improving canter, ??collection/bounce, advice please

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apple88

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Hi all,

I am schooling my mare, I bought her in April. We can now work in an outline in walk no problems, the trot is coming but very difficult and only after a good session warm-up.

the canter....well... the transitions are ok, but we only have one speed, which is a bit too fast for 20m circles and is also rather flat.

What can I do to start improving, Im trying to canter on hacks to help with her stamina and i also try and slow her to more of a 'hand canter' but she can be very strong and often drops back into the fastest trot you have ever seen! lol! .

I want to do some prelim dressage and jumping but don't know how to start work on a more controlled pace and way of going in the canter...Any exercises/experiences/advice would be a great help. I get a bit disheartened and don't know where to begin sometimes!

Thanks
 
it sounds like a balance issue.I would continue to work on the trot and getting a good rhythmic slow trot where she is tracking up nicely before asking for canter work in the school and to start with just do a few strides of canter in a straight line before asking for trot again.Keep the work nice and steady.As her trot improves the canter will come. For now don't make an issue of it and just keep the canter for out hacking in straight lines until you have the trot work right. She needs to be balanced and carrying herself in trot before you can get the canter work right.It is harder for them to carry us at canter than at trot.
 
My lad is exactly the same as this!! Walk trot, fine, but canter he barrels out the front door at one hundred miles an hour straight onto the forehand!! :mad:

I agree that balance is an issue and the canter will get better once balance is more settled in walk and trot.

However, I have been pained over my canter for some time and this weekend had a lesson with my instructor and I *think* we may have got to the roots!

She had me doing mainly walk... She said that although he is light in my hands in walk and trot, he is still leaning on his shoulders. We therefore needed him to lift his wither and push through his back end more, really using his hocks to lift him off his shoulders.

So in walk we did lots of transitions to halt, making sure his hind legs were stepping through and under him, and when we moved off again, making sure he engaged the back end. Just by giving a tap on top of his bum he started to use his back end more, and low and behold his wither started to lift! We carried on doing this but instead of stopping, we went into a really really slow creepy walk where I had to keep his back legs moving, then walk out of it. (all the time while doing this not worrying about his head as she kept telling me to ride from behind and the head will come!!)

Anyhow, after doing this for a good 20-25 mins, she made me do a walk to canter transition... OMG!!!! :eek: For the first time ever, his canter strides were amazing! We only did 5-6 strides of canter then back to walk. Regain the walk from behind, and ask again... AMAZING!!! Loads of walk-canter-walk transitions later and he felt lovely!

Sorry for REALLY long reply, but I have struggled with his canter for well over a year, and wanted to share this with you just in case it helps! Good luck! It’s fab when it finally comes together! Fingers crossed, we’ll maintain it soon!! Hehe! :D
 
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