running after canter

[pixiebee]

my pony has a lovely walk/trot and canter. upward transitions he is brilliant with but downward ones he isnt. if im trotting and i ask him to walk i have to pull quite hard and sometimes it takes a good 10-15 seconds before he actually starts walking and with canter to trot transitions he responds quicker but 'runs' for a few strides. ive tried letting him do it, ive tried pulling him back to steaduy him up but it ends up a battle of wills!! he is very balanced and can even canter a 5 metre circle happily. he does this in any bit he is ridden in so dont think its that. any ideas??

 

[Oaksflight]

Polework for the trot? That way he has to trot in a rhythm, so might help. Also, when asking for walk, if he doesn't listen to the first squeeze on the rein, lift your hands. If he already lifts his head to avoid contact, lift your hands with his head to keep his contact. Don't worry about looking stupid, it definately works. Mine was a bugger to halt from walk whilst still keeping the energy, so took to lifting my hands to keep the contact, now he does it first time every time. Hope it helps.

 

[CentrestageSHS]

Lots and lots of transitions up and down. Ask him to go forward into trot then literally after two strides bring him back to walk again before he gets much momentum up. Do the same in canter. He will find this quite hard so don't overdue it at first but he has got to be really listening to you and his reactions have got to be as quick slowing down as speeding up.
If all else fails, practise doing direct transitions ie from halt to trot and trot to halt, walk to canter, canter to walk etc. Use a high fence at first to teach him what you want. Put him on a square in walk and as you approach the school fence, ask him to pick up two or three strides of canter. Sit deep and ask for a strong downwards transition. Keep him straight and aim at the fence, at first he will be a little confused but the fence will stop him and back him off, that will sit him on his hocks and he will stop. Once you can get him to stop when you want from all paces by using a fence, then move onto doing it without the fence
Just make sure if you do this, you are not kicking him at the fence! The aim is not to try and make him jump it or run into the fence, it is too back him off and lighten his forehand. If he doesn't understand, forget it and try something else. I have only done this in an indoor school with a very strong horse who I was rechooling and once or twice in an outdoor with a very high fence.
Don't forget, before asking for any transitions always half-halt to prepare the horse.

 

[pixiebee]

thanks for the tips, will be practising those!! i will try the fence idea but wont get too close as he has been known to accssionally jump school fences!!!!!! another thing that he does is he will often pick up the wrong canter lead on the right rein. ever since i got him as a 4 yr 9old he quite often gets the wrong lead on the right rein,unless i bend his head to the outside.he is alot better on the left rein. his teeth/back/saddle and bit are fine and ive tried schooling him etc etc but only bending his head to the outside seems to work. should i worry about it or just have to live with bending his head to the outside to get a right canter lead (with lunging on the right rein and i sk for canter he will often strike on left lead and i have to keep bringing him back to trot and asking for canter again until he gets it right. any ideas?? !!!

 

[CentrestageSHS]

I know this sounds odd, but often when you have a problem on one rein, it actually stems from the other rein. In your case, you say he struggles on the right rein, this makes most people do more work on the right and they end up over flexing to the right when they ask for canter and throwing the horse off balance. You need to practise equally on both reins and if he ever picks up the wrong lead, bring him straight back, re-balance him in trot and ask again. Sit up, sit back make sure you have the correct amount off bend and don't forget your outside leg should be back, inside leg on the girth. Ask him to strike off with the outside leg. I am afraid to say though that usually a problem with canter leads is usually due to the rider not quite sitting right or asking at the wrong time, when your horse is unbalanced as well it can be quite hard to sort it out. Don't bend your horse head to the outside when asking for canter, he need to slightly be bent to the inside so you can just see his eye, when you bend him to the outside he is falling out though his inside shoulder and falling onto the correct lead. He needs to understand and listen to your legs as to which lead he picks up. Practise on a straight line asking for which lead YOU want, without flexng him any way and just using your leg aids. This is hard for him so don't fall out with him if he does not understand. It may be worth paying a decent instructor for a few lessons, as once canter leads are sorted you rarely have a problem again once you master what works for him?