Disunited in canter

[Halfpass]

Have just aquired a friends horse to school and do some low level dressage on while Aleeta is growing up. He is 16hh TB x WB (apparently) though looks more like a cob!! He is a lovely boy and just aims to please and his owner has asked me to show him in the summer (he is blue and white). He was originaly broken to drive so trots like a driver and was only backed 2 years ago when his previous owner decided to sell him. He has never really been school and is only ever cantered on hacks. His walk and trot work is coming on great and I think he is just about ready for a little walk and trot test that we have planned in March. There is a BSPA dressage show in April but this is a Prelim test and this is where our problem starts. His canter is awful

. He kind of leaps into it then does a few bucks then his canter is just flat out and disunited. Have put this down to lack of muscle and schooling so thought I'd put him the lunge yesterday just to see exactly what he does, well all I can say is that I'm suprised I stay on!! He strikes off on the correct leg in front but the wrong one behind he then tries to sort himself out and kind of bunny hops with both back feet together then bucks hugely ( and I mean huge) and comes back on the right leg for two or three strides then the whole thing starts again. Occaionaly he'll get it right then go disunited again. Have been doing lots of transitions from trot to canter and back again both on the lunge and ridden but it does not seem to be getting any better. He has had all his tack teeth and back checked so I don't think he is in pain. Any advice?

 

[Bananaman]

It may be worth having a second opinion on his back just to make absolutely sure.

Is the saddle fitting OK?

Does he canter normally when loose in the field?

If yes, then it is likely to be a balance issue. Is he better cantering in straight lines when on a hack?

Can you 'school' in a field using 'huge' circles and a light seat to help him balance?

He also needs to be sent more strongly forwards to engage his hind legs to help the balance before bringing him back to a steadier pace.
This may well involve you both getting out of your comfort zones for a while as you probably feel you want to go slowly to have control but until he learns to put the hind legs forwards, he will never learn to balance properly.

The lungeing can help to a point but if he is as bad as he sounds, I think it's better you proceed as above until he is a bit better. To carry on as you are may mean he looses confidence totally as he struggles to find his balance.

Good Luck with him!

 

[Mel85]

I have had a similar problem with my mare. Having had her back checked which was fine, I went for a dressage session with my trainer who said that the problem is coming from her being too straight through the body and not bending through her ribs. She was then either going disunited or breaking. We worked on a circle, probably only a bit more than 20m and just kept trying to get her to bend to the inside and give and work over her back. I had to ride her with really wide hands to keep the contact and then really exaggerate the bend to the inside until she accepted it, and then give the rein and work her a bit straighter. It was amazing! Has totally fixed the problem. It may not work for all horses, but it worked for mine and may be worth a try? The other thing is to try not to canter in straight lines until the balance is better as you have more chance of keeping the canter round and steady without them going disunited or racing off down the straight side!

Good luck!

 

[Bananaman]

So that goes to show that there's never just one way to solve a problem!!!

Obviously you need to find out why he can't balance and treat the problem accordingly.

My reply was based on the fact that he was struggling to balance on a circle on the lunge which was very similar to a horse I had for schooling a while ago.

I think the best thing to do is to have a lesson with a respected trainer to let you know which course to take.

 

[Seahorse]

Sometimes Axey does that on the lunge, well he does these massive big bucks then gets disunited and does that funny bunnyhop thing, then he normally either goes back into trot or does another buck!
However he's never done anything like that while ridden and always manages to strike off on the correct leg