Canter to walk transitions

[Annagain]

M and I are planning on giving some elementary tests a proper go this year. We've done a couple, just local unaffiliated stuff and came first - and last! - in both tests. We enjoyed ourselves and got respectable scores but I know we wouldn't be good enough to challenge others if we had any competition. While that doesn't really bother me, I do it for us to improve not to win, I don't want us to look like total numpties either!

The one thing we're really struggling with is the canter to walk element of the simple changes on the left rein. His walk to canter has always been a strength and we've nailed canter to walk on the right rein. Although the canter to walk on the left rein have improved, we just can't seem to get it. He either falls back to trot as soon as I try to balance him to get ready for the transition (he always welcomes an opportunity to go slower) or falls onto his forehand as he starts to make the transition, leans down on my hands and it takes 2-3 steps of trot to get into walk - down from about 6 or 7 but still not good enough. I know it's because he's falling out through his right shoulder but I'm struggling to stop it happening. We're having fairly regular lessons (abut once a fortnight) and doing our homework but just can't make that final leap. He has arthritis in his right elbow (medicated a year ago and no hint of a problem since) but I'm wary of pushing too much in case that's a problem, especially at 22!

Any tips?

 

[LeannePip]

My instructor had me canter a 10m circle and use the circle and school fence to sit them up in the canter and help stop them running out of the canter so eg:

step 1) (after many steps of securing the canter and being able to maintain a 10m circle without using the reins!) canter 10m circle on the left rein at H (so when you are on the center line you are looking at C)
step 2) as your circle comes off the track begin asking for trot and aim to be walking/ halting at about G - walk and pick up the canter again. the idea is not to just ask for the walk on the straight line but use the turn.

Use the anticipation to lessen the trot strides, and introduce the idea until you can use the down aid to come straight back to walk.

step 3) repeat!

It doesn't sound as thorough as when we went through it, but hopefully it gives you an idea or atleast an exercise to try. When i was bumbling around on my own in the vast expanse of the school it was awful and she'd just fall out of the canter run through the trot and fall in the heap. After 2 sessions (1 lesson, 1 on my own) really playing with this exercise it was like a light bulb moment and she got the idea of sitting into the canter/ walk and not nosediving us into the floor. Its still a work in progress, I still use a turn to get the walk but that can be a corner of the school/ 10m circle/ 20m circle and I can feel how it's developing into the 'proper' way to get a canter/ walk not just fall out of canter into walk.

This is a video of my music test and we attempt a simple change at about 3.07 this was only a couple of weeks after introducing the proper canter walk idea and sort of demonstrates the exercise - ish - i know its not perfect but its a working progress
https://www.facebook.com/leanne.mccabe1/videos/vb.1338493424/10210821818805049/?type=3

 

[Four Seasons]

Have you practised any shoulder-in during canter? This way you gain more control over his shoulders and he has to place his inside hind leg under the body mass, gaining even more strength and balance. You can also change speed during shoulder-in, collecting and extending, for even more control.

Do you keep your leg on when collecting the canter? Try to collect him as much as you can, but keep the 3-beat going and the bounce, once you've got him there (only for a few strides), go back to a normal canter and repeat. Keep your leg on during the collecting and exaggerate the canter movement with your whole body, this will keep him going in canter and keeps and uphill tendancy going. By doing this exercise, you're teaching him to collect and wait for any signal to go transition, instead of him taking the initiative.

Do you practise on a circle or on the straight? I like to keep them on a 15 meter circle, enough for control and a little collection. I prepare them by sitting deep (they know they need to slow down) and keep my leg on ever so slighty (So no downward transitions occur before I ask and to keep the 3-beat and the uphill tendancy), then I breathe out deeply once and push all my weight down through my stirrups and that should be absolutely enough to go back to walk.

Hope this helps.

 

[Annagain]

My instructor had me canter a 10m circle and use the circle and school fence to sit them up in the canter and help stop them running out of the canter so eg:

step 1) (after many steps of securing the canter and being able to maintain a 10m circle without using the reins!) canter 10m circle on the left rein at H (so when you are on the center line you are looking at C)
step 2) as your circle comes off the track begin asking for trot and aim to be walking/ halting at about G - walk and pick up the canter again. the idea is not to just ask for the walk on the straight line but use the turn.

Use the anticipation to lessen the trot strides, and introduce the idea until you can use the down aid to come straight back to walk.

step 3) repeat!

