Canter help please!!!

[rolls1392]

My mare usually SJ's, but I fancy doing a little bit of stressage over the winter. She jumps well in a gag, with no probs. Have fitted a snaffle for DR and the trouble started.
She is fine walk and trot on a contact. When I ask for canter on a 20m circle she has a really soft canter for approx half the circle then throws her head up and runs off.
If I am really careful I can just hold her between hand and leg, with a load of half halts to help me. After a while she does get less argumentative(tired?) and canters the circle ok. If we go along the longside she is no different.
Is she hinting that stressage is not for her?
Does she hate our unlevel sand school?
Is work only fun when there are things to jump?
Any ideas/tips would be great or I will have to go hunting again, won't help our eventing ambitions though!!!
Thanks in advance

 

[pamandratty]

Hunting and jumping far more fun. My mare is a bril sj, can turn and jump from any angle, but this going round in circles neither of us understands. When ever I reluctly do dressage, she always trips on th c line, then coughs, will career into canter and then stop!!! Amazingly if I then go to the sj ring not a trip or cough to be seen and usually she goes clear. She is definately telling me something. She is well into her teens and i am not far off geting my pension.

 

[rolls1392]

My mare is scarily similar to yours dratty!!!!!!!!

 

[helenhorse]

i wouldnt recommend too much flatwork for fun if i were you unless you were doing poles or transition repetitions which can actually be quite boring after a while. However if you want to master the 20m circle with her i would forget about the half halting

because a half halt can be anything from 'come on sweetheart, thats it' to ' slow down you f***ing horse'

....so what i recommend you do is squeeze for canter on the long straight and ride into a 20m circle but to keep her balanced and on the bit, also to prevent her throwing her head in the air is give and retake your inside rein whilst pushing her out with your inside leg and turn your hips. When i say give and take i really mean you can have some movement in the elbow and not just twiddling the fingers. But very gently just to balance her and keep her concentarted on the job...but as a whole i would concentrate on doing fun things like sj, xc, and DR. You can make her schooling more fun by putting in combinations and ground poles.
hope i could help! sorry if i went on

 

[Brandysnap]

Hi Rolls,

I know transitions can be boring, but can help improve your horse's balance and way of going dramatically.

It sounds from your description that she's still a little unbalanced, so tends to panic and run off in canter? It's interesting that you had to jump her in a gag, so maybe transitions/leg yield/serpentines/10m circles in trot/shoulder-in - ie, lots of quiet, unstressful schooling, could help her balance, therefore her canter and her confidence?

It may also be worth trying a straight bar snaffle, if you're using a jointed, or vice versa, etc. Or a French link? (Gut feel is to stick with the mildest)

My own little mare had a huge problem with canter - she ran off with everyone through panic, so they panicked, so she ran more...!! I found that lungeing her was a great help, using side reins, and lots of transitions on the lunge between trot and canter. I also had help from an excellent trainer, who got me to use a rubber bit, and he made my ride her correctly!! She responded, and from being a failure in a riding school, won me lots of dressage placings, so please take heart!

I hope this helps, and wish you all the best. BS x