i know all horses are different but;

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jack9

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i own a 4 year old warmblood x who will happily walk/trot under saddle, in an outline. canter - not as yet....(but will on the lunge)

i am doing an intro walk/trot in september but ideally id like to be out doing prelim asap - (but not to the detriment of her long term schooling)!

im not after a quick canter sorted - onwards...but how do i introduce canter...??

shes not ready yet but how long should it take for a horse to learn canter??

any help appreciated.... p,s so far shes very quiet and lovely natured.

thanks :)
 
jack9 said:
im not after a quick canter sorted - onwards...but how do i introduce canter...??
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Hacking! And more hacking. And in the field. And then in the school. have a lead to start with if needed.

shes not ready yet but how long should it take for a horse to learn canter??
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How long is a piece of string?! Depends on the horse- its conformation, balance, rhythm, etc.

i never worry what leg i get when i ask for canter. If the horse canters when asked then great. Coming back to trot if on the wrong leg leads to stop-start-stop-start, the horse can get confused because it gave you canter when asked and you trotted again. So i keep a contact, dont tip forward, ask clearly and dont worry if the horse runs at first. Obviously the horse cant be on is nose in extended trot but dont expect a balanced transition!

Oh, and use your voice. if the horse knows the canter word on the lunge then say it when ridden too.
 
As you already know, it really does depend on the horse.

Firstly, is she already cantering out on hacks? If not, this is where I'd start. Give her lots of space to sort her legs out without having to worry about getting around the next corner of the school. I'd be tempted to go out with another (very sane) horse who you can follow to give her the idea.

Once she is happily cantering in an open space then try a schooling session outside, and ask for a nice wide circle of canter rather than a straight line. The gentle curve will help her get the right lead and flexion, and start to engage her inside hind. Practise the transition, bringing her back to a nice smooth trot if she gets unbalanced through it.

You may initially get a few running steps into canter - if this becomes a persistant thing then once the pace is established (ie she can maintain canter once she is in it) start asking for walk to canter transitions. This requires quite a lot of engagement and will also be a good test of the quality of walk you are achieving.

To give you a case study: when I bought my horse (aged rising 5) he couldn't canter in the arena at all - he was probably worse than yours in that he had already been taught badly and would canter in front and trot behind. He had something approaching a decent canter a year later, though was still somewhat on the forehand. It took approx 2 years to get a quality uphill canter that I could start lateral work with, and to firmly establish counter canter. By the time he was 9 he was happily performing canter half pass, making a decent attempt at a working pirouette and would do a single flying change when asked.

He was my first horse and I brought him on slowly out of necessity (I had no knowledge of dressage at all when I got him) - but my point is that 'learning to canter' was an ongoing process. Bearing in mind that you are most likely more experienced than I was, I think you could be ready to try a prelim test in 6 months or so if all goes to plan and you don't expect perfection.

Hope this helps :)
 
thanks both :)

id love to do prelim by april if possible :) just over 6 months.

i have only got on her once - im riding again tomorow afternoon, and going to push her see what i can get out of her

(not canter)! just walk/trot but push her forwards as she can be lazy.
 
Just keep in mind that these big horses take longer to mature. 4 is still a baby.. Our 4yr old Irish sport with one holstein grandparent was 16.2 at 4yrs and couldn't canter in a school until well past 5! We used hacking to teach him a lot of things, and then cantering down long sides of my friend's 60x20 arena. He only really matured at 6. Once you start cantering, do a lot of transitions and short canters down long sides, so that cantering becomes something they get used to, and gradually increase the amount of short sides of school you do, and build up to circles..
 
yeap straight lines are all good.

id love to take her for a hack tomorow and just let her go but i know thats just stupid lol might just hack her in walk to cool off :)

so i plan to school her tomorow and just focus on making her go forward - lots of transitions....walk/trot/halt... some massive circles etc... basics.


isit possible to do it without hacking? theres a track at the yard but its round the horses fields and cantering her down there would just make them kick off - other hacking is accross the road + i hate hacking!!!!

any other way??
 
not sure if it's been suggested or you've already tried it, but could you ride her/ get someone else to ride her on the lunge? that way she would know what she was being told to do but would have a rider? you could then remove the lunge line but canter her in a circle then introduce straight lines? not saying it would deffinately work for your horse, but it worked for an Arab I worked with (I say worked with, more like I was the crash dummy!)
hope this helps x
 
ridersince2002 said:
not sure if it's been suggested or you've already tried it, but could you ride her/ get someone else to ride her on the lunge? that way she would know what she was being told to do but would have a rider? you could then remove the lunge line but canter her in a circle then introduce straight lines? not saying it would deffinately work for your horse, but it worked for an Arab I worked with (I say worked with, more like I was the crash dummy!)
hope this helps x
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not tried it yet but good idea - tbh i would feel more comfortable doing that..... i just hate hacking and love schooling...

im thinking in a few months when i am 100% with her to get a sharer who just enjoys hacking as i never will, and dont want her to miss out :)
 
A 4yr old defintely needs to hack out. It you do nothing but schooling you will have one seriously bored horse by the time its 5! You should only do one or two sessions of schooling per week at most at that age. The horse will be totally stale if not!
 
Sorry but hacking, hacking and more hacking is my preferred way of going with a youngster, mine was 6 in June and funnily enough just last night did his first full complete balanced rounds of the school in canter. He learnt to canter on hacks, got his balance on hacks and now has his balance in the school, this time last yr he could manage a straight side of the school but corners were a no-no as he simply wasn't balanced enough.

Hacking is superb for youngsters, they stale very quickly if just schooled and schooled, it's so boring for them, they need to get out and experience life and excitement outside, cantering is easy outside especially with a bum in front to follow. Eventually they will offer it before being asked and thats what you want, a real forward thinking and going young horse.
 
thanks for the input.

i will get someone else to hack her out then as i totally hate it - dont get me wrong i will take her round the farm tracks - which is 20 min hack? and the field accross the road which you can go around for hours....

is that sufficient?? she can canter/gallop on the fields and now i think about it there are a few hills etc....
 
Agree with hacking and if you have any hills, they are great to learn to canter off the rear end.

That's what I did with my ex-racer - she knew how to gallop like a champ but canter was a challenge. I started by cantering up hills while hacking - it helped regulate her speed and get her off the forehand. And every time, I gave her a clear cue and said "canter."

It took time for her to attain the balance and calmness to canter in an arena without it being a headlong dash with little hope of making the turn at the end but a year later, she is cantering pretty good circles.
 
Another one for hacking. Long, straight lines. Follow a lead :)

Started ours like this and they have done okay :). In canter they don't find it so easy to balance their weight and yours, so the corners in a school are hard work.
 
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