help on flatwork

[vickers22]

Did some dresage with Zak other day on grass(dont have luxury of a school

)And he was being really calm in walk and trot, and when i first started cantering he was mainly calm, but when i changed rein and started cantering he got really excited and from then on was an absolute prat-it ends up in a struggle as i have to stop him from going flat out, whilst also trying to stop him from prancing and going back into stupid fast trot sideways. It gets me really frustrated-and i try bringing him back down to walk but he just wont settle once he has cantered. I can only canter him for a very short while until he gets stupid. Please help because im so frustrated!!

 

[Shilasdair]

I'd suggest that he is finding canter on one rein difficult as he may be stiff...so will do lots of evasions like leaning on the rein, swinging quarters in or out, changing legs, generally being unhelpful.
If this sounds like him, I'd concentrate on the quality of any canter you do have, and only aim to do one stride or two strides at first...til he can cope. Make sure he has correct bend when you are setting up the transition (leg yield and shoulder in could help beforehand) and then only ask for one or two soft strides, make a fuss of him and leave it.
Next day ask for two to three strides, then build it gradually.
If you can lunge him in canter that might help too.
S

 

[kerilli]

i think you should break your flatwork up a lot more. do a bit of everything, all jumbled up. for e.g. warm up, then canter one circle, go back to trot work, walk for a bit, work on turn on the forehand or something, trot a serpentine, canter a circle on the other rein, back to trot, etc etc. don't do all your walk work, then your trot work, then your canter work. if he gets used to it all being intermingled, hopefully he won't have time for the adrenalin to get going (this is what happens in canter - in the wild, they'll only canter because of adrenalin, because of a fright etc). they have to be taught to cope with it, and stay calm, and it takes a lot of time and patience with some! that's why he finds it so hard to settle after cantering - the adrenalin's rushing through his system, so his basic survival instincts have kicked in, stopping him from relaxing and giving you more than half his attention! if you think of it like that, it might help a little bit.
good luck!

 

[vickers22]

kerilli-that actually makes a lot of sense!!He is basically full tb as well so prone to excitability. shilasdair-thanks will try that as well. sure it will take time but hopefully will improve!thanks guys