Accidental 'dressage' canter

Bluebelle666

Bluebelle666

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I have been working really hard on settling my horse into the new yard, building up her fitness and attempting to de-spook her.

For a few weeks now I have been lunging her and if she is responsive to my voice and not bucking/bolting I've then got on. Well, for the past week I feel that she has been doing really well so after another responsive lunge I decided to get on. Then after her being responsive and not too spooky I decided...... TO CANTER.

Well..... off we went at the nice steady canter that she has been showing me on the lunge but as soon as I ask her to slow back to trot she starts doing a really bouncy canter, not covering any ground really, this catches me off guard so again through voice, body language and rein aids I ask her to slow, to which she drops her poll and I have to shorten my reins a hell of a lot so that I'm not trying to steer her with my hands behind my back :eek: .

Once she did eventually slow (I don't think I did anything different to what I was doing before, just assuming she tired), and I had calmed down and tried to think about what had happened I asked her to canter on the other rein, and she did the same???

I don't know what it is I was doing wrong, there was no-one around at this time to feed back to me. I believe :confused: I was asking through using my voice as I do on the lunge, heavying my frame, sitting in my seat and trying (at first) to lightly pull back on the reins [ I don't feel that I may of explained this very well so if there's need for clarification please ask ]

Any advice as she just kept on going round the arena till I think she tired and then chose to slow.
 
It sounds as if you are asking her to slow the canter rather than to do a clear transition to trot, so that is what she is doing then she drops behind the contact which means you find her more difficult to stop. I would try being clearer, use the outside rein rather than both reins, thinking trot rather than steady, if she does not trot when you ask push her back into a true canter and use circles to keep her listening.
Do more transitions, reward her when she listens to you and do more canter work so it becomes less exciting for her and less stressful for you.
 
If you shortened your reins up and she had tucked her nose well in she was basically doing what your aids were asking of her.

On the lunge do you have 'steady' as slow down and 'trotting' for the canter > trot transition?

Sitting heavier really just depresses their spines, so yes in a lot of ways can slow them down, but a seat aid would be to squeeze the seatbones, lightening the skeleton allowing the back to round up as they change down, rather than hollowing.
 
To slow her from canter to trot on the lunge I say 'aaaand trooot', I was trying to say this in the same type of voice that I use when lunging. I think that because it caught me off guard (the first time anyway) I was just more worried about getting off safely (had a little confidence loss of late).

I know that it was me but couldn't pin point it myself. I'm going to book in a lesson soon but have had a few issues with bucking, bolting and spooking so have been trying to build up slowly to 30 minutes fitness/steadiness level before I ask her to tackle a lesson.

When you say to 'squeeze the seatbones' do you mean my backside or my thigh?
 
Try this aid for canter to trot: slight flexion on the outside and trot.

What you descibe in the 'slow canter' sounds like she came behind the vertical and became a bit stuffy. This is not collected canter (the dressage canter) and ideally you should push her onto a bigger canter straight away (keeping your hands ready to go up if you are worried about bucking).

I appreciate what you say about fitness but a helpful instructor should be able to book you in for a gentle 30min lesson to get you started. Eyes on the ground are the best thing both for advice and for confidence. The instructor could also get on your horse for another 15 minutes to finish off.
 
Seatbones - as in the bones you sit on so ur bum, practise it in walk to start with, keep squeezing til she halts then release and praise. When thats sorted do it in trot to walk etc etc

What bit is she in? Just wondering if its one with poll pressure thats causing this big head tilt?

Try and find an Enlightened Equitation instructor, no shouting etc great for confidence and simple explanations :)

http://www.enlightenedequitation.com/teacher_find.htm
 
interesting as my new exracer does this sometimes with my sharer, but never with me. i think what causes it in her case is she leans forward very slightly when he does it instead of sitting back and asking for trot clearly.Plus she stiffens because i think it worries her a little which makes it worse.
It would be really helpful if you could have some eyes on the ground watching to see if you are giving him the wrong signals with your body without realising it:)
 
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