Canter help (again!).

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alice.j

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Lots of people having problems with canter, so at least its not just me!
I've recently (as in a couple of weeks ago) started to canter my pony in the arena. On his left rein, he picks up canter within a stride of me asking (usually), and always on the correct leg. He'll do lovely 20 m circles, and could probably start doing smaller (his canter is more balanced and controllable than his trot!).
I've managed to get the correct lead on his right rein once - and that was after about 5 minutes of trying with the help of my instructor.
No matter what I do, he leads with his left. I have over exaggerated my leg position, my hand position, his bend, I've turned him in smaller and smaller circles to encourage him; nothing. He finds it easier to do a half 10m circle in counter canter than picking up his right lead. I end up giving up every time - we're both puffing after a few minutes and I don't want to put him off cantering even more!
He is definitely more stiff on his right rein than his left - much better than when I first started schooling him a few weeks after backing (May time, I think, maybe June), but it still takes a good 10 minute warming up before he even begins to bend properly. He has such a lovely canter but I don't want to push him on the left rein when he can't even do it on the right.
Hacking he almost always picks up left lead, and I haven't lunged him in a while but am going to start again - lack of light means quick working sessions!

Can anyone help before I go mad?!
 
Can't really give much help as I'm one who is also struggling altho today we nailed it every time.
We did 20m in trot then came on a 6-8m ish circle and leg yield out to the track and ask as hit the track- did this 3 times then I either realised how to ask or she just stopped being a pig (she is 9 so not a baby just being cheeky!) and we managed to get it after changing rein as hit the track so with plenty of inside bend.
The asking over pole would have been the next trick if we didn't get it with the first!
Good luck!
 
Right the first thing is that it is his left side that is stiffer, he can stretch his right side easily so finds it easier to bend left because his left side is hollowing so rather than being more supple on his left he is actually contracting the muscles on that side.

He needs to work on stretching his left side more, plenty of flexing to the right, carrot stretches on the ground will really help as well as asking for counter flexion, flexing right when on the left rein not just when he is on the right rein, try not to allow him to be too bent to the left, think of him being straight more of the time to build him up evenly, he is still young and learning to balance so concentrate on that, keeping him straight, on a good rhythm and just do a little work on the canter, start to introduce some poles and even a small x pole to get him using himself well, you may well find once he is straighter that his right canter becomes the best, I often find the canter that is most tricky to start with is stronger and more correct once it becomes established.

Your instructor should be able to help get him less one sided and when he is ready with the use of a pole in the corner, if required, pick the right time to work on the right canter, sometimes you need to think outside the box a bit but it should not take long if you don't let it become too established, you can work on left canter in the meantime, getting him going when you ask, making a very clear transition and doing some counter flexions so he is not too bent left, this will help prepare him to go when asked on the right, the better he reacts to the aids the less likely he is to go wrong.
 
i have so much trouble with my horse in the canter too :( things that have helped me are.. try doing a 10m circle in the corner before the long side then ask for shoulder in down the long side, straighten him up before the next corner then ask for the canter transiton. also counter flexion is good to strengthen the week side so as youre riding a 20m circle on his good side ask for slight bend to his bad side. what used to really help me is put a raised pole up and ask for the canter transition over that, really exaggerating your aids so he gets the message. as your horse is just starting off the shoulder in may not be suitable (maybe use it later on in schooling) but the raised pole worked so well for me so i would try that. good luck :)
 
Thank you everyone for your replies and advice!

Using a pole - I haven't tried this yet, mostly because he's still getting used to going over poles and not around them (he's terrified of them) but I hope to start jumping him soon (before Christmas, so not that soon haha) so pole work is my next big thing. Where should the pole be - on the straight or in the corner (I would guess the corner, as he's bending over it, but we might have to work on poles in a circle first!).

Stiffness and counter flexion - his stiffness is something I address all ride, every ride. I don't do much counter flexion in the arena, but when hacking I get him to bend both sides while walking straight(ish), so I shall start to work on that when schooling. He is so much better on his right rein - it used to be a struggle to get him to walk a 20m circle and now (with a lot of warming up!) we can trot 10m circles, and he's looking the right way! I know we still have a long way to go, that will probably be the topic of another post in a month or so ;)

Hopefully I'll be able to have another lesson in the next couple of weeks - there's another competition at the end of the month, with no Intro test, so I wanted us to be able to go in and do a prelim (my first one, as well as his) without spending the whole test worrying about him being on the wrong leg. At this rate, however, I think I may have to wait until November!


Thanks again everyone, and if you can think of anything else, let me know!
 
Try pushing your right shoulder and hip back slightly but look up and forward ahead of you.
I also find that if K is having an off day with her leads that asked out of leg yield also helps. So turning just off the centre line, sitting trot, leg yield left, shouder/hip back, leg GO!

If he is really stiff, he may need warming up for longer. Low neck, asking him to bend around your leg. I walk for at least 15-20 minutes (10 mins on a long rein) before asking for trot on a loose rein for five minutes. Back to walk and pick up the contact then another 10 minutes of trot before cantering. Although time is tight, it is so vital to get a decent warm up as you cannot expect their muscles to perform properly if they are still 'cold'.

I also don't canter until I am happy with the trot. Asking for a canter transition from a bad trot only makes things more difficult and it won't be a tidy transition. Engage your core, sit up, half halt and collect the gait, get it to have a purpose rather than just be a trot and then ask for the transition. If you don't like the trot, don't canter from it.
 
quiet lungeing, no horse should be struggling under saddle with canter until its confirmed canter leads on the lunge, bigger not smaller circles, balance, calmness, no stress, jumping a small jump on a circle helps, trying to get a horse that`s very one sided to canter correctly is unfair, a big piece of its gymnastic conditioning is missing.
 
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