Cantering as an evasion

[smiggy]

Argh !
monster pony didn’t use to find canter easy, spent months getting a transition and maintaining it
now she has a new trick of hopping into canter instead of trotting. If I pick up the reins and ask for trot, she will do a bit then come back at me and bounce in to canter.if I can get her long and low she will trot with a nice elastic trot but if she comes up then she wants to canter.
on e she starts this , we stop, free walk then pick up trot with head down and rounding back, until she starts again.
saddle etc all fine
any thoughts ?
only bonus is that the canter is actually lovely, shame about the trot !

 

[Lois Lame]

Does she think you are asking for the canter?

What does she do if you try to ask for a canter? Do you get as nice a canter? (I am wondering if this is not necessarily an evasion, so you need to test the waters.)

 

[blitznbobs]

If your sure its an evasion make her work in the canter every time she does it , shoulder in , changes of pace etc then ask for the trot and she will soon work out its harder work than the trot so will quit the habit.

 

[TheMule]

Hopping up into canter is hocks and/ or suspensories until proven otherwise for me

 

[Sossigpoker]

Hopping up into canter is hocks and/ or suspensories until proven otherwise for me

This !!

 

[Palindrome]

Assuming everything is fine physically, why don't you go back to trot after she canters? By allowing to walk on a long rein after the canter you are rewarding the canter and therefore training her to canter on your trot cues.

 

[smiggy]

Hopping up into canter is hocks and/ or suspensories until proven otherwise for me

Sorry was using the term loosely , not hop per se, just whoo hoo let’s canter !

 

[smiggy]

Assuming everything is fine physically, why don't you go back to trot after she canters? By allowing to walk on a long rein after the canter you are rewarding the canter and therefore training her to canter on your trot cues.

I do always pull her up , trot for a bit first
Just can’t sort of reset the behaviour until I do that

 

[smiggy]

If your sure its an evasion make her work in the canter every time she does it , shoulder in , changes of pace etc then ask for the trot and she will soon work out its harder work than the trot so will quit the habit.

Good plan !

 

[Roxylola]

Just from reading your title I was ready to put money on you having had difficulty with this horse in canter previously.







Ive seen this a lot in horses who've initially struggled to canter. They learn to do it, get praised and learn it's fun. So it becomes a trick to show off and they offer it for any excuse. If the canter is still iffy ride what they offer, work a bit then go back to what you wanted. If the canter is pretty solid now just quietly correct and go back to what you were doing. They'll settle they just have a cool new thing to show you







I've

 

[smiggy]

Just from reading your title I was ready to put money on you having had difficulty with this horse in canter previously.







Ive seen this a lot in horses who've initially struggled to canter. They learn to do it, get praised and learn it's fun. So it becomes a trick to show off and they offer it for any excuse. If the canter is still iffy ride what they offer, work a bit then go back to what you wanted. If the canter is pretty solid now just quietly correct and go back to what you were doing. They'll settle they just have a cool new thing to show you







I've

I really love this interpretation of it, makes me feel like she is just super pleased with herself rather than being a twassock , reframes it !
might even give her an extra polo ?

 

[NinjaPony]

What do you do when she goes into canter? Is it because you put your leg on in the trot for more energy? My boy used to pop into trot when I asked for more energy in the walk because it was easier to pop into trot than extend his walk. My instructor told me not to take my leg off because that rewards the behaviour and teaches him that trotting was what I wanted. So she got me to keep my leg on, move his quarters very slightly off the track, and then take the leg off when he dropped down onto walk. If she canters when you put your leg on in trot, I would try keeping the leg on, asking her to move her quarters very slightly over whilst half halting and then reward her when she drops back into the trot. You don’t want to dampen her enthusiasm but she needs to stay at the pace you put her in. Do you have very clear aids for trot and canter? I used to ask for canter with just a tap of my outside leg, to differentiate it from legs on for trot. I would ask for trot with both legs held on, and if I wanted more power in the walk I would do light taps. Good news that her canter has improved, lots of good suggestions on the thread to try.

 

[SussexbytheXmasTree]

Sounds like she’s either not understanding your cues or is anticipating you wanting canter and not listening. Either way she does not need punishing by making canter hard work.

My orange one is ex-SJ and he had the same issue but the other way around. Initially he would rather do a short striding bouncy canter instead of trot. More recently we’ve been practicing medium strides in trot so he likes to give me that instead of canter.

Whilst I can’t give you a solution because I can’t see what you are doing for me it was making sure I wasn’t giving the wrong signals ie my leg position was not confusing things and that I was sitting correctly for the appropriate transition. An instructor would be able to see what is happening. After that it was lots of transitions in all paces so the horse was listening and waiting to see what I was going to ask rather than anticipating.

 

[Lois Lame]

Hopping up into canter is hocks and/ or suspensories until proven otherwise for me

That's interesting.

I always wondered why a grey gelding that a friend bought when we were in our late teens favoured the canter to the trot. I figured it was an unsoundness, but had no clue what.

 

[Sossigpoker]

That's interesting.

I always wondered why a grey gelding that a friend bought when we were in our late teens favoured the canter to the trot. I figured it was an unsoundness, but had no clue what.

Not necessarily hocks but it is a soundness issue for sure. I had a vet "fail" a vetting when the horse wouldn't trot , just kept cantering.

 

[Sossigpoker]

My cob gets excited about canter and anticipates. Especially on the right rein, j have a habit of lifting my hands and tipping forward when asking for canter ,.so if I ever repeat those actions , he thinks canter.
I wonder if you're doing something similar and he's anticipating because of that ?