Help with my collected canter please

F

fruity

Well-Known Member
Joined
30 January 2007
Messages
1,560
Location
Oxfordshire/Bucks
Visit site
My mare has got a great walk and trot on the flat it's just the canter now,she's a fairly green just turned 5 yr old. Her left rein is coming on nicely it's just the right thats still rather on ward bound! She goes into canter nicely and then just tanks around,to people on the ground it doesn't look too bad but on top it feels rather out of control. I'm doing leg yield a little more and am doing lots and lots of transitions,am lunging her and she is getting there it's just when you put a rider on she is gets very excited and charges off. When she knows jumps are involved she does the most amazing canter in both reins! She comes back on herself beautifully when i ask and it feels amazing,she just finds stressage quiet boring! Any ideas???
 
Hey em
Transitions transitions transitions helped with J. Both back to trot and within the canter - I ended up having to not let him get away for even a stride!! As soon as he started tanking and running on the forehand we had to do something different - circle, transitions etc.
Is she only rising 5? So was 3 when you got her? I thought she was 4 when you bought her?
 
She was five in april saw on her passport last week,the girl said she was 4 in the nov prev year. Makes sense with normal foaling times! I bring her back after a few strides and then do something else then try a couple more strides after a bit.
 
Weird when people lie to you about how old a horse is when you buy them!! And no wonder she was a bit of a handful in the school initially, if she was being asked to work like a 5 year old when only just turned 4/presumably freshly backed.

I know you are having lessons again but Dilys is a total guru on the flat for me. At end of an hour with her I can do 3 strides working canter, 3 medium, 3 working, 3 medium....I normally can't reliably get a controlled medium canter out of him at all! Might be worth a lesson?

Also had to put a total ban with Mister J on fast canter - full stp. So even out hacking we did a proper working canter, with a contact, at all times. (did have the odd hooley gallop on our own but that was a very rare occasion!). Now he has a consistant working canter, we can change his canter and have a working, medium or XC canter, but it has taken YEARS!
 
This is so refreshing to read I have been having same problems with mare but this last week she has started to settle after doing lots of transitions.She gets stronger after a canter and hacking she wants to gallop.Shes 6 and sj schooling wasnt interest of previous owner.Mines 6 nearly 7 tbx very forward going and nervous.Il keep plugging away as it sounds like we are on the same track as you.
 
Cellie - totally. Mine is an arab, and had previously mainly done endurance/hacking, as his old owner didn't enjoy jumping him at all as he was far too fast! And the girl who had jumped him a few times for her was, and I quote, 'ever so brave as she let him go as fast as he wanted'! Err, yeah, right, thanks for that!!

With the sharper, cleverer types, I think you have to be quite strict - I don't mean forceful, but more consistant. Flat out canter is just not acceptable until they listen to you at all times!

Or that is the approach I took, I'm certainly no expert, but he did start off scoring 43% at prelim dressage and getting eliminated every time ut SJ or XC over 2'3 and he now usually manages 65% + at Novice and is out intro-ing this year and doing fairly respectably, and most importantly we now have proper comtrol which is a nice change!
 
Ive had mine for 6 months it took a month to stop jiggy jogging then another to walk on the roads.She is very excited once I hit a track but have done loads of walking before we trotted.She had never hacked on her own but will hack out now I just want the control in canter the first one is fine then she so excited she goes like a rocket.Working her in market harborough has helped as she evaded the bit which was awfull when her canter became shorter and bouncier to the point of on the spot .This week has really made a difference actually I didnt realise how far we had come until I re read my reply.
Ive never done dressage that would be a nightmare although she has good paces. I bought her as sj for my daughter but have been riding as daughter is injured and my boy is broken permanently I think, another nutty tb ,cant believe I did it again
grin.gif
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top