Asking for canter... which is correct, please?

[Coblover63]

Been told to sit back and deep to lighten the front for correct leg strike off.... also been told to lean forward to take weight off back end for correct leg strike off..... now I'm just confused! Should I just sit UP????

 

[FfionWinnie]

I sit up straight, make sure hips pointing toward outside ear. My mare is tricky to get the correct lead on the left and someone told me to think about lifting outside seat bone as I ask. It works incredibly well. I don't always remember to do all three things at once tho

 

[little_critter]

Probably depends on what, if any issues you have with canter strike off. If you are having issues getting the correct strike off then maybe a slight lightening of the outside seat bone may help. But have the aim of sitting up and not tipping forward as the canter improves.

 

[Chocy]

I had probs with canter transitions/correct leg & now do it the Chris bartle way (went 2 demo he did & just made sense!)

Weight down inside leg, outside leg against horses side (not back just where it is) & 'think' canter with inside leg. He also said if getting wrong leg is problem do the above but also look over your outside shoulder (2 do with hip position)

Works everytime 4 me!!

 

[Kikke]

Sit up straight. Use outside leg behind the girth and inside leg on the girth. If you can use a schooling whip sensibly, use one on the outside as the horse strikes off from the outside hind. So a tap on that side when asking with your outside leg behind the girth should do the trick. Good luck

 

[googol]

If having difficulty getting the correct lead, drop onto the wrong diagonal just before you ask, works every time for my boy... My fav HHO tip!

 

[windand rain]

sit deep into the saddle and for correct lead use a quarters in move so inside leg on the girth outside leg behind the girth and ask quickly and quietly, the thing I find most difficult to explain to people is you must stop rising to the trot and sit down or the horse will fall on the forehand and run into canter if it canters at all. to start with inside bend will help too so ask on a corner as that automatically brings the quarters in

 

[Sugar_and_Spice]

Depends how the horse is trained too. Show jumpers often teach canter strike off by asking with the outside leg. Dressage riders often teach canter strike off by asking with the inside leg. Legs are in the same position but the difference is in which one nudges and which one just rests against the horses side.

I think its bad practice to lean forward to canter, but unless you want to ride dressage tests it probably doesn't matter. It's not something you should need to do though. I wouldn't lean back either. It seems to be a fashion amongst some dressage riders to lean back rather a lot at times. I think its hideous and can't see how it helps a horse.

 

[mandwhy]

Ooh lots of interesting HHO tips to file away in my brain

 

[Spotsrock]

When b2 arrived he didn't understand I wanted canter unless I got out of the saddle and took a forward seat as he came straight from the race yard. B1 on the other hand developed the bad habit of not going into canter unless the rider drops inside shoulder forward. This is my bad habit but she will canter for me if I concentrate and do not do it but not for anyone else! I was taught sit still, sit up, outside leg fractionally back and squeeze. I would never push down and forward with my seat as I see lots do as b1 had a slipped disk so p have to be light in the seat and b2 would be liable to buck as he is still getting used to an upright seat. I know there are correct ways to do things but I am a believer in adjusting things to suit horses specific requirements.

 

[Coblover63]

Thanks for all the replies. Very useful Unfortunately I have one that ignores my ask for canter on a corner in the school and runs faster Can really power-trot too! I have to pull up short, come round and ask again and after about three goes, we do finally get canter. Once I have practised and reminded a few times, canter is more likely but power-trot seems to be the preferred gait. I wonder if there is trotter in the breeding....

 

[PolarSkye]

Doesn't it depend how the horse has been schooled?

P

 

[Kikke]

Doesn't it depend how the horse has been schooled?

P

I agree there however any good rider with a good instructor should be able to re-teach a horse another way!

 

[Wagtail]

Strange re 'lightening of outside seatbone' as I have always been taught the opposite. The horse strikes off first with the inside hind and so it is the inside that needs to be lightened, not the outside. Lots of riders make the error of leaning into the inside and therefore weighting the inside seatbone, which makes it incredibly difficult for the horse to step under and strike off correctly.

To ask for canter, sit up straight, lift the inside seatbone move outside leg back and ask with inside leg on the girth.

