Cantering - issues

[MrsHhorses]

Hoping for some clarification & advice.

When asking for canter in a corner do you bring your outside leg back and tap then bring leg back to girth or keep it back & pressure on?

Also when I ask for canter my horse charges like it’s a yeehaar so when I try to collect it we fall back to trot instead of a slower canter.
What am I doing wrong?

Lastly, I’ve been trotting up until the point of sitting so I strike on the right leg. Is this a bad habit?

Thank you

 

[oldie48]

Just noticed that lots have looked but not answered so I'll give it a go. The aids depend on what the horse has already been taught, I always flex slightly to inside then sometimes I've had to put my outside leg back, inside leg on the girth and press with others I haven't really needed the outside leg. However, I do find it really helps if you focus on having a nice balanced trot before asking for the transition and sit up, so you don't encourage the horse on to it's forehand. To collect the trot I've found sitting up and using as little hand as possible or do a walk to canter transition, as this encourages the horse to step under more. It's quite hard for horses to collect, they need to be quite strong so use circles of different sizes, ask the horse forward then sit up and ask for a few steps more collected and over time gradually ask for more. I think getting the right lead is more about having a slight inside flexion and a clear canter aid rather than at what point you take sitting trot. I hope this helps and perhaps others will chip in with ideas.

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

I would sit trot for a few strides then sit and half halt and ask with outside leg but I find a little bit of inside leg on the girth helps, a good exercise is to slightly raise your outside rein when you ask for canter.

It sounds like the horse is not balanced so finds cantering hard in an arena, sometimes it is better to get a few good strides of canter without rushing, go back to trot and ask again your long sides use for canter.

Another good one is don't use the corners do a big circle in the middle of the school and just do a circle of trot then canter, then slowly make it bigger and try and maintain the canter longer.

 

[sbloom]

Be careful with the bend to the inside, frequently it throws them onto the outside shoulder and then their balance isn't going to deal with giving you the correct lead. If you struggle to get correct lead looking to the outside and not asking for inside bend can actually help. Think of using your seat, and almost a visualisation, an idea in your mind of actually being IN canter, to lift the horse UP and into canter, rather than forwards or thinking about bend and direction.

Some horses don't want the outside leg back at all, there is no natural aid for the horse to canter, it's all about what we've taught them, but ultimately we need to sit well and use our whole body to help with their balance and their ability to then respond to specific aids.

You may find looking at books, videos etc from Mary Wanless and Sally Swift useful to help you with these visualisations and "feels".

 

[Skib]

I learned to canter as an adult, mostly out hacking, and when it came to cantering in the school, usually near a corner, I was desperately worried about having the wrong lead. A wise teacher told me to forget it. The horse usually chose the correct lead and, if it didnt, she would tell me. The horse never did. And still hasnt.

 

[Mahoganybay]

Hi, I was taught to bring the outside leg back when asking for canter and to keep it there gently. If I feel my horse is about to break into trot then to tap/nudge my outside leg to keep going.

I bring my leg back to the girth as part of my cue to come back to trot, along with my half halt etc. But it really does depend on what the horse is taught & being consistent.

Is your horse soft in the contact, rythmatic & balanced in trot before asking for canter? I will only go into canter when it feels right and sometimes I have to do a couple of 20m circles beforehand.

I rise to the trot, ensure I have slight inside flexion then sit for two beats, half halt, legs in position and pop pop into canter. I then during canter ensure she is still soft in the contact & balanced. If it doesn’t feel like that after a couple of strides I bring back to trot and repeat, repeat, repeat!

Hope that helps.

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

Be careful with the bend to the inside, frequently it throws them onto the outside shoulder and then their balance isn't going to deal with giving you the correct lead. If you struggle to get correct lead looking to the outside and not asking for inside bend can actually help. Think of using your seat, and almost a visualisation, an idea in your mind of actually being IN canter, to lift the horse UP and into canter, rather than forwards or thinking about bend and direction.

Some horses don't want the outside leg back at all, there is no natural aid for the horse to canter, it's all about what we've taught them, but ultimately we need to sit well and use our whole body to help with their balance and their ability to then respond to specific aids.

You may find looking at books, videos etc from Mary Wanless and Sally Swift useful to help you with these visualisations and "feels".

This is true and I often have my first few canters in an almost rising canter so I'm off the back for a bit, I find then they open up in canter then and it's easier to maintain on a horse that is struggling.

