Can someone help me sort this canter problem?

charleysummer

charleysummer

Well-Known Member
Joined
13 February 2010
Messages
1,084
Location
UK Midlands
Visit site
My girls canter is going downhill :( she recently gotten quite 'silly' and i try to remain quiet on her back and go with her movement- but its impossible !! i mean really you cant sit to it, you bounce out the saddle because she bounces along fast and recently she's started cutting out corners and going round falling to my inside leg and me trying to hold her out through the outside rein as this is the only way she will- i have my legs in the correct place but it has no effect and i can't push her out, she just falls into my inside leg.

I am at a loss now, i lunge her in canter to help and she seems ok then, when she HAS to canter in a tidy circle with correct bend, but when she doesn't have to she simply wont. If i bring her on a smaller circle in the canter she just falls in and the circle becomes more of a line-

I hope i've described it well, but now can anybody help me!? or reccomend a good instructor around leic/warks, its such a shame because i've got her walk and trot lovley now and i can't work on the canter when i'm trying to half halt, steer, but keep a longer stride at the same time whilst trying not to overload the signals! ahhh xD
 
Iv had this problem with my horse, id try doing nothing and shed get sillier, and id try half halting and she try and fight against me. I did find lungeing with my pessoa on twice a week helped (i know a lot dont like them and i can fully understand why tbh, i only use it once a week now as is does have a down side lol ) I also found that doing say 6 - 7 strides of sitting trot rather than about 3 before my transition into canter helped with the initial flying off lol! and i would then only canter a 'pre decided amount of strides' before coming back to trot. I ride best when im doing an exercise, otherwise i tend to flounder about abit lol.
I had improvement with lots of transitions as my mare didnt think of canter as running around the edge for ages anymore lol. also cantering a few strides before a corner (if your horse has a good understanding of aids for each canter lead) and then comeing across the diagonal and trotting 1/3 of the way across worked well for me.
I did have a major breakthrough when i had my saddle rebalanced. we had too much weight concentrated towards the back and her way of going has certainly improved now.
I hope some of my rambling have been of interest or use lol :D
 
How old is your horse and how much schooling has she had in canter?
From what you have said so far it sounds as if she might be green but is sorting out the walk and trot and now her balance in canter is the next thing to build on.
 
Usual questions: teeth, back, saddler, and in this case, vet.

There is usually a reason rather than a horse deciding it doesn't want to do something any more, the difficult thing is figuring out what it is!
 
thankyou for your replies and i will try your methods with the trotting etc, she is due a back check i think but i really don't know how to go about getting one, and also how much it costs or anything.. can anybody tell me much about it? i'd get it done if i knew how or what happens and how much :P
 
MollyMalone said:
How old is your horse and how much schooling has she had in canter?
From what you have said so far it sounds as if she might be green but is sorting out the walk and trot and now her balance in canter is the next thing to build on.
Click to expand...

she is seven and a half, her canter was ok, but recently it seems to be a a bit 'oh my a canter!" -que act stupid, but then she can be fine another time, so it confuses me, if it was pain related would it not be all the time? she was never properly schooled when broken, and i've had to work on her myself from what i've read and instructors- so shes doing pretty well as she was my first pony but things like this do confuse me! i try to school her to weight aids etc, and she can in walk and trot but she's that busy doing her own thing in canter she doesn't really listen to me so its difficult.
 
Hi, it would def be worth getting an insturcter or even an horsey friend cos its easier to see from the ground to help you out.
If shes falling inwards through the shoulder most peoples immediate reaction is to use the outside rein to help there horse, this actually makes the problem worse!!! If there falling out that shoulder you would actually suppport her with your inside rein to stop them dropping along with your inside leg!! If she is falling outwards you would use the outside rein and outside leg!!
Definatly sounds likes she unbalanced though, so twice a week on the lunge would definatly be of use as she can build up the correct mucles without the added rider, its easier for them.
 
So she drops her shoulder and falls to the inside! Does she do this in any other gaite?

Seems strange that she'd just be silly and drop shoulders in canter.. I personally think shes just piss taking.

I would firstly yes try lunging her, don't worry about the passoa but make sure you hold your stick towards her inside girth area to push her out and see how she reacts, make sure you have a good contact with her and she is bending to the inside when you ask for the canter.

Secondly as for riding wise, try to push all your weight into your heels after you have made the softening transition into canter, then when you ask her to bend round a corner make a point of going right to the end of the school and don't cut your corners, along with raising your inside hand up to block her and channel her shoulder to stop her falling inwards and using your outside hand to guide her to the outside... make sure you have your outside driving leg on and your inside leg pushing her out. Its a bit of a messy method and one that is totally overeacted but you can then unovereact it when she gets the message. ;-)

I hope this helps

Stelzar
 
thankyou for the responses! i got on today and one of the replies mentioned the use of a stick, now i used to always ride with one- and just noticed that recently i stopped, as i never saw a use for it. i picked it back up today and kept it pressed just behind my leg in the canter, my inside hand 'blocking' and the outside holding her out- and it worked =D

i would disgust any minimalist riders if they saw it! and i felt like i was tearing her mouth out but it worked, just have to get it more subtle now...
 
you really shouldn't have to hold her out with the outside hand, that's cheating imho, that's her schooling YOU into doing what she wants, to make her life easier, so she doesn't have to work hard, hold herself up (good old 'self-carriage') etc, i think.
to get her back checked - i'd recommend a McTimoney Chiropractor, it's gentle stuff that has amazing results. Will prob cost about £40-£50 depending on how far your local person has to travel. there are societies which have all practitioners' details, online.
if she used to canter well, and now doesn't, i think she's either uncomfortable so evading, or she's taking the mickey because she's realised she can school YOU... ;) impossible to tell without seeing, obviously.
has her shape changed? saddle changed? that sort of thing can make a huge difference.
if the physical stuff doesn't make a difference (although i'd expect it to) then i'd recommend a good lesson or two with someone experienced. a good pair of eyes on the ground makes a huge difference.
 
Provided it's nothing medical/ tack related I would ask an instructor to come and look at your cantering. You might be doing something without realising that is sending your horse off balance.
My horse is a cheeky monkey and will take the p whenever he can. I went through a year of him striking off incorrectly, throwing in flying changes willy nilly, also falling in etc, and my instructor worked with me on my position. I had to learn to do less as my bouncing around on his back was just confusing him and giving him an excuse to do silly things. I also had his back seen to in this time.
I found that raising my inside hand prevents a lot of falling in. Lots of circles in unexpected places will slow your horse and get her thinking about where her feet should be.

Incidentally, show my horse a jump and he will give me the most delightful balanced canter... funny eh? :)
 
I've been working on it and she will bend now, but i think she is gettin annoyed with the hand blocking the shoulder as she is gettin quite fast and short strided- i'm trying to sit nicer but its very very hard when she is bouncing and i can't sit down in the saddle without stiffening and being very tense, how can i lengthen ?
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top