Trot to canter transitions

[Nierva]

Good morning all,

My balance in the saddle is definitely improving, and I now only rarely lose a stirrup, but I am struggling more with trot to canter transitions.

It is partly due to the fact that I am now riding a different horse and had only cantered two of the ones I used to ride a lot in lessons before now. I know that riding different horses will make me a better rider in the long run and that I need to keep learning to use my legs effectively, so I am fine with riding a different horse. However, not having had the time to bond with this one does make me more nervous.

It is probably also due to inconsistent contact through the reins, as I am always worried about potentially hurting the horse’s mouth to such an extent that my hands, rather than being “light”, could probably be made to drop completely by a passing gnat.

Any tips? The more apprehensive I get about the trot to canter transition, the less it actually happens. I’m fine out on hacks where the horse generally wants to join the others anyway, but am struggling on my current mount for my private lessons.

Thanks very much in advance!

 

[Jessey]

The more apprehensive I get about the trot to canter transition, the less it actually happens.

What do you mean by this? do you mean the more you think about it the less trouble you have?

I’m fine out on hacks where the horse generally wants to join the others anyway, but am struggling on my current mount for my private lessons.

Are you finding you are having to kick this horse a lot to get the transition in your lessons? this can def make your leg creep up, which takes the weight out of the stirrup and then you loose it. If that's the case perhaps talk to your RI about how to refine you cue or if you might be better to carry a stick in the lesson.

 

[Nierva]

What do you mean by this? do you mean the more you think about it the less trouble you have?


Are you finding you are having to kick this horse a lot to get the transition in your lessons? this can def make your leg creep up, which takes the weight out of the stirrup and then you loose it. If that's the case perhaps talk to your RI about how to refine you cue or if you might be better to carry a stick in the lesson.

No, not quite, the more I think about it, the more I tense up and the more things go wrong/just don’t happen at all.

I do generally have a dressage whip, but am always wary of not using it effectively. As I spend a lot of my time doing changes of rein, I’m constantly having to swap it from one hand to the other, as well.

 

[Jessey]

It’s really common to tense when worried, and your body will try (even if super subtly) to pull into a foetal position, which pulls your legs up and shoulders forward, putting you off balance and making you more likely to loose a stirrup. It is something almost every rider has done at some point!
Talk it over with your instructor, they are the best person to guide you as they can see what’s going on.

 

[PotBelliedPig]

Don't worry - trot to canter is difficult & its common to struggle with it.
Some tips:
Do a lot more cantering on hacks so you are used to it & less tense.
The time to use your whip is earlier in the lesson. Make sure the horse isn't slouching along being lazy when you're trotting.
If you do a long section of nice balanced, bouncy sitting trot before you ask for the canter, this gives you time to make sure your shoulders are relaxed and you aren't leaning forward.
Make an obvious/exaggerated aid to canter. If you're nervous about it the horse can pick up that you are not committed. Decide beforehand "I'm going to canter at H" .
Make sure you give with the inside hand .
...and keep practicing - it will come.

 

[Nierva]

It’s really common to tense when worried, and your body will try (even if super subtly) to pull into a foetal position, which pulls your legs up and shoulders forward, putting you off balance and making you more likely to loose a stirrup. It is something almost every rider has done at some point!
Talk it over with your instructor, they are the best person to guide you as they can see what’s going on.

Very likely what’s happening, yes. I like my instructor, but am also getting a little frustrated. He isn’t mean or horrible, but he is sarcastic and does tease me a lot. That’s just his sense of humour and I know that, but it does get to me a bit sometimes.

 

[Jessey]

Very likely what’s happening, yes. I like my instructor, but am also getting a little frustrated. He isn’t mean or horrible, but he is sarcastic and does tease me a lot. That’s just his sense of humour and I know that, but it does get to me a bit sometimes.

If you don’t like him teasing you should tell him, as a professional he should be able to adapt his approach depending on the student.

 

[Nierva]

Don't worry - trot to canter is difficult & its common to struggle with it.
Some tips:
Do a lot more cantering on hacks so you are used to it & less tense.
The time to use your whip is earlier in the lesson. Make sure the horse isn't slouching along being lazy when you're trotting.
If you do a long section of nice balanced, bouncy sitting trot before you ask for the canter, this gives you time to make sure your shoulders are relaxed and you aren't leaning forward.
Make an obvious/exaggerated aid to canter. If you're nervous about it the horse can pick up that you are not committed. Decide beforehand "I'm going to canter at H" .
Make sure you give with the inside hand .
...and keep practicing - it will come.