 

[FfionWinnie]

Thanks for all the replies. Very useful Unfortunately I have one that ignores my ask for canter on a corner in the school and runs faster Can really power-trot too! I have to pull up short, come round and ask again and after about three goes, we do finally get canter. Once I have practised and reminded a few times, canter is more likely but power-trot seems to be the preferred gait. I wonder if there is trotter in the breeding....

I would ride a small circle in that case. Tapping him on the outside with a schooling whip as you ask may help too.

 

[TrasaM]

The number of times I looked this up when I was learning to canter!
I would sit , ask, bump bump = big fast trot! I've been taught to:- sit to the trot, sit up and outside leg back and inside leg on the girth. I've had lessons at a few different places (and countries) and with one exception, this is what I've been told to do.
The one exception was with a French instructor who told me to stay in rising trot until I felt the horse change it's stride. But it was still outside leg back. I suspect that this would be easier for a beginner and by pass the bumpety bump and unbalancing that I'd had to endure.

 

[posie_honey]

ditto wagtail - re the inside hind leading...?!

for my mare we have just changed the aid - from a rudementary and simple inside leg on girth outside leg behind girth - so an aid from the hips (lift and move slightly foward the inside hip - so subtle that you cant see it) that means that when we aimn towards simple changes i am not swinging my legs one way then the other (my RI's pet hate lol she says that DR is the unseen harmony between horse and rider )

this method has stopped my mare (99% of the time) from doing a buck into canter

saying that - in my sylvia loch lesson she picked up on that straight away and told me to keep hips still and ask from the leg - going back to normal RI she explained that this is possible with iberian horses who move far more from the legs under them (ok she explained it better ) and have a far more 'stationary' back - but for a croup high, long ID x who moves far more through the back and is very bouncy = then you need to give her the spacve to move up through the back into canter - hence allowing the inside leg to come forward by slightly lifting the inside hip up and forwards... oh but at the same time keeping weight in the outside of the horse

ok - that probably doesnt make much sense at all - sorry - but the general gist of it is - do what works for the horse you are riding

ETA - and yes - 4/6 strides of trot before you ask for canter - i've had to learn to do sitting trot on my mare as her trot is soo bouncy (love riding other horses where i can do sitting trot lol) but again it has helped collect her onto her hocks more before the aid to assist with the transition rather than a collaps into canter

 

[TrasaM]

Strange re 'lightening of outside seatbone' as I have always been taught the opposite. The horse strikes off first with the inside hind and so it is the inside that needs to be lightened, not the outside. Lots of riders make the error of leaning into the inside and therefore weighting the inside seatbone, which makes it incredibly difficult for the horse to step under and strike off correctly.

To ask for canter, sit up straight, lift the inside seatbone move outside leg back and ask with inside leg on the girth.

Am I correct in thinking that putting the outside leg back will result in the inside seat bone lifting? I think I discovered this connection by trial and error plus I am very one sided so I'd always found it easier on one rein because most of my weight would already be on one side.

 

[posie_honey]

Thanks for all the replies. Very useful Unfortunately I have one that ignores my ask for canter on a corner in the school and runs faster Can really power-trot too! I have to pull up short, come round and ask again and after about three goes, we do finally get canter. Once I have practised and reminded a few times, canter is more likely but power-trot seems to be the preferred gait. I wonder if there is trotter in the breeding....

try a leg yield into canter

 

[Wagtail]

Am I correct in thinking that putting the outside leg back will result in the inside seat bone lifting?

Yes, so long as the rider is sitting up and not leaning into the bend.

 

[Cortez]

Erm, actually the first strike off into canter is with the outside hind leg, then the diagonal pair, then the inside front.

 

[Wagtail]

Erm, actually the first strike off into canter is with the outside hind leg, then the diagonal pair, then the inside front.

Yes you are correct, my bad wording. I meant that the inside hind needs to step through which is why the inside seatbone should be lifted.

 

[posie_honey]

Yes you are correct, my bad wording. I meant that the inside hind needs to step through which is why the inside seatbone should be lifted.

thats prob what i meant too LOL
all i know is that RI tells me i need to allow for inside leg to step through when asking for the transition - so i suppose i put two and two together...