Saddle fitter says... and getting him more forward?

Sol

Sol

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Saddle fitter came out today, saved me some money by just having to change the gullets in both Dan's saddles :D He's gone up a size in both saddles, and she said his top line has improved since he was last seen (march) which I'm happy with :)

Then had a lesson, which Dan wasn't very impressed about having been tacked up 3 times by then! His trot felt a lot better though still seems very flat and boring if more consistent which I guess isn't entirely bad (consistently round-ish rather than consistently giraffe-like! Just need to get more weight off his forehand) though his canter is still very ... well, it's not very anything tbh!
In canter he'd naturally prefer to go quite slowly, almost 4 time my instructor says. It *feels* nice (I find!) but he's not really going anywhere :/ He'll happily go forward in canter outside of the school ie. take you around a XC course ;) But I'm not entirely sure about this. My instructor has me really push him forward, but he seems unhappy like this and I feel it really just runs him onto his forehand? He can do nice walk-canter transitions though which confuses me a little.
He's not really got a naturally forward canter anyway - you can pop him on the track, get up off his back and say go and he'll just take you round... just about.... quite ironic given how sharp he can be!

So, any ideas?? Maybe it'll come now that he's got a bit more freedom from his saddles given a week or so to chill, I don't know.
Going to treat him to some new numnahs/saddle cloths this week I think seeing as I don't have to fork out for new saddles, as we noticed his jumping numnah seems to have shrunk! :o Not sure if he'll appreciate that treat though.....

Chocolate ice cream for you all anyway!
 
Nobody??

Maybe someone can recommend some good spurs then? :p He's very whip shy (we've tried desensitising, he still bucks if you use one...) so instructor suggested that or spurs. Long-ish, but reasonably round ended ones, I still think the 'long' pair I have has too harsh an end, would the ball ended ones be suitable? (literally just as a reminder to be sharp off the aid now and then, and to be a bit more precise when I do lateral work which I want to do more of now...)

Cookies too for helpful peoples ;D
 
Have you tried lengthening and shortening the stride in canter? You can work in lengthening down the long sides of the school and shortening to ride the short sides and/or ride circles and shallow serpentines in canter to get him really using himself and having to lengthen again. Sometimes I think they can get so hung up on being collected in canter that it can be harder to get some good extended strides. Another thing to try is possibly putting a small cross pole at x and cantering over that to see if it helps to get him more forwards.
 
No ideas but Lil has an incredibly short canter stride in the school as well so will be interested to see what people suggest. She really struggles to lengthen so we are getting her back looke at to see if there is a stiffness in there.
 
We've tried shortening & lengthening - it results mostly in him flattening & then collapsing back into trot. He doesn't seem to make much of an effort in all honesty, he's quite lazy anyway. But I think he'd generally prefer to shorten anyway which doesn't help.
We're also still working on getting over his issues with the rein contact. We've pretty much got it in trot, but canter's still a bit iffy. Because he wont take up a contact very well in canter, the fact he makes it inconsistent works against us both whereas if he let me take up a contact, we might be able to work through it better. *sigh* Has to make things difficult!
I think I may just need to have a really good session where we concentrate on the canter, doing lots of different things and getting really comfortable with it, and me trying to let him suss it out for himself.

It will also be interesting to see how he reacts when I take him XC schooling in a few weeks in an open space! Though I have an inkling that he *may* just sod off on me.... :p
 
My guess is that you will notice a difference after his muscles recover from the less than perfect-fitting saddle. I wouldn't change too much else at this stage until you see how much difference the saddle adjustment makes. He could well have been not making much of an effort because of a too-tight saddle.
 
Sol said:
We've tried shortening & lengthening - it results mostly in him flattening & then collapsing back into trot.
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In that case I'd keep on with the lengthening and shortening until it goes well- it sounds like he's not balanced enough to go consistently 'forward' at the moment, and lengthening and shortening will help maintain his balance whilst he learns to take bigger steps. He's running onto the forehand atm because he simply can't cope with balancing himself, and he finds it easier when he goes slower.

I also think that it helps to keep the idea that 'leg on' should equal 'bigger', not faster, in the back of your mind whilst you're working on getting him forward. He should stay in at a tempo he's comfortable with, but take bigger steps- that will give you the energy and expression you are looking for.
 
Thanks! Yep, will keep going with it :) Perserverance usually pays off in the end! He is improving, just slowly. Seems odd to me still as my last horse was very capable and so it was just a matter of teaching her what aids meant what and she could do it. With Dan, everything takes longer, but that's ok :)
 
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