improving sec d canter tips

[NeverSayNever]

i got my sec D girlie this time last year, she was 7. Due to me being pregnant I stuck to doing intros with her all winter as her canter was very unbalanced. She does very well at Intro, usually getting well into the 70%’s.

Since my baby was born in May Ive been working on the canter. I dont have access to a school but Ive been working out on hacks and can feel a definate improvement. She has gone from ‘’scrabbling and rushing’ as she seemed to panic due to lack of balance and not be sure of her feet , I think prior to me getting her she hadnt done much fast work out on hacks and only really cantered on a surface. So Ive worked on her confidence with this and she is now super to canter on a hack and Im able get a more adjustable canter, bring her back to fairly collected and bouncy and send on and extend.

Put this on a circle in a school though and lol, its ‘interesting'. Ive tried schooling in my field and in stubble fields that are suitable when I can and we can now managed 20m circle on the right rein but it is like the wall of death. Left rein is terrible, we cant get left canter lead and she is more unbalanced this way. Im trying walk-canter transitions and leg yield into canter and have FW lessons coming up but just wondered if anyone else with a sec d had any tips as i know the canter can be hard to establish?

we did our first prelim yesterday; the walk trot work was lovely and RH canter ok, but on the left rein i tried 3 times to get the correct lead and gave up. She got more and more wound up by being brought back and she gets very strong and when unbalanced this gets worse as she leans in and ploughs on... we ended up careering across the school instead of circling and using the fence to stop

piccy of my lovely girl and thanks for reading.

 

[blond1]

She's beautiful and well done on what you've achieved so far.

My mare (welsh D x) had problems establishing the right canter lead as a youngster. The exercises that helped her most were walk to canter but before asking making sure her hind quarters were away from fence in the arena and feel slightly more in the outside rein so that her weight was 'thrown' on to the leading leg. The other exercise was asking for a canter transition on a corner over a pole.

If she got it wrong then I would just bring her back to trot and set it up again. Lots of praise and either a stretch on a long rein or we'd finish for the day when she got it right.

Good luck and let us know how you get on.

 

[WandaMare]

I do the same as you, lots of leg yield to canter and walk to canter transitions. I find that any work which helps get her more supple and working through her back will in turn improve the canter. I do lots of trot serpentines to warm her up and get her bending around my leg, then only once the trot is nice and round and balanced I start working on the canter.

An exercise which works wonders for my horse is get a nice trot up the long side, then in the corner collect the trot right back and do a 10m circle (or do 15m ones to start ) in sitting trot..come out of the circle in a good forward rising trot but holding onto the balance and roundness which have improved on the circle...then at the next corner ask for the canter, and hopefully it will be soft and balanced from the quality of the trot. She's usually so relieved to come out of the 10 m circle that she's much more willing to jump into the canter.

Before I got her canter going, I found my horse preferred to do the transition on the long side rather than the corner, and also I started doing big oval shapes in canter in the school rather than going straight from straight lines out hacking, to proper circles. I found she could stay more balanced on an oval shape to begin with, and then we worked up more gradually to 20m circles, as her muscle strength improved.

 

[Annagain]

The thing that worked with my Sec D was to start cantering on his good rein then come across from B to E (or vice-versa) and do a simple change with as few strides of trot as possible. Because of the distinct change in direction, he seemed to understand that he had to change leg. Once he could do that, we started to ask for canter straight from walk and then ask for canter from trot. Even after years, I would have to get my outside leg RIGHT back to canter on the right rein...as in almost on his bum!

 

[ester]

I think it might probably help to remember that it is likely the tenseness causing the problems (I expect you know that anyway so don't think me patronising!) but you have to totally and completely counteract that tenseness. I don't think I quite managed that with mine until I had a dressage saddle for a bit as I found I could completely relax in that.

You can see in the pic you posted that she is holding herself a bit, she hasn't truely let go and lifted her back. My boy was always very good at putting in his head in the right place but not working properly at the start! Will she work long and low if required?

I'm trying to remember what he was like and how we changed it! *I think* a lot of half halts and plenty of outside rein support in the early days while allowing him forwards.. they need to learn to relax and sit a bit more behind at the same time really. I also used to tend to put on a circle (we only have a field too.. advantage of this is circled don't have to be 20 m ) and stay there until he let go a bit and let me ride him and have some input.

FWIW I am bringing him back into work atm and circle cantering is currently a bit interesting.. he knows what he should be doing but is finding it a bit difficult as he doesn't have the muscle there yet.

Re walk to canter.. wouldn't work for him at all.. makes him much more tense as he feels hurried.

 

[NeverSayNever]

thank you for all the tips, will try them all out Ester, hmm, I really dont think its tenson tbf in the pic we are on the edge of stubble and about to go yeee-yaaah and she knows it She works beautifully long and low. That said, actually, yes - tension starts as soon as the canter works comes in because she is unbalanced (which is a sec thing in canter, trot is their more natural pace) and that worries her, but its not tension generally in her way of going, does that make sense? I think its a vicious circle sometimes though.

 

[ester]

yeah that does make sense good news that she isn't tense in the trot though (half way there ). If it is creeping in in the canter though I suspect you still need her to let go a bit..

I wish I could remember how I sorted Franks out for you .. I loved his canter once it was 'finished' and could push him on or collect him back till the cows come home. I do remember one lesson in a 60x20 where my instructor said he is so tense he isn't going anywhere so we had to really push on for a few circuits! I suspect that the more you do with her the better she will get but it might take a bit for the penny to totally drop .

 

[NeverSayNever]

yeah that does make sense good news that she isn't tense in the trot though (half way there ). If it is creeping in in the canter though I suspect you still need her to let go a bit..

I wish I could remember how I sorted Franks out for you .. I loved his canter once it was 'finished' and could push him on or collect him back till the cows come home. I do remember one lesson in a 60x20 where my instructor said he is so tense he isn't going anywhere so we had to really push on for a few circuits! I suspect that the more you do with her the better she will get but it might take a bit for the penny to totally drop .

thanks yes i think that might be true, the more we do hopefully the better she will get. We are pretty sure before I got her she had some kind of fall on grass in canter as she just used to panic and get faster and faster to try and balance herself. That has definitely improved, its once you try and get it on a circle or on a left lead lead she reverts. My own mantra for jumping has always been that its all about the quality of the canter and no point doing it unless you have a good enough canter etc... however Im jumping her now over small fences and keeping in trot and asking for canter on straight line approaches and the canter in these instances is fine and certainly balanced enough to pop a little fence from, and there is no scrabbling and rushing which was a problem before so she is obviously feeling herself more balanced and confident. We’ve not been working on it long so fingers xd the more we do as you say, the balance will continue to improve and help her to relax more too.