It doesn't sound as thorough as when we went through it, but hopefully it gives you an idea or atleast an exercise to try. When i was bumbling around on my own in the vast expanse of the school it was awful and she'd just fall out of the canter run through the trot and fall in the heap. After 2 sessions (1 lesson, 1 on my own) really playing with this exercise it was like a light bulb moment and she got the idea of sitting into the canter/ walk and not nosediving us into the floor. Its still a work in progress, I still use a turn to get the walk but that can be a corner of the school/ 10m circle/ 20m circle and I can feel how it's developing into the 'proper' way to get a canter/ walk not just fall out of canter into walk.

This is a video of my music test and we attempt a simple change at about 3.07 this was only a couple of weeks after introducing the proper canter walk idea and sort of demonstrates the exercise - ish - i know its not perfect but its a working progress
https://www.facebook.com/leanne.mccabe1/videos/vb.1338493424/10210821818805049/?type=3

Thanks - this is sort of the exercise we've been doing (although we're starting our circles at B and E, walking as we hit the track again - so the fence will help us stop - and not putting the change of rein in yet. The idea is to perfect the transition before adding the change of rein). Our homework is to perfect it on the 10m circle and gradually make the circle bigger so by the time we have our next lesson we can do it on a 15m both ways. We're up to a 15m circle on the right rein (and I've done a sneaky few changes right to left) but still can't get it on the 10m on the left.

 

[LeannePip]

If you try closer to the end of the school you can use the short end of the school to back off as well?

Yes i agree not doing the change of rein, I just play with it on one rein and then swap to the other rather than alternate changing the rein each time.

 

[Annagain]

Have you practised any shoulder-in during canter? This way you gain more control over his shoulders and he has to place his inside hind leg under the body mass, gaining even more strength and balance. You can also change speed during shoulder-in, collecting and extending, for even more control.

Do you keep your leg on when collecting the canter? Try to collect him as much as you can, but keep the 3-beat going and the bounce, once you've got him there (only for a few strides), go back to a normal canter and repeat. Keep your leg on during the collecting and exaggerate the canter movement with your whole body, this will keep him going in canter and keeps and uphill tendancy going. By doing this exercise, you're teaching him to collect and wait for any signal to go transition, instead of him taking the initiative.

Do you practise on a circle or on the straight? I like to keep them on a 15 meter circle, enough for control and a little collection. I prepare them by sitting deep (they know they need to slow down) and keep my leg on ever so slighty (So no downward transitions occur before I ask and to keep the 3-beat and the uphill tendancy), then I breathe out deeply once and push all my weight down through my stirrups and that should be absolutely enough to go back to walk.

Hope this helps.

Thanks - yes we do all that. He can lengthen and shorten the 'normal' canter nicely, although he finds collecting in shoulder in very difficult. His big problem with canter is that the second he feels slightly unbalanced he's back to trot so I have to work really hard on keeping the canter bouncy to avoid that. When I first rode him I was lucky to get half a circle out of him on the right rein before he threw this huge trot at me so he's come on leaps and bounds since then and now the right is his good rein!

 

[Four Seasons]

Thanks - yes we do all that. He can lengthen and shorten the 'normal' canter nicely, although he finds collecting in shoulder in very difficult. His big problem with canter is that the second he feels slightly unbalanced he's back to trot so I have to work really hard on keeping the canter bouncy to avoid that. When I first rode him I was lucky to get half a circle out of him on the right rein before he threw this huge trot at me so he's come on leaps and bounds since then and now the right is his good rein!

Sounds like you're getting there though. Definitely worth practising lots of shoulder-in then. I like to do a canter-to-walk transition through shoulder-in as they tend to keep the balance better that way, as well as stepping right under the body, which will lead to a more direct transition.

 

[Annagain]

Sounds like you're getting there though. Definitely worth practising lots of shoulder-in then. I like to do a canter-to-walk transition through shoulder-in as they tend to keep the balance better that way, as well as stepping right under the body, which will lead to a more direct transition.

Thanks will give that a try tonight. I find shoulder in round the corners really useful to get him stepping under in trot before asking him to lengthen, either across the diagonal or down the long side so I suppose the principle is the same before any other transition. Makes sense!

 

[blitznbobs]

I second (or is it third) the shoulder in in canter, with a difficult horse I sometimes increase the angle of this a bit to get the transition the first few times... good luck, it will come and try to ride forward into it, the worst thing you can do in a downwards transition is lose impulsion as this will make it look sloppy and you won't get the 'sit' you need for what is a very difficult transition to get right tbh.

 

[milliepops]

Agree these can be really hard to master, and part of it is the timing of the aid. I think I got better at riding them when I sussed the timing of the flying change aid as it's similar.
Which is to say... Don't be too hard on yourself while you are developing them, OP

Getting the canter really active in the collection helped mine, getting the smallest canter we can, because I need to be able to ride forward through the transition to avoid the anchor being thrown out too much