 

[tristar]

collection is something that comes with schooling and lots of time, i allow horses who don`t cope very well to go on forwards, without forwards you have nothing to develop collection from

i always start them in canter in the corner so they learn to rarely go off on the wrong lead, then later either lead on the straight.

your horse does
not sound very established?

i usually have inside leg on girth, outside leg back, its more natural

i never use counter bend, and think forwards, that is the key, ride through it and on down the long side, then say halfway down, a large circle, or part thereof, canter is tiring when they are not very good at it
when they can canter a reasonable circle then is the time to ask for a balanced more sitting canter

 

[MrsHhorses]

Just noticed that lots have looked but not answered so I'll give it a go. The aids depend on what the horse has already been taught, I always flex slightly to inside then sometimes I've had to put my outside leg back, inside leg on the girth and press with others I haven't really needed the outside leg. However, I do find it really helps if you focus on having a nice balanced trot before asking for the transition and sit up, so you don't encourage the horse on to it's forehand. To collect the trot I've found sitting up and using as little hand as possible or do a walk to canter transition, as this encourages the horse to step under more. It's quite hard for horses to collect, they need to be quite strong so use circles of different sizes, ask the horse forward then sit up and ask for a few steps more collected and over time gradually ask for more. I think getting the right lead is more about having a slight inside flexion and a clear canter aid rather than at what point you take sitting trot. I hope this helps and perhaps others will chip in with ideas.

Thank you so much that’s really so helpful

 

[MrsHhorses]

I would sit trot for a few strides then sit and half halt and ask with outside leg but I find a little bit of inside leg on the girth helps, a good exercise is to slightly raise your outside rein when you ask for canter.

It sounds like the horse is not balanced so finds cantering hard in an arena, sometimes it is better to get a few good strides of canter without rushing, go back to trot and ask again your long sides use for canter.

Another good one is don't use the corners do a big circle in the middle of the school and just do a circle of trot then canter, then slowly make it bigger and try and maintain the canter longer.

Great ideas, thank you. I will try to start with a circles instead of corners.

 

[MrsHhorses]

Be careful with the bend to the inside, frequently it throws them onto the outside shoulder and then their balance isn't going to deal with giving you the correct lead. If you struggle to get correct lead looking to the outside and not asking for inside bend can actually help. Think of using your seat, and almost a visualisation, an idea in your mind of actually being IN canter, to lift the horse UP and into canter, rather than forwards or thinking about bend and direction.

Some horses don't want the outside leg back at all, there is no natural aid for the horse to canter, it's all about what we've taught them, but ultimately we need to sit well and use our whole body to help with their balance and their ability to then respond to specific aids.

You may find looking at books, videos etc from Mary Wanless and Sally Swift useful to help you with these visualisations and "feels".

Really helpful advice, thank you. I will look into those books too!

 

[MrsHhorses]

collection is something that comes with schooling and lots of time, i allow horses who don`t cope very well to go on forwards, without forwards you have nothing to develop collection from

i always start them in canter in the corner so they learn to rarely go off on the wrong lead, then later either lead on the straight.

your horse does
not sound very established?

i usually have inside leg on girth, outside leg back, its more natural

i never use counter bend, and think forwards, that is the key, ride through it and on down the long side, then say halfway down, a large circle, or part thereof, canter is tiring when they are not very good at it
when they can canter a reasonable circle then is the time to ask for a balanced more sitting canter

Great tips, thank you! No, she’s not very established in the school. I will keep up with the circles and when that’s consistently more balanced I’ll move on-also means she can’t rush as much too.
Thank you

 

[Birker2020]

Hoping for some clarification & advice.

When asking for canter in a corner do you bring your outside leg back and tap then bring leg back to girth or keep it back & pressure on?

Also when I ask for canter my horse charges like it’s a yeehaar so when I try to collect it we fall back to trot instead of a slower canter.
What am I doing wrong?

Lastly, I’ve been trotting up until the point of sitting so I strike on the right leg. Is this a bad habit?

Thank you

You need a steady trot from which to ask canter. Its inside leg on the girth outside behind. You will never get a good canter out of a rushed or umbalanced trot so the better the quality of your trot, the better the transition to canter will be.

With Bailey I only had to squeeze gently with my outside leg, he was very much on the ball with upward transitions.

With Lari (on probably the four ocassions I cantered him) it was both legs, backed up with a tap of a stick. What I took for laziness was due to physical issues though.

Each horse is different and each responds differently in my experience. And you can get a horse to respond better to the leg with various exercises.

 

[J&S]

When you first start to canter in the school don't aim for too much. The 20 mtr circles don't need to be done all at once. I was taught to start with 1/4 of the circle, back to trot, canter another 1/4. This way you never lose control of the situation, horse starts to shorten a little bit naturally and has to listen.

 

[Jellymoon]

I think the traditional aids to canter which I had to repeat parrot fashion in the pony club went something like this: half halt, bit of inside bend, sitting trot, inside leg on the girth, outside leg behind girth…