excercises for improving youngsters canter?

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georgiegirl2

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hey all

twig is a 4 yo (5 next spring) 16.2 tb. so far she is going fantastically in trot, really uses her back and and it very balanced and light. However, although we have mastered cantering on the right leg im afraid thats about as far as it gets! in canter she is very unbalanced and in typical tb way likes to use her neck as a fifth leg meaning i have to really try to sit on my bum (she pulls me forwards and hence hinders herself more!) and when sitting up i really have to keep pushing to stop her losing balance and breaking into trot - obviously not conducive to achieving a nice balanced canter.

Are they any ways i can help try and get her carry herself a bit more or do you think she just needs time?
 
we do have a pessoa that she has gone well in before although i must admit its once in a blue moon i lunge her, i prefer getting on! although teaching her withough me on is sensible and will help her gain stength. do you suggest lowest setting for it? ie between her legs?
 
Remember that she will be struggling to keep her balance - never mind with you on top! I'd get off her back so she can balance herself and freely use herself and use soft half halts on the outside rein and as soon as she softens, leave be and just gently squeeze your legs to keep her going. Don't ask much - just a lap of the arena and then back to trot when you ask for it. Gradually, she'll improve and her dependancy on your hands will vanish and you can sit and start to play with the pace a little more and obv. canter more!
 
Isn't the lowest setting the harsher one? I'd start at the easiest setting first, and then build it up, or as LTT has suggested, get off her back and canter one lap of arena, then back to trot etc......

it is something that will, like all things come in time...
 
As said above, lunging in a pessoa helped mine lots.

Time helps too! Mines been cantering for about 4 months now, and it's only now that it's gotten really nice, and it still comes and goes! Right lets see if I can explain this;

Get your canter transition, then canter a 20m circle. Keep cantering circles, but gradually move them down the school, if that makes any sense. It was an exercise we did with my instructor and it worked wonders on my mare. Also changing the lead through trot on figures of eight.

To be perfectly honest though, the best canter I've ever had on my mare was on a stretch of grass with her stable mate cantering ahead of her, and I felt like I was sat on a bouncy ball! The power she had behind was immense, she was like a coiled spring, it's moments like that I live for!
 
My youngster's canter used to be awful, as in he couldnt actually get round corners he was so unbalanced. We spent ages just cantering round the school, not asking any questions other than slow, slow, slow. I always got of his back and didnt try and correct the front end at all (made him worse) after doing lots of this and loads of transitions up and down into canter he got more convident and I could start sitting down and asking him to lift the front end, I couldnt have done this at the beginning as he would have simply broken into trot as he was too unbalanced. His canter is still a work in progress but he is getting there.
 
Please dont canter in a pessoa, if the horse is unbalanced, if they trip they will either get a jab in the mouth or a sock up the bum! Also cantering on the lunge is very hard work for a young horse. Keep it simple, lots of transitions, canter half a twenty metre circle before asking for tro, rebalance for a circle, then canter again. Work on when going straight, horse goes forward, so just push on a bit. Work on your balance, keep of her back and let her swing along, with just support from your hand and leg. DOnt make her canter for oo long at a time, better you ask for her to come to trot before she gets intothe habit of falling into trot.
smile.gif
 
I have a rising 5 tb mare too, it took months to get her canter sorted but its now probably her best pace...! The penny finally dropped with her by cantering in the field and out hacking on long tracks, she could only start cantering in the school once she had learned to balance herself on a straight line, now we can canter round the school and do 20-ish metre circles without fuss. Instructor has told me to leave the front end alone for now and to just let her canter herself as if i mess about with it too much I'll ruin it...

Do you have any long straight areas you can canter her on?
 
Trotting in a pessoa, will believe it or not improve the canter, as it helps to build up the muscles and therefore the balance etc improves.. I always find it useful.. also as others have sugeested coming off the back will help the horse to canter with less interference and therefore will have more of a chance to find his own balance.

Dont try too hard to balance the horse with your hand and remember to keep ytour leg on.
 
I echo KatB and urge you not to canter in the pessoa at this age - if the horse does trip and fall you've got a lot of problems.

I would just say - transitions, transitions, transitions. Every half circle do a transition. Start off with just half a circle canter, circle trot, half circle canter etc and then a few months down the line as he gets more balanced you can make the transitions quicker - every half circle.
I'm currently schooling a pony thats very unbalanced and I do a transition up or down every 10 strides - it has REALLY helped to engage the pony and get it more balanced and thinking.
 
My boy couldnt canter when we bought him, my insructor said it was lack of confidence and just to encourage him to go forwards, get off his back and let him work it out on his own. Once hed got the idea of this we started working on his transitions, same as katb and gloster_image suggested, 20m circle, doing a transition every few strides, making sure it was varied to stop him anticipating it, introducing direct transitions was really the making of his canter.
My previous instructor had got us doing the transitions straight away but i found that as he hadnt worked out how to go forwards, asking him to stop and start just confused him further.
Hes much better now, but i still warm up by doing a forward canter on each rein out of the saddle before we get down to serious schooling.
 
I wouldn't use a pessoa yet as she won't be strong enough. Lots of transitions from trot to canter, but not staying in canter too long. Also don't do too much on a tight circle as she will find it difficult to balance. Don't worry it will come in time.
 
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