Help with canter....

H

H-J

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arrrggghhh am at my wits end with my mares canter, basically when I got her (last winter) she had done barely anything and her canter was poor poor! She couldnt canter on the right leg and had no strength.

She now has a lot more strength, has a good topline and a nice trot, she always strikes off on the right leg but even after a years work, can still only hold canter round and engaged for around 3 laps of the school, she finds it so hard, although only being 16.1hh she has a huge stride for her size (keeps up with Nats 16.3hh big moving WB) so I think that is why it has taken her so long to build up canter strength. She always ridden and lunged in canter tries to lengthen her frame not engage and stretch her neck out. So tried draw reins and engaging her from behind with small circles winding in and out, pole work etc etc and have now hit the point where I want more from her im sick of having to hold her together all the time! she is 5 by the way and of a laid back nature so I school in spurs.

Any help/suggestions for schooling or medical issues would be a great help....
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Is it the same on both reins, or is one worse than the other....
And is her trotwork good ie is she well balanced in walk and trot, just canter being the problem??
Shallow loops on the long side of the school in canter seem to work for my mare, or lots of loops if lucky enough to have a field to ride in, also riding a square rather than circles.
I have to say though, our big grey mare is quite long (6'9" in rugs) and was at least 6 before her canter was any good in the school.
Fiona
 
What sort of saddle have you got?? Owen was the same and couldnt sit his canter properly until I got a saddle that he was really comfortable in and was made to measure for him.
Then it was just preservation, preservation preservation with all the exercises!
now he can canter practically on the spot and do 4 m circles. His osteopath/healer also helped a lot.
 
Think is she isnt long which makes you think it would be fine, but she has an incredibly long stride.

Her trot work is fine, if sometimes a bit lazy! But she is balanced.

I dont even think she would hold canter in loops! But its not from lack of trying with her canter, I have worked really hard on it and it has really improved but has now hit a point where it isnt improving and im sick of the canter to be honest! I find myself having to ride her in a 3 ring happy mouth to jump to hold her in front because she is so long in front and will just run away with me and get to long, but on the other hand doesnt really need this as isnt that forward!!
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Forgot to ad to give you a mental image she almost motobikes the corners!
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Her saddle is fine it has been fitted recently and she has a prolite underneath she also had her ack done about 3 weeks ago and does have it done regualary, she will have it done again b4 xmas.
 
Halt, rein back, canter. Canter, walk, halt, rein back, canter and repeat! If she is not good in rein-back then just canter-walks and walk-canters, only cantering for four strides at a time and walking for a count of 4.
Have had really good results using this on some horses. I will use it on Moon this year as her canter is a bit the same but up till this point she hasnt been amenable enough to do it without a strop.
 
If it were me I would do lot of lateral work especially in walk and do some exercises like walk pirouettes to get the weight off the forehand and help strengthen the hindquarters. I would also work the canter with your weight off her back a bit to see if she finds it a bit easier to maintain. I wouldn't continue with the draw reins in this situation......
 
These are some of the exercises I do on my yak. First he is incredibly lazy and big. Trot is easy for him canter impossible.

You must get her off the leg have been reading a wonderful book and all kyra krykland does is get them off the leg before she does anything else as the rest will come if they go forwards. Take off your spurs and have two schooling whips. Be really really strict. Every time she ignores your leg bam tap with the schooling whips both sides and send her forwards. Bring her back and ask again until she is really sharp off the leg. When you are down to one schooling whip if you touch her and she does not go forwards bam with both your legs send her forwards. This will help your canter so much because you are not having to hold her together.

As Boss says loads of transitions they get them sitting on their hocks especially if lazy. The other thing is to do count normal canter up long side of school then play around so maybe if normal canter is 12 strides aim for 18 then next side aim for 8 then back to 12 up to 18 all the time changing it so she learns to shorten and lengthen. If she gets unbalanced do a 20m circle. A neck strap is really helpful because you can ask them to shorten without you holding them up.

Henry Horn recommends lunging with side reins between their legs this really helped her horses.

It is a long and painful process! If she really leans on you change the bit mine went in a pelham for a while so he learnt to sit on his back end rather than my hands and after about 3 weeks soon was able to go back in the snaffle.
 
I always lunge her with side reins in betwen her legs this with her work is what has given her, her great topline and muscle all over her back
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Maybe avoid the schooling whip and send her forwards with your legs like a PC kick. She has got to react to your leg rather than ignoring it. She sounds like she is taking the piss avoiding working harder by either being lazy or disappearing so you do not ask again.
It also makes a difference in everything else - xc and SJ if they go when you touch them rather than ignoring you. Unfortunately I have learnt this the hard way and should have done it when I first had him but I left it!
 
I sympathise entirely, I have the same problem with my 5 year old mare. Only mine is a bit of a pocket rocket and likes to zoom around 'waterskiing' on my hands rather than balancing herself if at all possible! I haven't found the solution yet, in fact I feel like it's got worse compared with the summer when the canter was quite reasonable, but with hindsight I was just holding her together in front and now that I've gone back to basics and concentrated on letting her find her own balance rather than her using my hands to prop herself up it's all gone to pot
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My instructor tells me to work on getting her really supple in the walk and trot (lots of lateral flexion and lateral work) as apparently then the canter will come naturally.

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I always lunge her with side reins in betwen her legs this with her work is what has given her, her great topline and muscle all over her back
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Interested in this idea - how does it work and how do you attach the side reins - to the back of a cavesson or to the bit rings? Do you attach the line to a cavesson or over the poll and to the bit on the outside? Would this have a similar effect to a chambon (as I have one of these)? thanks
 
Mine is the same, he has a huge canter according to a couple of people I have had lessons with, and he finds it difficult to balance himself enough to mmaintain a "collected" frame. TBH the majority of the problem is their age and strength. The thing that helped mine more than anything was having 3wks off. He came back alot stronger and his cante had improved 10 fold wthout doing anything. Pleae dont use gadgets, it will encourage her to drop on her forehand and not engage the behind. Transitions are the main things that help as Boss says.
 
agree with the above - gadgets are the worst thing for this problem, they just avoid the problem by giving the horse another reason not to carry herself.
lots of lateral work in walk, then trot, really concentrating on getting the inside hind stepping up and across, as that's really the basic problem that's making the canter so difficult for you both. for instance i'd walk, halt, turn on the forehand, walk on, halt, turn on the forehand on a circle, then change rein and do the same on the other rein.
i'd do shoulder-fore or shoulder-in on the 3rd or 4th track, then leg-yield right across into the corner, before asking for canter, so that you are asking from a moment and a position where she's been really engaging the hindleg. i'd keep the canter periods short so she learns that she only canters uphill, doesn't have time to get tired and long.
rein back to canter is a brilliant one if she can rein back softly and absolutely correctly,on the leg and seat not the hand - if not, it's pointless.
i'd keep the contact in front absolutely light and consistent, so she trusts the hand but has nothing to lean on, so she has to learn self-carriage and can't rely on helped-carriage.
 
Loving this post! It could have been written by me H-J!! The canter with mine is slowly getting better but it is still fairly rubbish and I've been using walk to canter which has helped massively. Going to try Kerrilli's suggestions too when I go up to the yard later on.
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Just a quick query I havent ever used side reins between their legs do you fit them the same length as you would attached normally or differently?
My mare is really difficult in canter she either goes 90 miles an hour or leans really heavily.
Any ideas of whether this would help me?
or any other ideas?
 
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