Canter problems - need some help/advice

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samlovesprilly

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I have a 14.3 welsh d mare who i have been having some major problems with her canter for the last few months.
Basically shes balanced and active in walk and trot, responsive to my aids and will trot around in a nice frame with a constant contact at a lovely forward pace.
HOWEVER, once you attempt a canter shes like a different horse, she rushes insane amounts, doesn't respond to half halts asking her to come back and 'motorbikes' around corners. Shes a little better when i canter in a light seat although she still is fast and motorbikey.
She canters better on hacks as its straight lines which makes me think that shes really unbalanced in the canter (especially around corners/on a circle) and is using her speed to compensate her lack of balance. Also have to really bend her to get her to canter round a circle as otherwise she will go around with her head straight out in front of her and quarters in.
I don't know what to do to improve her canter - feeling at a loss and such a pain as dont want to jump her with such a rushy canter as know it wont go well!
I spend most of my schooling sessions in trot as i feel as though im not achieving anything by cantering round a million miles an hour!

Will it be worth lungeing in side-reins? riding with draw reins when i school for a little while to give her more support and encourage her to come round and softer when i canter? or is it more a case of riding through the canter to see some improvements?
I know her balance and bend needs to improve but any tips on how to do this will be sooo much appreciated!
will try and get a vid next time i ride her so you can see in person! :-)
 
Few things sprung out

1st is she's a Welsh D, and they do struggle with their canter compared to their trot.

Yu say she canters quarters in. When was the last time she had her back checked. It can be common for horses with sore hind quarters to canter quarters in.

I would recommend lunging, but if you must use side reins, put them on loose. She needs to learn to balance herself. Not being restricted.

Same applies for the ridden work. I don't see why draw reins would help. She needs to find her own balance and be left alone. I would recommend suppling schooling exercises like spiralling circles, leg yielding out onto a 20m circle where you ask for canter, but then only canter 1/2 a circle before you come back to trot. Quality and not quantity.

Do you have an instructor?
 
galaxy23 said:
Few things sprung out

1st is she's a Welsh D, and they do struggle with their canter compared to their trot.


Yu say she canters quarters in. When was the last time she had her back checked. It can be common for horses with sore hind quarters to canter quarters in.


I would recommend lunging, but if you must use side reins, put them on loose. She needs to learn to balance herself. Not being restricted.


Same applies for the ridden work. I don't see why draw reins would help. She needs to find her own balance and be left alone. I would recommend suppling schooling exercises like spiralling circles, leg yielding out onto a 20m circle where you ask for canter, but then only canter 1/2 a circle before you come back to trot. Quality and not quantity.


Do you have an instructor?
Click to expand...

Am at a new yard and havn't found an instructor yet (used to have weekly lessons) so have been mainly hacking but schooled today and monday and was so upset at the state of her canter :-(

Yeah her canter has always been her weakest point but its gotton a lot worse lately, partly as we had been at a yard with the smallest arena possible so think it was hard for her to find her balance. Now have a bigger arena and a field to ride in so hopefully things will improve

Had her back checked about 3 months ago and that was all fine!
She used to be lunged very regularly, sometimes with side reins or a pessoa and sometimes just in a headcollar, and although it helped a little, shes very lazy on the lunge and rather than go really really fast, she just tends to fall out of canter and cant sustain it too long?!
And thanks for this, will definately take it into consideration when i ride next!!
 
samlovesprilly said:
she just tends to fall out of canter and cant sustain it too long?!
And thanks for this, will definately take it into consideration when i ride next!!
Click to expand...

Sounds to me like she finds canter very very hard. I would leave canter work under saddle for a bit and try and get the canter on the lunge established. She won't be able to canter with you on her if she can't canter by herself

:)
 
Okay will try that, perhaps lungeing before/after a ride to see how that improves and then gradually incooperate a little bit into our schooling sessions! :-)
 
I have a mare I'm rebacking who rushes off in canter/finds it really hard, haven't bothered to canter her under saddle yet. I loose school her 3/4 times a week and get her really cantering by herself, though we do have a round pen.

I would advise long lining on a circle, just do it 3/4 times a week for 20mins or so, only do a bit of canter at first and build it up, it really is excellent for them if done properly.

When I start cantering under saddle I will literally do a few strides then back to trot then back to canter etc, starts to get her to think and sit back rather than just running faster and faster.
 
Dante had this problem up until the beginning of this year :) Think it was helped by a few things, him maturing definitely helped (mentally & physically - he was 6 & a half in Jan) and just upping the canter work.
It might feel like you're getting nowhere by doing canter work, but not doing it at all wont get you anywhere either! I started with Dan on the lunge, just doing transitions and more transitions. Using draw reins in the way they are often used by people on here (over the back, between the legs & clipped to a headcollar/bridle - I use a headcollar as the last thing I wanted was for him to catch his mouth and become more tense!) just loosely, to encourage him to drop his head rather than run blind.
I worked him on the lunge every other day more or less, with ridden work mostly in walk & trot (again, more transitions!) ridden. Made sure these paces were very balanced.
With the lunging I progressed to increasing the length of time in canter, or the frequency of transitions, circle size, and also asking him to lengthen the canter by running along side him down the long side of the arena, then taking him back onto a circle where he'd have to rebalance himself! After a while he also started offering walk-canter transitions on the lunge! :p
It's taken 4 months, but now I have a horse whose canter is actually quite rideable! Still room for improvement, but so much better, and he now balances & holds himself on the lunge also :)
 
My pony also finds canter difficult. Here are some thoughts

a) Back to basis with your riding!! If you haven't got an instructor, get someone to video you to check your position and balance and that you control your body in transitions in particular.

b) Maybe try thinking right hip bone to left ear on right rein and vice versa to help his balance

b) I did a funny little exercise for a week where we stood at X and did a circle on the right rein, then a circle on the left always coming to a halt at X. He stopped rushing so much as he knew he was only going to canter for a short while. Obviously build on this fairly quickly, but it is a good starting point for their confidence.
 
I think so time on the lunge in canter might be worth while.

Also try to canter at the start of your session too, alot of people as the canter is not so good leaves it to the end of a session and by then the horse is a more tired and this doesn't help them when they have to concentrate and balance themselves, try to get the canter work done early on. This will normally improve any trot work too.

Remember also to keep your leg wrapped round her when cantering even when going to fast.
I don't know how you ride, but it's a common fault to adopt the legs off/forward postion as default when a horse is rushing or unbalanced, therefore not helping the situation.

It will come though in the end, all of a sudden it'll be as though a light has been turned on.

Again agree on the lateral work into canter and not asking foher to do too much in canter, short bursts.
 
Thank you guys all so much for your help and advice!
Am going to take all your advice into consideration, taking things really slowly and building up the canter work as she finds it easier.
Will probably try short bursts on the lunge with side reins so she has a bit of support to help her out and then progress to doing short bursts when ridden.
Also going to look around for a new instructor to give me some tips from the ground.
Hope we start to see some improvements soon :-)
 
Cantering on the lunge made a huge difference to my boy. He soon found his balance. I introduced polework once he was balanced. I now try to lunge him once a fortnight just to keep him ticking over.
I have found some stiffness in my own lower back and hips which I am being treated for, as when I am stiff his canter really suffers.
 
Personally...if you have the space...canter in the field. Let the horse go in a straight line and get an idea of the canter.
IME a lot of D's are short backed and find difficulty in getting the front legs out of the way of their back legs quickly enough in canter. There is nothing wrong with a bit of forward seat, you should be able to lengthen and shorten the canter in the field and the turns will be wide not tight as in the school.
Best of luck:)
Bryndu
 
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