Thanks! I’m not getting to practise my sitting trot much at the moment. My current instructor prefers the “Rise for 3, sit for 3 and repeat” technique. I don’t want to hurt any horse’s back, of course, but I think the 3 stride thing is actually making me more tense and bounce more. I’ve asked if I could do some work without stirrups, but was told, “We’re working up to that”. Honestly, I feel I bounce more in general with stirrups! I definitely feel more secure without them sometimes. Not sure why.

Give with the inside hand…that’s part of what I’m doing wrong. My hands get very tense as well. Any tips on how to improve that?

 

[Nierva]

If you don’t like him teasing you should tell him, as a professional he should be able to adapt his approach depending on the student.

It all depends, though. I don’t mind it sometimes. He rarely gives me any praise, which I would like more of, but I do respect someone who only gives praise where it’s deserved as well, so I’m hard to please, I suppose!

 

[LeilaLei]

I'm very new to riding and only did my first little canter yesterday. But I guess that makes a lot of "issues" fresh for me even if they're coming up in different circumstances.
A couple of things that seem to consistently help for me - the monkey grip is your friend. All instructors and guides I've ridden under tell me I can always grab it (or the horn on western saddles) if I need to. They also get me to use it but not "hold" it sometimes which means just lightly have my thumbs under it.
The other thing is I've found there's a point where you need to really gel with your instructor. There's a lot of trust in them and trust that they understand you as a rider. I've learned how much riding is a mental challenge just as much as a physical challenge and this means the instructor needs to work with you on this. The mind-body connection affects everything we do. Add another mind and body (the horse) and there's a whole mix of things that need to work together.
With feedback and praise generally, I have had lessons where there wasn't much said, but I do journal my lessons afterwards. I try to remember that RIs have their flat days at work, like we all do.
And I do remind myself that I'm paying for my lessons. If the service isn't working right for me then I'm perfectly entitled to review that with the school and if necessary try a different instructor or school. I know this isn't always an option and can also be a bit of a frustration having to adjust, but this is your money, mind and body and it matters just as much as anyone's.
Hope you can find some solutions : )

 

[Nierva]

I'm very new to riding and only did my first little canter yesterday. But I guess that makes a lot of "issues" fresh for me even if they're coming up in different circumstances.
A couple of things that seem to consistently help for me - the monkey grip is your friend. All instructors and guides I've ridden under tell me I can always grab it (or the horn on western saddles) if I need to. They also get me to use it but not "hold" it sometimes which means just lightly have my thumbs under it.
The other thing is I've found there's a point where you need to really gel with your instructor. There's a lot of trust in them and trust that they understand you as a rider. I've learned how much riding is a mental challenge just as much as a physical challenge and this means the instructor needs to work with you on this. The mind-body connection affects everything we do. Add another mind and body (the horse) and there's a whole mix of things that need to work together.
With feedback and praise generally, I have had lessons where there wasn't much said, but I do journal my lessons afterwards. I try to remember that RIs have their flat days at work, like we all do.
And I do remind myself that I'm paying for my lessons. If the service isn't working right for me then I'm perfectly entitled to review that with the school and if necessary try a different instructor or school. I know this isn't always an option and can also be a bit of a frustration having to adjust, but this is your money, mind and body and it matters just as much as anyone's.
Hope you can find some solutions : )

Hi! Thanks for your suggestions. I’ve never heard of a “monkey grip” before - presuming this is an American term for a neck strap? Interesting! I probably should use the neck strap more when it comes to rough transitions. I’ve never ridden Western. Unfortunately, changing school and instructor isn’t really an option for me, as there are few affordable options near where I live. I don’t drive, which limits me too.

 

[Skib]

. I’ve never heard of a “monkey grip” before - presuming this is an American term for a neck strap? Interesting! I probably should use the neck strap more when it comes to rough transitions.

No, sorry. A neck strap is a long leather strap which goes quite loosely round the neck of the horse. The eventer Pippa Funnell talked about using one when training young horses. I used a neck strap when riding bareback but it has its down side as one has to lean forward to reach a neck strap with ones hands.

A monkey strap (or grab strap) attaches to rings at the front of the saddle, - it is about 6 inches or 15 cm long, I put one on Ella (my share's) saddle after the RI's horse ran away and I managed to prevent Ella following by turning her into a tight circle. But I slipped out of the centre of the saddle and it would have been good to have a grap strap to clutch onto at the centre front of the saddle.
I am not recommending this one, just giving the link as an example.

