Ex racer horrible canter

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Stacey6897

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Hi all, can someone give me some advice for my ex racer? We can gallop and brakes are ok ish, but our canter is just awful, not even going to try it in the indoor arena, I'd like some exercises to do to help her balance in canter before I try again on board! Any ideas?

I've had her around 4 weeks, ex hurdler from Ireland age 7, she's ok to hack out at walk and trot, but not brilliant in the school, has bucked me off in a panic, is extremely headshy to the point that I can't get her browband on, my plan is to do some riding club dressage and showjumping, currently just doing lots of hacking out and trotting poles in the school to get her happier in there.
 
Steady lunge in canter to help with balance. To get the feel of your horse from on board jock your irons up a few holes, stand up inyour stirrups and rest your hands on you horses withers with just a slight contact on your reins and take them for a canter along a field and gradually bring it round into a circle. This way you will feel just how your horse works.

They won't have done very much "normal" cantering in their lives so you will have to teach the from scratch, as though you were just brekaing them in.
 
I've galloped her in the field, I tried starting off by slowing the gallop down to a canter but it was horrible, gallop lovely and smooth but canter was really messy and fell into jagged trot, tried this a few times

She was sold at sales earlier this year and had more than one owner since, the last ones got bucked off a bit, and I did first time I rode her! Been long reining on the roads and riding out, she's hacking out nice but a bit green, did raised trot poles on the lunge today

Current plan is to try lungeing over poles at a canter, but first have to get her to canter on the lunge, rather than dig a big circular trench around me on a wall of death style gallop!
 
Lots of time and patience!! Take everything back to basics. My ex racer boy has just realised he can walk in a circle on the lunge, not full pelt wall of death style all the time. Such a good feeling when he did it for the first time and totally worth the tears and tantrums to get there. Good luck, it's very rewarding. X x x
 
If they are only recently out of training, been through a few homes due to bucking do you think you should get their back checked out? And give them TIME! You cant change them in a day! Your having to teach them a whole new way of going and a new way of life. Forget galloping. Forget cantering. Get the walk and trot sorted first. Once they understand that canter then falls into place. Trot and canter aren't natural to a racehorse as it is very rarely asked of them.
 
EKW said:
If they are only recently out of training, been through a few homes due to bucking do you think you should get their back checked out? And give them TIME! You cant change them in a day! Your having to teach them a whole new way of going and a new way of life. Forget galloping. Forget cantering. Get the walk and trot sorted first. Once they understand that canter then falls into place. Trot and canter aren't natural to a racehorse as it is very rarely asked of them.
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Also do you have a decent instructor, if not I would get one, I have always been taught that horses like these the canter is the last to come right.
I was taught on one of my old horses, to school through transitions not canter though, keep him moving around school so brains engaged, ie lots of circles, serpintines etc. At the very end of schooling session try a half circle of canter say e-b then straight back to trot. Finish on that short canter. Through schooling sessions gradually increase the canter to a couple of half circle to a full 20m and so on but take it at the horses pace on how quickly to progress. This worked miracles for one of my boys :)
 
I got mine and he had 8 months of doing anything. He didn't even have any tack to avert any temptation. Brought him into work in March/April time, a bit of lunging and he was the model lunge horse. Halt, walk, trot, canter and in any order - he's obviously had a lot of breaking work put into him at the race yard. He took a couple of weeks to catch onto aids for going into canter and he doesn't get striking off on the correct leg but it'll come eventually.

Trot was awful, like sitting on a washing machine with hiccups - lots of circles and serpentines and transitions and it's much better. His bend is a bit hit and miss. His canter is okay actually but he was very disconcerted when he found I was sitting to him but he soon caught on, lifted his face off the floor, picked up in front and canters nicely - he does motorbikes his corners but my latest tack is to lean right back in corners so the weight is over his backend so he has to stand upright or he'll fall over because of the balance!

To some extent i'm quite lucky because i'm finding he's very much a feet first kinda a guy - throw him in at the deep end and he's happy to figure it out. Take it slowly and he can't be ar5ed to think so you end up banging your head against a wall.

They're all different but maybe a bit of time off will help her figure stuff out then pick her up again in a few months and do the basics :)
 
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maybe get an osteo out to have a look at the horse. eventually had an osteo out and it turns out he had a twisted pelvis. got that sorted and he is fine now
 
Not going to be cantering in the school any time soon, she's had her back and teeth checked, is quite happy galloping, trotting and walking, just long and strung out.

I'm going to do lots and lots of trotting and transitions and some poles, then when she's less strung out and more collected I'll try again in the field
 
My OTTB's canter was so bad I had to sit on one hip to avoid having my back wrecked, but as he got better able to use himself, the canter inproved no end. Allow a year!
 
A year! Well, ok, sounds about right actually, if she was a baby I probably wouldn't expect a canter in the 20 x 40 school for a while

Oh, and she does the oddest thing, jogging in the field, she does laps, exercising herself, then after a while, she turns round and trots laps in the other direction, she's worn a track of a 40m circle!
 
From what you have said about their behaviour in a field I would, in all honesty, chuck them out in a herd for a 6-8weeks minimum and forget about them work wise. Let the chill out and learn to be a horse.

Racehorses need time. Don't expect miracles in a short space of time. They aren't normal horses, they are extraordinary and you really do need to take everything so much more slowly and explain everything clearly.
 
I am kind of in the same situation. Got an OTTB who has had about 9months off in the field to sort his head out (he raced til he was 9 then p2p and hunted for a year). he began work in may this year. he was lunged in walk and trot only for about 3 weeks then i started to add in a short riding session aswell as lunging but again only walk and trot, built up the amount of time being ridden. After about 8 weeks we began canter on the lunge with loose side reins, now i do short bursts of canter when schooling. He wont be expected to do working canter of entire arena for atleast another month and on a 20m circle for a few weeks after that as he isnt balanced enough to do that yet. Also try to avoid galloping her too often as you are just encouraging her to keep long and strung out, i havnt galloped mine since i have had him and probably wont until the end of this year/next year depending how his canter and brakes come along.

As for the running around the field ino you probably want to ride her straight away but maybe you should think about turning her away for a few weeks/ ideally months to unwind and settle. Just give her time.
 
My ex-racer had a horrible canter when I first got her, it's only beginning to improve now, a full year after getting her! We still have tears and tantrums cantering on the right leg though!! She had a tendency to motorbike round the corners, and I have to really sit on my bum to keep us steady. Shortening my stirrups and getting off her back was a very useful exercise, actually, as she learnt to balance herself instead of relying on me.

I wish wish wish that I had turned her away for the winter before starting the reschooling, so although you're probably gagging to get on with it, I really would advise listening to what other people have said about turning her away for at least 6 weeks before you try and reschool. Ex racers really can be very complicated people!!

GOOD LUCK and keep us posted :)
 
Taken your advice and turned her away, only things I've done with her are a bit of trick training and cuddling, she's lost the tense thousand yard stare and started getting snuggly and affectionate, as well as much more placid

Will start riding her again in the spring, I know she's fine hacking out and only ever bucked in the arena, looking back I think it was a response to being separated from her friends
 
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