How to achieve...

Shantara

Shantara

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How to achieve that 'bouncy show jumper canter'. I don't know it's real name, but I've always loved that slow, bouncy canter you see in show jumping and dressage.

As some of you know, I ride an ex pacer called Ned. He really rushes into canter in the school and when I ask him to collect it, he just paces. He CAN canter, but he just rockets around at 90mph! Sometimes he gets really confused and I'm not even sure what he's doing with his legs!! See here - http://vimeo.com/21045928 Also, please don't crit THAT rider, it's not me and I can't really pass on the info, so it'd be pointless ^^ just showing so you can see how weird his legs go!!

Anyway!! Please be kind ^^
 
I find gridwork has really helped my standie, even if its poles on the ground. Once she gets her stride in the grid she grows in confidence.

Also when I'm jumping a course I trot, she can pop a reasonable sized course out of trot so need to canter. Could you just trot around, then once your horse's confidence has improved on moving around courses happily then move up to canter.

The chances are the reason he resorts to pacing is because his confidence is lacking in the canter.
 
Firstly you really need to get them working from behind and you would have to develop steady paces at walk and trot and try to achieve collection in these paces first, because once you have taught them variation within one pace they tend to pick it up quite quickly in the others.
 
Monkeybum13: Yea, I think he's lacking in confidence, he tenses and rushes in canter. This is just in the school, or the jumping fields, though. He's capable of quite a nice canter out on hacks! It's still a little short and stiff, but he doesn't rush, atleast.
Yea, I could trot most, if not all the jumps I do, I rarely go above 2ft 6 and he's managed to jump out the round pen from one pace of trot!


FionaM12: His strides are all over the place, sometimes they're teeny tiny steps like you saw in the video and other times they're quite long, usually a mix of the two!

Highlandponygirl: Thanks :) We were planning on moving all the jumps out the school and just leaving a few trotting poles to maybe use later. I was thinking of getting his trot really top notch, collected and extended then maybe getting one really good lap of canter to finish, then work properly on canter next time :)
 
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monkeybum13 said:
I find gridwork has really helped my standie, even if its poles on the ground. Once she gets her stride in the grid she grows in confidence.

Also when I'm jumping a course I trot, she can pop a reasonable sized course out of trot so need to canter. Could you just trot around, then once your horse's confidence has improved on moving around courses happily then move up to canter.

The chances are the reason he resorts to pacing is because his confidence is lacking in the canter.
Click to expand...

I agree
I have a trotter too and he jumps like a stag - 90cm from trot no bother.
He rushes in canter occasionally now, he used to do it all the time. To over come this i used poles (correctly spaced for him not what is in the books - he need a significantly shorter distance between, i increased the distance when i got the hang of it and understood to lengthen his strides)

I also did most of my jumping practice in trot and even walking between the fences and trotting on approach to totally chill him out so he learnt not to rush.

For my trotter is took him a long time to calm down and stop rushing, its in their blood to race and rush, we do lots of circles in canter too to balance him up (if he rushes he can do them well)

Good luck with yours but dont worry if it doesnt come over night :)
 
Annielusian said:
Thank you so much Gemrob09! That's really useful :D Hopefully I'll get some good schooling time soon :D
Click to expand...

:)
I cant see your video :( work blocks it :( spoil sports!

I'm just glad someone else is mad enough to have a trotter. And I'm mad enough to event one :) :) he is truely awesome though.
I also had to ride in a pelam for a while school - not ideal as its not dressage legal but he pulled like a train when he rushed, riding in a stronger bit for a while made him respect my aids and when he relaxed and stopped pulling his whole movement improved no end. I can now school perfectly in a snaffle but i still need to jump in the pelam.
This may not be a solution for you and I cant advise as i cant see the video. This is just what worked for my particular horse.

I'd try 20m circles in canter by the sounds of it, keep a good contact but push him forward into the canter - he may rush but if you keep the inside bend strong(ish) and push forwards with your inside leg aids that will bring his back legs underneath and balance the canter (if he's anything like mine he will tend to canter in a 4 beat instead of a 3 beat, this excercise will incorourage him to stop that)
he will eventually realise it is alot easier not to rush and to collect... worked with mine :)
 
oh and remember to sit up in the canter! dont be tempted to lean forward as he's rushing.
Sit up and deep and try not to pull - if hes charging about circle, circle, circle but keep him cantering. Remain calm and collected yourself and praise him when he settles.
 
