100mph wall of death NEEDS TO STOP

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SilverFilly

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Me again with me ex-racehorse troubles!

So, we have cracked the fillers issue I was having a couple of weeks back, free schooling him over fillers did the trick and now we are flying :)

Now i have an issue with his canter, we were making such progress on it and its improved since I bought him but we seem to have hit a wall and I can feel him spiraling. We have our first event in September and at the moment the walk and trot portion of the test is absolutely fabulous, but the 20m circle in canter throws him off balance and he just speeds around thus making the downwards transition back to trot, rushed and not very beautiful.

Any tips? I'm slowly losing my mind :p
 
I have had three horses I had the same issue with. It did feel like I hit a wall and i wasn't improving them. All three had different reasons why we weren't getting it right, and I didn't realise it at the time. All of them had balance issues and I only cracked the canter when I really learnt how to balance them. One just rushed because he wasn't strong enough to take the weight behind and go back on his hocks properly, he was too on the forehand. One of the others I wasn't half halting correctly so she were tipping forward.

Once they improved the balance and strength the rushing issues stopped with them all. I needed a set of eyes on the ground though to get me working them all correctly and fix the mistakes I was making.

I ride a load of horses but I always find balancing them in canter the hardest part of their training, so i accept that I need help to fix the issues that arise!

Do a dressage bootcamp for a few days or weeks with a good dressage rider. I had the same issue with a few of my horses and
 
Hi. Sorry you are having trouble. Is it just on one rein, or both?

Firstly, if you haven't already, just get him checked over, because charging off in the canter can be a sign of discomfort. Most likely it is because you are asking him to engage in the canter via the circle and he is weak behind (his shoulders having hitherto been pulling him along in faster paces) and he needs balance.

Then, you need to bring it back. Can you walk to canter? If yes, then this applies equally. I would suggest that you do no more than six steps in canter before transitioning down again, through trot, to walk until balanced, and then back up again. Through a few steps of trot if necessary. And, if you can, everything in shoulder fore until the balance is there. Don't worry about the shoulder fore if it's too much. The important bit is stopping the canter before he runs through it. Increase each session but don't do a full circle until you have about three weeks of circle transitions under your belt.

To start, you may find using the whole school easier. Hope this helps.
 
paddi22 said:
I have had three horses I had the same issue with. It did feel like I hit a wall and i wasn't improving them. All three had different reasons why we weren't getting it right, and I didn't realise it at the time. All of them had balance issues and I only cracked the canter when I really learnt how to balance them. One just rushed because he wasn't strong enough to take the weight behind and go back on his hocks properly, he was too on the forehand. One of the others I wasn't half halting correctly so she were tipping forward.

Once they improved the balance and strength the rushing issues stopped with them all. I needed a set of eyes on the ground though to get me working them all correctly and fix the mistakes I was making.

I ride a load of horses but I always find balancing them in canter the hardest part of their training, so i accept that I need help to fix the issues that arise!

Do a dressage bootcamp for a few days or weeks with a good dressage rider. I had the same issue with a few of my horses and
Click to expand...

He does have a very weak right rein, i'm building the muscle up in his bum and it is coming slowly but I think he's done all he can do until the muscle is fully developed and that might be why he's spiraling maybe... so lots of trotting poles for him! haha.
 
HeresHoping said:
Hi. Sorry you are having trouble. Is it just on one rein, or both?

Firstly, if you haven't already, just get him checked over, because charging off in the canter can be a sign of discomfort. Most likely it is because you are asking him to engage in the canter via the circle and he is weak behind (his shoulders having hitherto been pulling him along in faster paces) and he needs balance.

Then, you need to bring it back. Can you walk to canter? If yes, then this applies equally. I would suggest that you do no more than six steps in canter before transitioning down again, through trot, to walk until balanced, and then back up again. Through a few steps of trot if necessary. And, if you can, everything in shoulder fore until the balance is there. Don't worry about the shoulder fore if it's too much. The important bit is stopping the canter before he runs through it. Increase each session but don't do a full circle until you have about three weeks of circle transitions under your belt.

To start, you may find using the whole school easier. Hope this helps.
Click to expand...

His right rein is worse than his left, but both aren't beautiful. He's been checked and has his physio out quite often because he gets quite tight in his poll so needs it working out :) Walk to canter he can do, its a lot of effort for him but he can do it. Will work on his transitions thank-you!
 
Can't add much but just wanted to say, my boy had similar issues when I first got him, due to weakness and lack of balance. Agree with above posters - with time, lessons, polework, regular physio/teeth/saddle checks and just generally getting him stronger and more balanced, it improved massively.
 
Not to mention hacking and hillwork, if you have them, to develop muscle and try and get him working more evenly on straight lines.
 
When you transition always think "and forward to trot/walk" not "do wn to trot/walk" so you continue to ride forwards. Agree with the exercise to do only a few strides of canter before he loses balance, and the quality of the canter. But this is hard work for him, so don't do too much, certainly to start with.
 
I hate the 100 mph wall of death! My lad's problem was also balance. I found it easier to get the balance in trot and i didn't canter in the arena until he was balanced.
 
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