Cobs and canter…

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maya2008

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Is it just the two I have or is it a thing that they struggle to canter well without help?

Cob 1 is now fabulous, extremely well balanced, can give me collected canter on wet ground like a comfy reliable rocking horse. Took a year to get there from the random 4 beat downhill horror it was when she arrived aged 8.

Cob 2 was backed really late and has pottered around hacking since. I was looking at videos of her in the school today and I realised she’s slightly out of sync. The back legs reach under her beautifully on both leads and the front legs reach forwards with confidence - but not quite in time with each other, like half a second out. Now trying to decide whether I get on to help her fix it or whether we get the kids to do it with lots of exercises and support.

Is it a cob thing? Both were essentially out of time with themselves before any intervention.
 
Can be a cob thing although make sure your saddle panels are short enough if she's a bit croup high. Mine doesn't look croup high but less than 1/2 inch was enough to cause me canter issues when we fiddled with saddle fit.

I wouldn't rush to lameness issues straight away. I got canter sorted by a tonne of hacking, borrowing a 60x20 school and getting him jumping. My canter was entertaining to watch for a while - back legs mainly behaving but front legs looked like they were doing raised poles!
 
Amymay Again said:
If the horse is cantering 3 time then are you sure they're sound?
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Canter is a three beat gait??

She looks sound in every other way and by every other measure. I went about fixing the first one with the theory that she looked sound and that if there was an issue, the work needed to fix the canter would cause anything hidden to become obvious. Nothing did. She just now looks as fabulous in canter as she does in every other gait. I don’t expect something to come up with this one either but I would rather put the work in and find out, than leave it. She’s a poppet and merrily canters circles and jumps and looks after kids. Just ever so slightly out of time, so slightly that you can only really see it on video.

These two are completely not the first I have ever seen with an uneducated canter as it were. But the being out of time thing has so far been a cob issue. Some of the others had truly interesting movements to start with but it was always in time front to back. They trailed back legs or flung them around or could only canter on one lead or all sorts of weirdness - but always in time front to back.

ETA I just felt sufficiently paranoid to go on the Facebook page of the well known cob dealer. Well… I feel much better now, same disconnect seen multiple times. Worse even in one that had just passed a vetting. A function of being bred to pull?
 
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My cobs have never had a major problem cantering. My current one normally scores 7-8 for canter work at medium. My previous cob did go through a phase of cantering slightly four time, but it was a schooling issue rather than a physical limitation. It was resolved by my thinking a little renvers in the canter to keep the hind leg up and underneath.

However, I do know a cob that expects perfection to get into canter; he needs half halting, leg yielding a step and then he will go into it. If you just sit and ask he runs into a bigger trot. He just has so many trot gears he'd rather offer those than go into canter if you don't ride him well. His canter once he's into it is beautiful. The rest of the cobs I know have great canters.

Unfortunately, because cobs are often "family horses" or not aimed at competition, they aren't schooled the way the competition prospects are. They are run into canter or left to balance themselves. The sales videos for the average cob are very different to those for the average TB or WB. I don't think cobs always find canter the most natural, especially if they have trotter or pacer blood, although many have lovely natural paces. However, I think the main issue is that schooling is neglected because of the types of dealer who sell them and the types of home they are aimed at. Sweeping generalisation, because there are competition cobs, high end cob dealers etc., but I'm talking about the average cob aimed at the family market.
I've ridden several who didn't seem to have ever been asked to do even basic lateral work before (despite being 6-8 years old), and who have been allowed to run on the forehand. Whereas similar aged non-cobs seem to have at least a basic leg yield and shoulder fore installed as part of their early training. Again, just personal experience.
 
My cobs can canter balanced on hacks if in the lead but lose it when trying to catch up to faster horses. And school is impossible, cannot corner!

Its partly me with my stuck hip these days anyway but could be solved with some effort, I'd start out loose schooling then add in a rein, saddle, rider and see where its broken.
 
My current one struggles with balance in canter. He’s a cob but bred and schooled all his young life to trot (‘stepping cob’). The last I did dressage on just lacked a bit of jump to his stride for dressage but very agreeable for hogged ridden show classes. He was consistently getting 70% at elem but he’d have needed lots of work to get changes to come easy!
 
maya2008 said:
Canter is a three beat gait??

She looks sound in every other way and by every other measure. I went about fixing the first one with the theory that she looked sound and that if there was an issue, the work needed to fix the canter would cause anything hidden to become obvious. Nothing did. She just now looks as fabulous in canter as she does in every other gait. I don’t expect something to come up with this one either but I would rather put the work in and find out, than leave it. She’s a poppet and merrily canters circles and jumps and looks after kids. Just ever so slightly out of time, so slightly that you can only really see it on video.

These two are completely not the first I have ever seen with an uneducated canter as it were. But the being out of time thing has so far been a cob issue. Some of the others had truly interesting movements to start with but it was always in time front to back. They trailed back legs or flung them around or could only canter on one lead or all sorts of weirdness - but always in time front to back.

ETA I just felt sufficiently paranoid to go on the Facebook page of the well known cob dealer. Well… I feel much better now, same disconnect seen multiple times. Worse even in one that had just passed a vetting. A function of being bred to pull?
Click to expand...

I think you've hit the nail on the head. Cobs were bred to pull, and are generally built with big shoulders and down hill. They also mature more slowly than the average 'horse' The last young cob I helped bring on we didn't attempt canter under saddle until he was nearly 7 as he just wasn't balanced enough to work out where his legs needed to go. It didn't look pretty in the field either. He was a slow developer and was unfortunately driven at 2.

I think a ride-able canter comes a lot later for the heavier cobs as they need the strength and muscle and education to be able you put weight over the back end and lift the front end if that makes sense. Otherwise your sort of riding them into the ground so they are constantly almost stumbling.
 
Mine has always struggled with canter, but is confirmed PSSM1. We're ok out on hacks, but I gave up on arena schooling when he was about 7 (he's now 11). It doesn't help that I'm dyspraxic, mind you!
 
Mine cob x trotter is fine to canter out on a hack. But finds it’s incredibly difficult in the school. After 7 years, I’ve given up trying.
 
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