Thanks again!! :D

In the video he pops over 2 small jumps and inbetween he trots normally, paces, canters, canters with the front and trots with the back and does a whole load of other weird things with his legs XD haha! It's quite a sight!

The great thing about Ned is, that even if he rushes, I know he won't run off with me or cart me and buck! (I have a big fear of that, so he's very useful for me :P) He's strong, but very responsive with his head.
I'm not sure if he's ever run off with anyone, it's just not in his nature ^^
 
It can be quite difficult to ride a forward-going horse forward, but I think what you need to focus on first is to get him responsive to your leg. ie, when you ask him forward to canter, he goes, then comes back when you ask. Don't worry at all initially about what he is doing with his head......that will come in time. As the canter causes him problems, let him learn to go forward in it, and maintain it, and develop balance. Support him, but don't hold on to his head. Put the reins on the 'snaffle' ring of the bit. I am a great believer that until a horse has learned free forward movement, you should not even begin to think about collection of the paces. Good Luck!
 
Think slow.

As dumb as it sounds we have this down perfect at home with B, goes to bits at shows as she gets over excited and I freeze up, but at home I sit tall, keep my leg and hands constant and just squeeze my inside ring and little fingers slightly every few strides and we have a lovely bouncy jumping canter, by adding hand and leg I can shorten it and by relaxing hand slightly I can lengthen it to make up my strides into a fence if we're wrong. Still working on getting B to do it at a show though!! We managed it in the practice ring yesterday but once again did our classes at 100 miles an hour because I froze with nerves!!

S is not a trotter but he has driven (we think) and does struggle with canter. He has almost certainly been battered but is the sort to get angry not nervous, he can now walk and trot (as opposed to purely 'rush' which is a whole pace of it's own the way he does it!!). He only walks and trots in the school at the minute, we're almost there, I'll be re-introducing canter in the next week or so now that he is more calm and balanced in trot. He jumps a couple times a week, we walk until a few paces away then I'll allow him into trot and give slightly at the fence so he can stretch over it, he's good to about 80 cm like this, I haven't tried bigger yet from walk, not brave enough!!

Sorry, waffling, the point is with S, you have to empty your mind and think slowly, no using my legs, just have to imagine myself squeezing with my legs and he moves off, my muscles involuntarily move as I imagine it and he reacts to that, same when he rushes in trot, empty my mind and think slow and he seems to sort of join me if that makes sense. Singing helps too, I find twinkle twinkle little star, sung slowly like a lullabye gives a good pace for trot, or I'll be trotting round chanting long and slow, long and slow, over and over, I don't care if anyone thinks I look flipping silly singing badly round a SJ course in walk and trot, half the people watching wouldn't get on him on a bad day and the other half understand, or so I tell myself anyway!!

Imagine what you want and really focus on it as you ride, it does work.
 
Thanks guys :D He moved very nicely from walk into collected and working trot, but it's when I ask for faster he gets all muddled.

Thanks again for all your advise :D I'll 'favourite' this thread and maybe even print and take it with me when I next go in the school :D it's been so helpful!
 
Another post to show you the mini dressage test we did a while back.
He's pretty good at his walk/trot transitions at that speed (Notice him rush for a few steps at the start?)
I'll move his reins to the big ring next time I see him :) I meant to today, but we were hacking and I like to have that added control on the roads. Just incase.

I'll try and get my mum to video me again next time I go up, so I can re-watch myself (I find it so hard to notice things while I'm onboard!) and maybe get a little CC.

[youtube]MnFXWkpBWH4[/youtube]
 
Annielusian said:
Monkeybum13: Yea, I think he's lacking in confidence, he tenses and rushes in canter. This is just in the school, or the jumping fields, though. He's capable of quite a nice canter out on hacks! It's still a little short and stiff, but he doesn't rush, atleast.
Yea, I could trot most, if not all the jumps I do, I rarely go above 2ft 6 and he's managed to jump out the round pen from one pace of trot
Click to expand...

That is exactly how my standie was, luckily she is a lot better now. They are very frustrating but I just kept working at it and its finally sinking in.

Would you like me to pm you a video of my standie jumping on Sunday to show you little exercises that have really helped her?
 
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