Amazon.co.uk

 

[LeilaLei]

No, sorry. A neck strap is a long leather strap which goes quite loosely round the neck of the horse. The eventer Pippa Funnell talked about using one when training young horses. I used a neck strap when riding bareback but it has its down side as one has to lean forward to reach a neck strap with ones hands.

A monkey strap (or grab strap) attaches to rings at the front of the saddle, - it is about 6 inches or 15 cm long, I put one on Ella (my share's) saddle after the RI's horse ran away and I managed to prevent Ella following by turning her into a tight circle. But I slipped out of the centre of the saddle and it would have been good to have a grap strap to clutch onto at the centre front of the saddle.
I am not recommending this one, just giving the link as an example.

Amazon.co.uk

Yes this is exactly what it is. My instructor(s) usually get me to hold it rather than the reins when stepping up to a new skill or exercise that will be a bit rough so I don't pull at the horse's mouth. Eventually you find that you're not really holding it, it's just for those decreasing wobbly moments.
After my second little canter lesson (holding the grip) I had sore biceps, really telling me how much I would have been pulling on the poor horse if only holding the reins. The other day, no sore biceps. The grip actually broke in the canter, managed to stay on, and used the pommel the next couple of times.
It's one of those handy things and if I'm just riding for fun and learning, I don't feel it matters if I occasionally use it safer and better for me and the horse.

 

[Skib]

It is fine to hold on. But gripping suggests that you are tense and for me the secret of learnng to canter was to relax, breathe deeply and count the 3 times rhythm.

 

[Nierva]

Thanks, everyone! So…trying to get to grips with all this terminology. Where I go hacking, they have neck straps. Where I have lessons, some have breast plates which go through the rings on the saddle. A monkey grip sounds rather good!

 

[Skib]

Forgive me if I said this before. But the trot canter transition is easier to sit if you know what the legs of the horse are doing.
When one canters on a horse, one of its front legs (you can look down briefly) seems to lift and go forward with each stride. This is known as the lead leg. Right or left lead.
But we riders are actually sitting on the back legs of the horse and are usually riding in sitting trot when we ask for the canter. The canter starts with the back outside leg of the horse giving an enormous shove off. So (contrary to what happens in walk) the push up on the outside hind, may push the rider a bit out of the saddle. And if you are riding sitting canter, you need to relax, sitting back in the saddle again because on the next step of canter, it is going to happen again.

Lots of riding teachers begin to teach canter with walk canter transitions, in order to avoid this trot to canter upheaval. But I myself found the idea of walk to canter very frightening. I didnt like the idea that my lesson horse might go from walk to canter with no warning. I once rode a Connie who would go from halt to canter for me, but I now ride a horse shared by many riders, many of them with less experience than me. So I ride the mare very much in beginner mode.

I go from trot to canter and I give the voice commands, trot or canter, so she is clear what it is I want. When ever you want the horse to speed up, it is a good thing to relax your hands and to imagine the horse flowing forward between your knees or thighs. You have to allow the canter. So you ask for canter and then you allow it to happen.

 

[Nierva]

Forgive me if I said this before. But the trot canter transition is easier to sit if you know what the legs of the horse are doing.
When one canters on a horse, one of its front legs (you can look down briefly) seems to lift and go forward with each stride. This is known as the lead leg. Right or left lead.
But we riders are actually sitting on the back legs of the horse and are usually riding in sitting trot when we ask for the canter. The canter starts with the back outside leg of the horse giving an enormous shove off. So (contrary to what happens in walk) the push up on the outside hind, may push the rider a bit out of the saddle. And if you are riding sitting canter, you need to relax, sitting back in the saddle again because on the next step of canter, it is going to happen again.

Lots of riding teachers begin to teach canter with walk canter transitions, in order to avoid this trot to canter upheaval. But I myself found the idea of walk to canter very frightening. I didnt like the idea that my lesson horse might go from walk to canter with no warning. I once rode a Connie who would go from halt to canter for me, but I now ride a horse shared by many riders, many of them with less experience than me. So I ride the mare very much in beginner mode.

I go from trot to canter and I give the voice commands, trot or canter, so she is clear what it is I want. When ever you want the horse to speed up, it is a good thing to relax your hands and to imagine the horse flowing forward between your knees or thighs. You have to allow the canter. So you ask for canter and then you allow it to happen.

Thank you so much! That’s really helpful, and I will definitely try out the glancing down and imagining the horse flowing between my knees/thighs tips. Will also try watching videos of the canter motion again. Brilliant, thanks!