counter canter

[moneypit1]

Hi everyone, perhaps you can help me. I am having trouble getting fly to counter canter. He just will not have it. I have tried leaning very obvioulsy the way I want him to stay leading from and he STILL changes! In a straight line I can get him to lead from the leg I choose (amazingly) but if I ask for a flying change he goes disunited most of the time, especially on one rein. Now I am not that good at this sort of thing and am trying to improve my groundwork with regular lessons. Funnily enough, if we are jumping a course he will change leg himself in between fences as he needs to. Any advice welcome. xx

 

[magic104]

The horse must move freely forward, relaxed (that is without undue tension) in good rhythm and tempo. Rhythm is the regularity of the beat of the footfalls and tempo is the speed at which this rhythm is repeated.

A correct and effective warm-up is very important. Walking is an essential part of any warm-up. Walking exercises, such as, walk-halt-walk transitions, counter shoulder in, half circle and leg yield, and exercises on the perimeter of a 20m circle, are a very good way to stretch your horse’s muscles at the start of your work.

Warm-up exercises in trot should include lots of transitions, to ensure that your horse is engaged and working through from back to front. Include transitions within the gait, collected trot to medium trot to collected trot, going around your arena, or on large circles. The trot warm-up should also include work in shoulder-in, haunches-in, and half pass.

Before starting specific exercises for the counter-canter it is a good idea to work some trot to canter to trot transitions, large circles in canter, and a little collection and extension in the canter.

Having completed a thorough warm-up and made certain that your horse is forward, attentive, calm and balanced you can start on specific exercises to help develop the counter-canter. This work will ensure that your horse never changes his leading leg in canter except upon his rider’s specific command. It is indispensable as a preparation for the flying changes that the horse should understand this. Most horses will change leads in the air of their own accord when changing direction – this is a natural thing for them to do to maintain their balance, so work at counter-canter is, to some extent, asking an unnatural thing from the horse.

The counter-canter is primarily a straightening and suppling exercise. Before learning the flying changes the horse needs to be confirmed in maintaining the canter lead being asked of him. The rider has the responsibility to be able to sit correctly and quietly and to fully understand the aids required and how to apply them. Start by cantering around the arena on the true lead in a fairly collected canter and, at the beginning of the long side, making a long shallow loop towards the center line and then back to the track before the corner to the short end. Maintain the aids for the canter lead consistently throughout the exercise, and to return to the track TURN ONLY YOUR HEAD in that direction.

Even when you maintain your aids for the canter lead correctly the horse may change leads anyway during the counter-canter loop. If he does, do not punish him. A little later in his training you will be asking him for flying changes and if you punish him now for giving them to you he will remember that and be unwilling to risk it again. Simply return to walk, walk for a few minutes until he is completely calm, and repeat the exercise.

When you and your horse are comfortable performing this loop in counter canter go to the next step. Develop the loop exercise until the curves become more marked and eventually form a broad, sallow serpentine. Do not change leads during the serpentine, so that your horse will be cantering alternately in a true canter and in a counter-canter. Later still develop the serpentines into large circles and figures of eight without changes of lead.

 

[Bossanova]

Do not lean!! This is the worst thing you can do.
Hold the rythym with your seat and keep the lead with a gentle pressing with the 'outside' leg.

 

[moneypit1]

Thanks so much. We did some serpentines yesterday and he was so good, he changed everytime correctly. Thanks for the advice magic104, I will try to do this and thanks Bossanova for telling me not to lean! Ooops, I thought it would help! I need to get to grips with my seat and balance I think and being more "clear" with my aids. Thanks again.