Canter/flatwork help

[iknowmyvalue]

Pepsi’s flatwork has come on in leaps and bounds since I got him, but the one thing we are still really struggling with is the trot AFTER we’ve cantered because he gets himself so wound up.

Yes the downwards transition needs a bit of work but the main issue is that once you’ve cantered on him (even only a short one) it can take a good 5-10 minutes to get any sort of sensible trot work out of him. He’s straight back to tight and overbent, rushing, trying to canter, shooting off from the leg…

He can do a nice trot, and his canter is lovely and balanced, he doesn’t struggle in the upward transitions. He is a bit like it on the lunge too, but not quite as bad. I’ve tried lots of trot-canter-trot transitions, but this just seems to wind him up more. It doesn’t feel like it’s a true physical issue, because he CAN do it but it’s just like he panics and his brain goes until I can settle him and get his brain back in the room.

Is it just a balance issue? Or where he’s just been jumped so never really asked to trot once he’s started cantering? Any exercises to help him? Or is it a case of patience, time and lots of practice?

I’ve had horses who simply lost balance in the downwards transitions, and ones who got like it after jumping. but mine have previously found flatwork so boring they needed the jazzing up ?

 

[paddi22]

I retrain a lot of trotters who get very fizzed up after canter. a few handy exercises are to canter a few strides, come back to trot and face them into a row of trotting poles fairly quickly. they usually mess it up the first few times, but when you repeat it they tend to rebalance and slow and concentrate on their feet more. apart from that, circling after canter, and a lot of canter to halt. canter to trot doesn't tend to work well with the buzzy ones, but canter to walk and canter to halt really helps. what you want to break is the cycle of them thinking they can run on at their own speed after you ask for the downward transition. so you really have to be effective in taking control more quickly and distracting their brain with serpentines/circles/poles etc. you also have to make sure you have a strong half halt developed in the canter, so that you are 100% sure you have rebalanced him properly before you ask for the downward transition. just from seeing others riding the trotters, most causes of a rushed trot after canter are the rider not rebalancing the horse while transitioning downwards or just not being firm enough in redirecting the brain energy and fizz into another task after the canter.

 

[milliepops]

what are you doing in the trot after you've cantered? my ex racer was like this, he had quite a good balanced canter but his brains fell out of his ears slightly afterwards. I found he improved when I put him to work in the trot immediately, so I had to be productive and he had to concentrate. shoulder in, formal school shapes, leg yields (makes you get your leg on), accurate circles and turns etc. although it starts out a bit higgledy piggledy he soon got the memo about it still being work time after he had cantered.

 

[iknowmyvalue]

what are you doing in the trot after you've cantered? my ex racer was like this, he had quite a good balanced canter but his brains fell out of his ears slightly afterwards. I found he improved when I put him to work in the trot immediately, so I had to be productive and he had to concentrate. shoulder in, formal school shapes, leg yields (makes you get your leg on), accurate circles and turns etc. although it starts out a bit higgledy piggledy he soon got the memo about it still being work time after he had cantered.

This is kind of what I’ve been doing. He needs something fairly interesting to regain his brain. Spiralling circles seem to work well. Trying to let yield results in random leaps sideways, wild leaps into canter, and me nearly hitting the deck (until he’s regained some brain cells)

he does understand the aids, it’s just once you’ve cantered he decides ANY leg means throw yourself into canter sideways.

I guess we have improved somewhat, because it ONLY takes 5-10mins to regain some control, whereas when I first got him ALL his flatwork was like the worse stuff. I guess I’m maybe being impatient I’m thinking this is something that was going to be fixed in 6wks of work…

 

[milliepops]

i think you have to see this as a longer term project because if he has that sort of daft reaction to your leg, it shows there's a hole in his basic understanding that needs filling. IMO it's not going to be a quick fix, though when you find the way in to show him that it's just an aid that he needs to quietly accept you will probably make a big leap forward. when they are like that it's very tempting to just back off completely but you have to be able to use your legs otherwise you're going to be dodging that problem forever and you'll never really be in control. so it's going to be a case of finding exercises that contain his brain enough that he begins to accept it.

 

[iknowmyvalue]

i think you have to see this as a longer term project because if he has that sort of daft reaction to your leg, it shows there's a hole in his basic understanding that needs filling. IMO it's not going to be a quick fix, though when you find the way in to show him that it's just an aid that he needs to quietly accept you will probably make a big leap forward. when they are like that it's very tempting to just back off completely but you have to be able to use your legs otherwise you're going to be dodging that problem forever and you'll never really be in control. so it's going to be a case of finding exercises that contain his brain enough that he begins to accept it.

Oh yes I totally agree. I can guess what his education has been like, and I imagine a lot of the basics were skipped over. I’m not adverse to putting in the time/effort required, I absolutely love working with him and I don’t think he’ll be going anywhere for a long time (if ever!).

He’s a hundred times better than he was, and until we start cantering, I can put my leg on without any overreaction 80-90% of the time. Plus he’s understanding that leg means bend/sideways too, not just speed.

I guess mostly looking for reassurance I’m not missing something, or doing things wrong. Like I said, he’s different to my previous horses. Plus I’m lacking the support I had when I first got my previous ones. I am having lessons, but struggling to get more than one flat lesson and one jump lesson a month at the moment (trying to work on a solution to that one!) whereas before I was having 1-2 lessons a week.

 

[Bernster]

Just came across this whilst looking for another post. Bertie has similar issues with being unbalanced and running through the trot after canter. He’s a Welsh x and has a spanking trot so maybe that’s similar to issues that trotters have. The transitions def don’t help so I need to work on them. The trot pole sounds like a good tip.

He’s improved loads but it’s taken 2 months of weekly work inc my ins schooling him. So mainly I wanted to say, yes it does improve, and yes it takes time.