I should only be allowed to ride rocking horses

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Hovis_and_SidsMum

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Took the Destroyer into the school for some work this morning and felt like I've never been on a horse in my life.
I rode like a total twat.
then the little bugger spooked at his own shadow the whole way round the field just to make me feel even more useless as i cooled him down.
I can't seem to master being able to canter circles any less than the whole size of the school. 20m? Pah! I'd be thrilled with 40m at the moment!
I just don't know what the hell i am doing but I just can't circle him in canter. I either end up falling back into trot or not turning at all. Its me cos everyone else can manage it on him. We are never going to progress our jumping if i can't control him in canter
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It feels like he's leaning on the inside rein instead of feeling him more on the outside so it's like trying to turn the QE2.
I know i'm seeming to end up with loads of rein in my inside hand? Honestly I was nearly in tears this morning - i am utterly chuffing cr*p.
Any ideas or should i just take up knitting?
 
i sometimes feel like this the only thing you can do is keep practising and eventually you will get the hang of it to get my cob to canter on a circle i use to give him light kicks with my outside leg on every stride and it sort of helped me and him to stay in a rythm
 
My instructor is coming tomorrow so will get some help just so pi44ed off with myself.
He's got a very very forward canter which he's not learnt to collect yet but others can do it, so whilst he's not making it easy for me it is down to my crapness
 
sounds like he is falling in on the circle and the fact you are having a lot of rein in your inside hand suggests he is happy to use you to help him balance. Try cantering a large circle sitting nice and tall,using your inside leg to keep him as upright as possible while giving half halts.Do not let him lean on you for balance.If he gets heavy in your hand keep giving and taking the rein.
 
I had this same problem with Starla... But she'd been driven all her life, and cantering under saddle was foreign to her.
Ditto the lunge lesson. Really helped us, as I could concentrate on giving her the correct aids for the circle rather than flapping around ( i do love to flap) trying to keep her in her wonderfully unbalanced canter.
 
OH's mare is like this.....try lifting your inside hand to raise the bit on the inside and it sometimes stops them leaning and dropping the shoulder....and wear spurs
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.......and make sure you are sitting really really upright cos otherwise if you are putting your weight on Hovis forehand he will tend to run into a trot instead of keeping his back legs under him in canter.... (dont know if that makes sense to you, usually its only me that knows what I am on about
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PS don't take up knitting.....
 
My horse does the same. Locks on to the inside rein and has no weight in the outside. Thing I found that helped was when I was cantering, look up and really concentrate on what your hands are doing, try and feel where the weight is. For me it was always on the inside so i took up more contact on the outside by moving my hand out away from his neck and then sort of giving him the inside by moving it towards his nose and opening my fingers, then quietly taking it back by closing my fingers just to get a slight inside bend, then releasing it again and so on. At the same time useing lots of inside leg to push him over in to the outside rein, whilst keeping the outside leg on to keep the impulsion. Another trick I found helped alot was doing a bit of canter counter, as he used to twist his body in some wierd way and so counter canter made him straighten up and balance himself.

Btw I am by no means a qualified instructor so what I have written may be complete rubbish, but it worked for me. Good luck and as above, don't dispair! Many times I have ended up in tears from shear frustration and not to mention nearly run over my instructor several times too!
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It will come. I have a big horse who I struggle to keep together and in canter I've found that the best thing to do is only short bursts of canter. Don't try to canter a circle yet - ask for canter do 4 or 5 strides, then come back to trot or walk. The transisitions will help to balance him and it's better to do a few strides of nice canter rather than endless circles of crap (sorry, that reads very rude which I don't mean it to -hopefully you know what I mean).

I ask for canter on a circle, sometimes from trot and sometimes from walk, do maybe half a circle, then back to trot or walk, do a few strides of that, then ask for canter again. If you have a decent sized arena or can get onto a field, try changing the canter within the pace as well. Start off on a circle in the first corner of a short side, canter the short side normally then as you come around the second corner, push on up the long side and get out of your stirrups. He should get the idea quite quickly that you want him to open up a bit. When you get to the next short side corner, shorten back up again, then in the next corner push on down the long side. I also do this on a long figure of 8 (canter around half a circle on short side, canter across diagonal from K and push on to M, the collect up again, canter around short side then push on across diagonal).

It's been great for giving mine the idea of keeping the canter and all of the transistions help to keep him together and interested. He also finds it easier (so do I!!) for me to get off his back sometimes and let him open up.

I find it difficult (because I can't coordinate my body properly!!) to keep sitting on the canter, esp if it isn't particularly balanced. Getting off his back gives me and him a break, plus the transitions help to balance him. Don't give yourself such a hard time. He's a big horse isn't he (I do read quite a bit but don't often post nowadays)?
 
We all have days/lessons and sessions like this, don't beat yourself up about it, not only that but our horses have good and bad days too, perhaps you both just had one of those days, you've mulled over it way to much, thus now convincing yourself you can't ride...simple.

Now stop worrying, try again another day, concentrate on one thing at a time, keeping a good canter and feeling that your riding a good canter ...before trying to do it in a 20 m circle.

Break things down a bit, go easy on yourself (((hugs)))
 
It's just one bad session - it will make the next ones when everything goes well even more special. Everyone has them.

I can't do 20 metre circles on my lad, he is like a sideboard honestly. We can do amazing diamond shapes though!
 
Big deep breath, copious amounts of chocolate and put it down to a "evil twin day". Let your instructor know too as then he may have some constructive tweaks that you can do
 
We've all been there, don't despair, try this exercise because it helps me when Im on my bad rein - I'll try and explain as best I can so bear with me..... leg yield down the three quarter line so you're pushing him into the rein he's not "filling up", when you're consistently doing this and he's softer and more flexible on his naughty rein, then try the exercise on a circle, in walk first and then in trot, leg yield in but keep yours hands still and forward just use your body position and outside aids to push him in, then use your inside leg like stink to push him out again, as if you're leg yielding on a straight line but don't whatever you do pull back with the inside rein, just play the fingers to encourage softness. This exercise, above all others, is the one I find most helpful when I can't unlock my boy's neck and I can feel a battle commencing. Good luck x
 
Heh I'd settle for a diamond!
He has a lovely canter dpwn the long side and is reasonable round the short sides but as soon as we come off the corner its almost like he's "locked" onto the far end and won't turn before he gets to the end of the long side!
 
In that case I would do a transistion down to trot or walk. If he feels like he's trying to take off, make him come back to walk/trot, do a couple of strides, then canter again. When mine gets a bit onward bound, I also do things like shallow loops in canter as then he has to think more about what he's doing with his legs!
 
I get this with Farra - she is a big girl, I am very short and she is also only 5 and very green and still not balanced. Then Sarah my instructor gets on her and she goes well.

I therefore have the plan of working on trying to get my legs and seat stronger, keep paying Sarah to ride her and work on her schooling and have accepted that I will always be short.

Vet gave her the ok this week to start light work - not 100% sound but enough to be ridden (she is back to galloping around bucking so not that sore) so the days of Miss Farra being fed and waited on are over and we start work again Thursday.

We all have bad days but have a nice glass of wine, arrange a lesson and things will get better again. Is there a chance that Hovis is a bit bum up - he is still growing - Stinky is at the moment and his canter and way of going are a little out as he gets used to how his body has altered.
 
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Your post could easily have been written by me a year ago! I have ended in in tears feeling hopeless that F's canter wouldn't ever improve.

Guess what? It did, and is still improving. I appreciate that you say you feel like crud because he will do it for other people, but in some ways, at least you know he can do it - and I'm sure you've done it on other horses in your time - all you need to do is get things right for both of you together.

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