i need help, my horse wont canter

posie_honey said:
i can sooo empathise - i also took on a 10yr old ISH with serisous issues - hers was from badly fitting saddles - and having only ever hunted - so basically straight lines - she could bearly trot round the arena when i first started with her - canter was just a total no-no!!

you are doing all the right things from what i can read - and some of the advice on here is fab :) def check back and saddle - mines is checked every 3months due to her previous issues and even when nothing is really wrong a sports massage does help her :)

i didn't ask for canter in arena until we'd really 'got it' on hacks and on lunge - then i'd ask with voice and get up off her back into xc position and let her canter about freely in the arena - she'd motobike etc but she was cantering and not bucking (yup she was (and still is :rolleyes:) a bucker!) i couldnt sit to her canter for quite a while or she'd block up again

it did take ages but we got there as you can see from my sig ;)

keep going at it - sounds like you're making progress already - you'll get there x

ps - Honey STILL holds her tail to one side btw - its habit now - back is fine
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haha its nice to know im not alone then, i thought i'd just bought a nutter!!! from the things you've mentioned about your horse and the bucking, it all sounds so similar!from your sig, it looks like you've done really well with your horse !!! at least its proof that it will all work out in the end! shes been back in work 3 weeks and i'm taking it really slowly, we've only started cantering this week and i'll only ask her to do it once on each rein round the school and thats it as she really winds herself up about it. i'll use your advice !!!

yhh her saddle is fitted by a saddler and as she will be changing shape from coming back into work after having alfie, the saddle will be checked regularly. but yes, having her back checked is next on the list :) thank you :D x
 
blucanoo1990 said:
Have you had her back, teeth, tack etc checked?

It could be the rider unbalancing her.
Are your aids clear?

Is her canter on the lunge nice or rushed and all over the place?

Get a good instructor, they can see you riding and advise what to do from what they see.
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yup her teeth and tack have been checked, back is next.

erm i think im clear with my aids, my instructor does have all her stages and is soo good with helping me. erm before she had the foal her canter was very rushed into canter on the lunge, and while riding her she would argue with my leg and buck with a whip. after the foal was born, she is a lot more balanced, still argues with my leg but it isnt as bad ( i think its just typical mare ;)) but its still not great.

sooo basically ... i bought beauty from a dealer, the dealer had her for 2 months and bought her from a breeder. we bought her from the dealer in october 2009, i spent the whole of last year trying to get her fit (not knowing she was in foal). then we suspected it, got the vet up and alfie arrived 6 weeks later in june. from what i've noticed i think shes been used as a trotter at some point, used as a brood mare, i've got hold of her in october and made her life even worse, working her hard while she was in foal !! poor girl! but it does work out well ... she must have been covered just before she was sold to the dealer and then alfie was born in june so it is 11 months ish. just to add in, i noticed when we first had beauty, her tail was uneven at the ends ... alfie used to chew her tail and it was uneven at the ends so i wouldnt be suprised if she had a foal last year too.

sorry for the lifestory lol, i just thought it might help sum it up and make sense !! :D x
 
If its any help, my girly is previously driven (and broodmare, bought at auction) and I cannot canter her in the school.
Canters beautifully by voice on the lunge and has started to canter out on hacks. I am literally making the effot to do loads of trot-canter and canter-trot tansitions out hacking. I havent started jumping her under saddle yet. I dont want to ride her on the lunge as im worried she will unbalance and scare herself. Shes very marey and sensitive.

I have found patience to be the best thing, I prob wont canter her in the school until Jan time unless we come on leaps and bounds.

Good luck.
 
toffee44 said:
If its any help, my girly is previously driven (and broodmare, bought at auction) and I cannot canter her in the school.
Canters beautifully by voice on the lunge and has started to canter out on hacks. I am literally making the effot to do loads of trot-canter and canter-trot tansitions out hacking. I havent started jumping her under saddle yet. I dont want to ride her on the lunge as im worried she will unbalance and scare herself. Shes very marey and sensitive.

I have found patience to be the best thing, I prob wont canter her in the school until Jan time unless we come on leaps and bounds.

Good luck.
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ooohh okay :) yhh she beauty used to quite like cantering out on hacks, i dont know if this helps but when we were working together from the transition to canter in the school we did it walk to canter. and because she used to buck when i squeezed with my legs, i had someone stand with a lunge whip so she concentrated on them as well as my leg. eventually the person moved further away and in the end she did it without the person in the middle :)

but yes your right patience is essential! i'd get no sense out of her if we rushed. x x
 
Oh wow what a surprise!
You HAVE to post pics of Beauty and foal NOW!!!

There is no avoiding it ;)

Don't feel too bad about riding here while she was pregnant, we had a mare who knew was in foal who we had to ride while she was preggers otherwise she would have turned into a total raving loony - she was mad enough anyway! We just reduced the workload towards the end like you did and her foal was and still is perfectly healthy!
 
Felicity_09 said:
Oh wow what a surprise!
You HAVE to post pics of Beauty and foal NOW!!!

There is no avoiding it ;)

Don't feel too bad about riding here while she was pregnant, we had a mare who knew was in foal who we had to ride while she was preggers otherwise she would have turned into a total raving loony - she was mad enough anyway! We just reduced the workload towards the end like you did and her foal was and still is perfectly healthy!
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i hope this works !! heres the link to the photos on photobucket ...

http://s893.photobucket.com/albums/ac131/amelia17beauty/
 
Lollii said:
Wow! that is a lovely foal, what a suprise :)

Do you know the breed of the foal? how big will he get?
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ermm nooo, we have no idea who the dad is but hes quite well built, well set wide shoulders so maybe some sort of cob. Beauty's passport says shes an irish sports horse, but it also says shes 6 years old and shes 11ish lol

Beauty is 15hh, but we reckon he'll be about 15.3hh ish so just right :) x
 
My creature just did a faster and faster trot for the first few months: I lunged him and had to really insist before he would canter at all: it drove me crazy! I actually had to run after him to give him the idea-I got very fit!

Maybe give that a go and when you've got her cantering on the lunge, perhaps put someone on her, giving the correct aids to reinforce what is required.
 
am3l1a said:
hi, my names amelia im 16 and have bought an irish sports horse x, 10 years old. i bought Beauty as a project to bring on and sell. i have had her for 4 months and have gone back to basics with her as she was very confused about the aids. she can walk,trot, do pole work, jumps ,but she just wont canter in the school. Beauty's trot is very good, she picks her legs up high and can be very fast. In her past i am very sure that she has been driven, so i have been trying to slow her trot down and ask for the canter but it just doesnt work.


i have spent quite a lot of time going on hacks and getting her to canter there which has been working and getting her to go forward. she has also built up muscle. i have been doing jumping in trot to strengthen her hind quaters and she does break into canter on landing. i have also lunged her in canter and she is fine with it but if i ask for canter in the school while riding, she just slows right down and bucks. The whip is no use either it just makes her buck bigger. I would be so greatful if you could help me and advise me on the best thing to do
frown.gif


thankk yoouu Amelia x
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Amelia
Its nearly impossible to help without a video of her but i think you should ask for canter over a pole on the ground so as she goes into canter she has to focus on the pole aswell as canter as she might be getting bored with your aids.
Emily x
 
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