canter work, lack of balance, disunited, ..

[nic_]

indies canter work is horrible atm,
his canter is very unbalanced, he oftened becomes disunited
its usualy a very bouncy canter, if i give with my reins a bit we get faster and faster,
half halts cause him to throw his head up and become disunited.
this is especialy when i first ask, i get little leaps and its very very bouncy
on the lunge he seems to really struggle to canter a circle and has to fall straight back into trot. he always tries to push out to make a bigger circle but doesnt do it in walk or trot.
what can i do to create better balance as indie really wobbles lol
i dunno if that makes sense to everyone
just ask if you need more information to help

 

[niagaraduval]

My horse is so unbalanced when cantering we are almost falling over. I can't find anyway to solve this apart from regular schooling and lunging. My horse still feels like he's barrel racing but he is a lot better then what he used to be like.

 

[trendybraincell]

Had his back checked recently?

 

[Baggybreeches]

A good exercise is to canter 1/4 of a 20m circle, then trot a 1/4. Do this and it improves the transition up, which in turn improves the canter, if he is not confident be happy with 6 or 7 strides then trot again and build up gradually, don't think that you have to do lots to make it better because it will probably have the opposite effect!

 

[nic_]

his backs fine

new saddle and everything sorted
the thing is his walks perfect, his trots okay till i ask for canter and after ive cantered,
so i just have problems with cantering.

 

[jumpthemoon]

I'd have his back checked as the problems you are experiencing could well be caused by back problems. Failing that, teeth & tack could be an issue. Have you got a good instructor? Sometimes it's hard to tell what's going wrong from on board and having someone on the ground can really make a difference.

 

[nic_]

ive told my insturctor i think hes uncomfortable and theyve said he just needs to be worked through it as he only turned 5 in june. so still pretty baby like,
i just wanna know what i can do to help balance and like jumping into canter

 

[SALLYT]

I have the exact same problem with my just turned 5 year old.
he lacks a lot of muscle and that is the reason for his falling in and lack of self balance. If I canter him on the long side of the school we just have fast flat canter, my trainer has said to start with not to canter the long side of the school, he has to know how to balance and collect.

What we started to do is on a circle about 15m we start of in trot and he has to accept the contact and be totally relaxd once I feel that he is do I ask for canter again on a smallish circle, and try to do one full circle, pushing him out with the inside leg all the time. Then bring him back to trot and again once relaxed and accepting the contact with out rushing ask again, but to only ask for canter when I feel he is ready.

I have also been advised to canter him on the lunge and to get him long reined to help build his muscles up.

Hope this help alittle, I think alot of it will be patience and taking things slowly.

 

[trendybraincell]

So its just a balance thing then?

Lunging will really help his balance, try with a pessoa to encourage use of bad end. Assuming he doesn't object to a pessoa!

When ridden, stick with 20m circles, my instructor had us troting with lots of transitions and half-halts to get him carrying weight behind, then asking for making sure you have submission ask for canter, keep flexing poll and half-halting, then gradually decrease circle to get him shifting weight again, when he feels better increase circle before going large.

Also don't worry if he drops out of canter, its only because he's finding it so hard to balance and carry weight behind. just ask for the canter again.

Good luck and let us know how things go.

 

[OrangeEmpire]

My 6yro horse struggles in canter and i've always assumed it was a 'baby' thing as it looked like poor balance. Have since discovered that she has a back problem. I would get it checked out by a Physio/Chiro to be sure, before adding to his workload.

If you think he is uncomfortable, he probably is. I've realised that it is good to trust your gut instinct on these things.

 

[zoeshiloh]

I have to admit I was a bit surprised when you asked this question, as the pic in your sig showed the horse in question jumping what looked like approx 3'6". My first point would be that jumping should stop until you get this canter sorted.

I would then suggest leaving the confines of the school, forget circles, and take him out and canter on hacks - straight lines, across fields etc - let him find his own balance. Do not try to hold him too much - this can confuse a young horse - it has four legs that it has to co-oridnate, and a rider on top moving around and unbalancing him - you just have to be a passanger for a while and let him remember how to use himself.

I had a young horse that was terribly unbalanced in canter, and it turned out that I was making her more unbalanced by trying to work on circles, hold her back (in an attempt to balance her) etc. We solved this by lots of straight line cantering out on hacks - this helped her develop her muscles correctly, gave her confidence in where her legs should be going, and within a month she was cantering happily in the school.

I would also try and incorporate some lunge work, although start of in trot. I prefer long-reining to lungeing, but do whatever you feel happier with. Use side reins, and make sure your horse is moving through from behind. When he is nice and balanced in trot, ask for a few strides of canter. Do a bit more each time you lunge him. He will slowly build in confidence - realise that he can do it, and build up the muscles required to canter smaller circles, without a rider unbalancing him. You could put some canter poles out to help him stay in rhythym around corners/on the circle.

Once he is happy cantering with you up-top in a straight line on hacks (or a field if you have nowhere to hack) and he is more balanced in canter on the lunge, trying cantering him again in the school.

So many people get stressed when it comes to teaching a young horse to canter, and immediately try to 'hold' a horse into a balanced canter, before it has even learnt how to canter - this is what causes the problems. Go right back to basics, lots of lovely, free, (uphill if you can) canters out on hacks, an let him remember how to canter, before trying to balance him and slow him down.

 

[fattymare]

My mare is 13 and very unbalanced in canter on the lunge and is slightly better with me on board. Gets disunited very easily. Back, teeth, saddle etc all fine and checked regularly. She does have damage to both her stifles (old injury, luckily we've never had any reoccurring problems) and really struggles to get her hocks underneath her. I've had her over 4 years now and it's always been the same. We only hack out now - in straight lines!! Cantering along a nice field is always fun!!! I'm sure it's something you will be able to correct over time with a baby

 

[RachelB]

Lots of lungeing and lots of transitions in both your lungeing and ridden work. If he's throwing his head up in half-halts, it's probably because you are using too much hand and not enough leg to give the aid (consciously or unconsciously, I do it unconsciously all the time!) The suggestions of doing quarter or half a 20m circle in canter then making a transition again are a good idea. Also, the quality of the trot is very important for improving the canter - the horse I ride is 12 but fairly un-schooled, and as I have no arena to ride in I spend a lot of time in trot as the field can get too slippy to canter. Improving his trot (he usually has a short, bouncy, tense trot) and getting him to open up in that pace has meant that our transitions into canter are better and that he knows he can confidently open his pace and relax in the trot so it's easier to get him to relax in the canter.
I also agree that he probably is uncomfortable if you think he is. Berlin has a lot of back trouble as he gets so tense. He has regular McTimoney sessions to help loosen him up again and lots of long and low work afterwards.

 

[nic_]

hey
thanks

yeh he does a lot of hacking, especially when we first brought him into work as a 4 year old, it was hacking most days a week

barely ever get acces to a school anyway.
his trot and walk are pretty perfect

i just cant establish a balanced and comfortable canter.
the transition into it is the worst bit,
we cantered up the long side of the field today and it was completely unbalanced and wobbly.