Jessey]

I rarely contact my mare with my heels, unless she is being especially difficult, when I leg on its a firmer contact from my calf and inner leg, rather than my heel. How long have you been riding? You will find the longer you ride the easier it is to keep your heels down as you become more flexible through your hip, knee and ankle.

 

[eml]

Think soft thighs and knees and tightening your calf not anything to do with heels. Sitting trot before canter is fundamental, approach a marker say B and go into sitting trot ,at the next marker ( M or F) arrange legs so outside leg is back and other on girth and approaching corner apply both legs at calf. Get in the habit of thinking 'sit, position, leg' for every upwards transition into canter.

 

[Kirsty McDonald]

Thank you for your replies, eml that is especially helpful, I'll try that tomorrow. Jessey, I have only been riding for 6 months or so, which I know is nothing in riding terms, but I was a ballet dancer at a fairly high level until then and so for me tightening calves = pointing toes, so it's taking a lot of retraining to keep the weight in my heels in the first instance! Ballet has definitely helped my riding in terms of balance and strength, but riding requires me to use that strength in a very different way, and it's taking some getting used to! Having gone from dancing at a high level to going right back to the beginning and starting something new from scratch, it's difficult not just knowing what to do and having to actually think about what I am doing! Just need to be patient with myself! Thank you both again

 

[Jessey]

Oo yeah that's going to take a minute to retrain the muscles. I've been riding years and am having the heel creeping up issue since a fall (off my own 2 feet ) before Xmas where I pulled the lateral collateral ligament in my knee, tore the calf muscle attachment to the knee and naffed everything in my ankle too, it's taking ages to come right but it's just a matter of perseverance but if you're a ballet dancer you obviously have serious grit so you'll get there

 

[Kirsty McDonald]

Jessey that sounds nasty! Hope you're doing ok and make a speedy recovery! I know I will get there with time, it is just a little frustrating when things don't come naturally as they did after years of dancing! Hopefully after a few years of riding I will need to do less thinking than I need to now

 

[eml]

Dancers are my worst nightmares as pupils!

First lose your upper body position, think about straightening your spine and moving your pelvis under you to lose the dancer arch in your lower back.Learn to stretch those thigh and calf muscles and to use relaxation not tension. Learn to sit still and relaxed, the hardest thing in riding IS to be in neutral doing nothing!

 

[Kirsty McDonald]

Dancers are my worst nightmares as pupils!

First lose your upper body position, think about straightening your spine and moving your pelvis under you to lose the dancer arch in your lower back.Learn to stretch those thigh and calf muscles and to use relaxation not tension. Learn to sit still and relaxed, the hardest thing in riding IS to be in neutral doing nothing!

Eml I feel sorry for my RI sometimes, it's just so engrained to pull up and pull in that trying to do the opposite is a verg very strange feeling! I can easily lose the dancer's arch in walk and trot, but when we start doing more complicated things or faster things (ie canter) I am too busy thinking about what else I need to do that I revert to the arch

Just need saddle time and practice I think, with some non-mounted exercises to work on too!