Need help horse won't sustain canter in the school

tabithakat64

tabithakat64

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My horse just will not canter a full circuit of the school, he canters about half way round and just dies, no amount of leg and verbal encouragement helps neither does sitting quietly. If you use a schooling whip he just stops or bucks.
The school is on a bit of a slope and is quite deep in places which doesn't help.
His back, saddle and teeth have all been checked in the last month and he is reasonably fit.
He has no problems sustaining canter out on a hack and canters when asked just refuses to sustain it for any length of time.
He is reasonably supple and balanced in walk and trot but is a typical Welshy
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He is professionally schooled once a week and I also have a lesson on him once a week.
Tonight he cantered his first full 20 metre circle.
Somebody please help me!!!!!
 
Will he canter happily on the lunge?

Observing him on the lunge you can tell if he is struggling with his balance, or is just lazy.

If he is struggling with his balance, then as a rider, you need to sit as quietly as possible, to aid him finding his balance whilst also trying to balance his human on top!!!!

As he is professionally schooled, I should ask them what their opinion is, as you will get a much truer response, than from those that haven't seen him. (here)
 
He's the same on the lunge and when he's being schooled by others. My RI thinks he's lazy (he's not lazy in walk and trot and goes off your leg when asked apart from when he's having a strop) and convinced he can't do it rather than it being a complete lack of balance.
 
No disrespect intended and don't mean to sound harsh, but you are paying for a professional schooling session each week + having a lesson - and still having a problem? Your RI should be able to pinpoint the problem and either put it right themselves or advise you accordingly.

As the school is deep would suggest you work on the canter in a corner of a grass field - somewhere safe. If there is some mechanical reason for your boy's canter difficulty (eg he can't engage behind properly yet) you won't be able to improve this by working him in a deep school. Also try impulse spurs rather than a schooling whip (some horses do buck at a schooling whip). Good luck.
 
My IrishX does exactly the same thing. She is fine in walk and trot yet becomes stubborn when asked to produce canter and i need to use a lot of leg to keep her going. When i eventually get her to canter she'll often throw in a buck although this doesn't happen all the time. Like you i've had her teeth done and her back checked, i also called the saddle fitter and brought her a new saddle, yet she still has these bucky moments!!


I had someone look at her today and she suggested that i change bits as the Pelham i have been using is far too severe on my mare. Rather than encouraging her to move forward into canter, the pelham is actually pulling her in. She suggested i use a Gag instead. She also suggested that i used a running martingale and warned me to keep my horses head up during canter to avoid her bucking. My mare is also very nappy and stubborn, so she also suggested that i use more leg to encourage her forward into canter. It can take quite a few attempts to get my mare to do what she is asked of, but i have been told that i can't let her get away with it. I have to be patient and keep asking until she eventually does it - which she always does in the end. IN short my mare takes the piss out of me!! And i think that might just be what your gelding is doing with you.

Keep encouraging him and don't let him get away with anything. It gets frustrating, but you can't let him walk all over you!!

x
 
Is he young - weak through the back - behind etc. SOme horses take a long time to strenghten enough to carry out certain movements etc and the depth of school with not help this - (got the same issue!!)

Can you ride him in a more suitable place working on a larger circle, gradually over time decreasing this - also school on your hacks to get him more forward thinking (again woking wonders with my boy just now) - lots of transitions etc

Hope this helps.......... x
 
One of our boys was like this all last year. Running rather than cantering and sometimes bucking if you "encouraged" him with a flick of the whip. If you eventually did get him into canter you would have to use so much leg to keep the canter that you would need CPR to recover by the end of the session ! The key has been to get him really fit. He now hacks out for 2-3 hrs at a time at least twice a week with plenty of canter/gallop work and lots of hill work. The improvement has been remarkable. Last night I actually had to slow him down in the school which is something I used to dream of !
 
Welshies are often keener on trot than canter because their trot is so great, why would they want to canter instead!
Echo everything above about young horses too, mine basically couldnt get the hang of it in 20x40, but out hacking she got much better and stopped bucking too! now she never bucks.
Also I made the mistake of trying to urge her on which meant I leant forward without realising and threw the reins at her, when I got a lot more response sitting upright with a contact and using my leg once and firmly (initially I got buck and canter but after a bit just canter :-))
I personally would concentrate on perfecting canter on hacks and schooling on hacks and then try again in a few weeks in the school.
oh and the other thing I found helped was a very small jump in the school, she wanted to canter towards that so I used it as part of the large circle and eventually we could do figure of 8 with 2 small jumps and then with no jumps so we cracked it!

good luck!
 
Mine is like that if he isn't fit enough. He just stops when he thinks he has done enough. He can go fast enough on a straight line though.

It is mostly fitness work, just keep practising.
 
His cantering is fine on hacks and I have no problem cantering a circle in a field as we do a lot of schooling whilst hacking.
Horse is 11 but a late starter, he doesn't lack muscle as he's done six months of long and low work in walk and trot. He's hacked for 45 minutes to two hours three times a week with lots of extended periods of trotting and slow hill work, we don't have very many rides we can canter on but he doesn't struggle to sustain canter on those we do have, he is also schooled twice a week for between 20 and 45 minutes.
Horse is a real p*ss taking Welsh with a stroppy attitude which I think is most of the problem, will keep working at it and try schooling in a paddock, using a jump, getting him more forwards thinking and fitter as you've all suggested.
Was feeling a bit down as my friends newly backed five year old canters fine in the school (although it's not very balanced) so it's nice to know I'm not the only person who has this problem
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