canter help- or do I accept its his way of going??

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polyphonic

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Flint is a rusher- only in canter though. His trot is amazing and he has great hind action when using himself but I still have not mastered the canter with him.
He tends to hollow going into canter but then softens after a while but he just tends to rush rush rush. I half halt, sit deep and back and I try to hold him together but for years I have tried to correct this for a nice steady canter but its just not happening. Do I accept that this is the way he goes or is there any excercises I can try to help us???
 
You're probably best to canter light seat to allow the back to raise and round, try alternating little yields of each rein towards the mouth to keep him light and always keep the ears on top, dont try to have him too deep in canter as it will make it harder for him to give a true stride
 
Use lots of transitions. Trot then Canter for a few strides then trot again. Make sure you soften the inside hand when he gives you the transition. Keep repeating this. Eventually he should get used to carrying more weight behind rather than bowling on forward. Trying to slow a horse down while cantering round and round for ages tends to be the worst thing you can do.
The transitions will also help to give him a better understanding of the half halt.

As Bossanova suggested, adopting a lighter seat through the upwrds transitions will help him to lift his back instead of trying to run from underneath you.

Does he rush or get tense when you ride sitting trot?
 
[ QUOTE ]
Use lots of transitions. Trot then Canter for a few strides then trot again. Make sure you soften the inside hand when he gives you the transition. Keep repeating this. Eventually he should get used to carrying more weight behind rather than bowling on forward. Trying to slow a horse down while cantering round and round for ages tends to be the worst thing you can do.
The transitions will also help to give him a better understanding of the half halt.

As Bossanova suggested, adopting a lighter seat through the upwrds transitions will help him to lift his back instead of trying to run from underneath you.

Does he rush or get tense when you ride sitting trot?

[/ QUOTE ]

Nope- His trot work for Flint is fantastic and is controlled and can be exteneded or bought back immediatley, and he is soft and light in my hand and MOST of the time I can use my seat and legs for this- yet the canted can either be very choppy (as in I want to go I want to go) or he is ploughing through. I have rode horses bigger than flint and find no trouble in this so dont know if its me and MY seat that unbalance him maybe or that if I put him up a gear he believes its raz around time???!!!
yours sincerely
stuck in a rut!!
grin.gif
 
Welcome to my world! But I have the added pleasure of leaping.

I found her better when I rode in a dressage saddle as I was more secure.
 
ooh.. I've recently had the leaping thing too but am hoping it's because the ground has been a bit sticky and she tends to boing into canter if the going is heavy.

My mare CAN canter beautifully but if I am at all tense (not in a nervous way but more physically through my back or seat) then she runs off into a stupid flat canter that is all strung out and I have a bad habit them of using too much inside rein which makes it worse.

My trainer says pretty much what Boss says with transitions but also yesterday we did half circles of canter then back to small serpentines in trot with a 10 meter circle at each end. Asking her to transition to trot with a 'planned' route seemed to really steady her. we have the added difficulty of working in the field this week and that's made her even more inclined to rush off into out of space!

Also what about walk to canter? If her walk is good and settled and she's using her back she may find this easier?
 
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