Bombing off with me in canter

[Cheekybay]

Hiya, I was wondering whether somebody could give me some help with controlling my horse in canter. I've only just got him: he's a 6 year old ISH gelding. He's fine cantering out okay hacks it's just in the school he goes a bit crazy.

He's very very forward going I can just use my seat lightly to get him to transition from trot to canter. However as soon as I ask for canter he springs forward and bombs off around the school. I've learnt that if you pull back on the reigns and panic then he panics and gets even faster. I've tried squeezing on the reigns, releasing, squeezing and releasing and have eventually got him to slow down and into a nice canter but still have him bombing round for half a lap before getting to this point.

It's not a health issue... back, teeth, saddle and everything's fine. He's on mostly hay and grass with very little feed too.

Any exercises I can try with him or advice would be great! I've been doing lots of transitions and that has sort of helped. Canter circles just make him speed up even more... not sure whether it's a balance issue or him being excitable?

Thank you!

 

[Notimetoride]

What does he do when you lunge him. Can you canter him on the lunge ? If he's a little unbalanced you must keep the circle large or he will lose balance, panic, and run faster.
When riding, you don't use Spurs do you? Might be worth ditching the whip too. i would personally keep him very busy with transitions and lots of different movements (serpentines, 10m circles, half 10m circles etc etc). Lateral work too. Keep him working hard and busy, and tire him out a bit. If you feel you've taken the fizz out of him ask very very gently, on a 20m circle, going into a corner rather than coming out if it (if that makes sense), stay on the circle, and after literally 3 -5 strides, back to trot. Pat him, cool off and put him away. Repeat next session, and if he's being good, slightly increase the canter. Just take baby steps and if you're feeling a little worried don't canter. There's plenty you can do which will help build your relationship without cantering.

 

[Notimetoride]

Sorry, just seen that you've said he's worse on a circle. You would be better staying on the circle if you can. He may be a bit unbalanced so he's literally running. Lots of work to improve balance needed perhaps, which doesn't need to be in canter. Why don't you leave canter for a while, and work on improving his balance first ?

 

[Cheekybay]

What does he do when you lunge him. Can you canter him on the lunge ? If he's a little unbalanced you must keep the circle large or he will lose balance, panic, and run faster.
When riding, you don't use Spurs do you? Might be worth ditching the whip too. i would personally keep him very busy with transitions and lots of different movements (serpentines, 10m circles, half 10m circles etc etc). Lateral work too. Keep him working hard and busy, and tire him out a bit. If you feel you've taken the fizz out of him ask very very gently, on a 20m circle, going into a corner rather than coming out if it (if that makes sense), stay on the circle, and after literally 3 -5 strides, back to trot. Pat him, cool off and put him away. Repeat next session, and if he's being good, slightly increase the canter. Just take baby steps and if you're feeling a little worried don't canter. There's plenty you can do which will help build your relationship without cantering.

Thank you for your help, no I don't ride with spurs/ whip, will do lots of transitions, lateral work and different movements. On the lunge he's fine in canter and will try only doing a few strides canter and building it up.

 

[Shay]

This is - I have found - a bit of an ISH "thing". Or perhaps to be more precise and Irish broke ISH thing. (Was he backed in Ireland?)

Partly it is a loss of balance - he's young yet and I suspect going a bit on the forehand. A good instructor can help massively there. You need to be sure he is working correctly and in as much self carriage as he can get at this point.

But partly I've just found it is a quirk. They often halt better to seat aids than rein aids. You've already found that you can ask for canter with your seat - now you also need to ask him to slow, balance and stop with it. If you're not sure again a good instructor is going to be the way to go. It is counter intuitive I know. Everything yells at you to hang on to his mouth but actually you need to ease that and ask for balance / halt with your seat. Learning the trick on the lunge can help. Also riding bareback as you can feel each other so much better.

Finally - a trick a trainer taught my daughter with our first ISH - train an emergency brake. All of ours now halt (as in dead stop from a full run) to her low pitched whistle. It takes time to get that far but even right at the beginning the whistle works as a sound cue for "hang on a moment and listen" which can be enough to get them back. We start with making the whistle every time you ask for halt; and every time you are handling on the ground as well, and progress from there.

 

[smja]

What's he like if you ask for canter with a leg aid, in a light seat? Then riding the canter in a light seat?

That's what I do with youngsters to encourage them to step under in the transition, so often they try to run into canter. Running through the transition will give a rushed, unbalanced canter - which can scare them into panicking and running faster, like a vicious circle.

With a very forward going horse, you need to teach acceptance of the leg aids or you will not be able to progress. As the saying goes, ride a forwards horse with your leg on and a backwards horse with your leg off!

 

[blackhor2e]

Have you tried a few strides canter then a few strides trot? Repeated until he stops rushing, then you can make him listen to you as it sounds like he is unbalanced and speeding up to counteract that.

 

[scats]

Rise into the transition if possible (this is so much harder to do than it sounds!), you avoid that flattening and rushing from underneath you.

My PSSM mare had started to struggle with canter at the end of last year, so we stopped cantering for a while. She is now on a new diet and exercise regime and is like a different animal, and absolutely desperate to canter everywhere. Trouble is, she has regressed back to a bowling tank. Things I've found that have helped- canter five strides, then trot (a really slow, jog trot) then canter again. Asking for the transition just off a 20m circle and not in the corner before the long side.
Walk to canter, canter six or so strides, them trot for a few strides, then back to walk. Then repeat.

 

[Cheekybay]

This is - I have found - a bit of an ISH "thing". Or perhaps to be more precise and Irish broke ISH thing. (Was he backed in Ireland?)

Partly it is a loss of balance - he's young yet and I suspect going a bit on the forehand. A good instructor can help massively there. You need to be sure he is working correctly and in as much self carriage as he can get at this point.

But partly I've just found it is a quirk. They often halt better to seat aids than rein aids. You've already found that you can ask for canter with your seat - now you also need to ask him to slow, balance and stop with it. If you're not sure again a good instructor is going to be the way to go. It is counter intuitive I know. Everything yells at you to hang on to his mouth but actually you need to ease that and ask for balance / halt with your seat. Learning the trick on the lunge can help. Also riding bareback as you can feel each other so much better.

Finally - a trick a trainer taught my daughter with our first ISH - train an emergency brake. All of ours now halt (as in dead stop from a full run) to her low pitched whistle. It takes time to get that far but even right at the beginning the whistle works as a sound cue for "hang on a moment and listen" which can be enough to get them back. We start with making the whistle every time you ask for halt; and every time you are handling on the ground as well, and progress from there.

Thank you, I'm going to invest into some lessons and will work on using my seat more.

Also the emergency halt seems like a very good idea, will have a go!