canter help please .....

[canteron]

A year ago I had a couple of falls from my horse when I asked it to canter and it tripped. Since then have gone back to basics and had horse and me retrained, etc, etc.

However, every time I think I am going to canter an image of the horse tripping comes into my head and my shoulders tense, I stop breathing and so poor horse just trots faster and faster and won't canter. I can canter on other horses and enjoy it, just not this lovely one.

So does anyone fancy talking me through the aids of canter very precisely so I don't completely ruin this poor horses confidence.

 

[helloamys]

How old is the horse?
My 4yo cannot canter in an area, he just speeds up his trot because he isnt confident or balanced enough in the area so I am building up his trot in fields and on hacks, especially up hills.

Think how good it would be to canter on this horse but don't try to do every session, I would suggest to continue to build your confidence and one day, when your feeling brave and just go for it, thats how I got my confidence back
Could you lunge the horse or see someone else canter it to show yourself that your not going to trip up?
Dont push yourself into canter if you don't enjoy it or are nervous, even if its only with this one horse, take your time

Im not very good at giving advice unfortunatly but hope it helped a tad

 

[helloamys]

Just re-read and I dont think I've really helped sorry.
Got the question muddled,

Inside leg on the girth, Outside leg behind the girth slightly, which helps get the right leg

 

[ThePony]

I'd give yourself a break from canter on this horse, then one day, maybe while you are on a nice hack and trotting along, you will probably feel like kicking on a little and having a nice canter. Maybe just a few strides. Don't over think it or put a load of pressure on yourself. Horse riding is supposed to be fun! (fwiw, I have a stress about cantering and just try and ignore the pace, then before long I find that I want to have a canter when we have a nice grassy stretch up hill. Sometimes I have a week off from it, sometimes much longer.)