Schooling advice for canter and using back end in all paces.

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moocow

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Just wondering if anyone could advise on excercises I could be doing with my mare. She is rising 5 and very green. she went for schooling for 6 months and jumping and I got her back in nov. She was loopy when I got her back. Racing all the time. Started hacking her out and initially she was a nightmare, jogged the whole time.

Progress has been made! We can now hack out at a leisurely walk. If we do trot and canter, we get a little wound up but manageble. we have also done a little jump on our hacks and all went well. schooling wise, we have calmed down A LOT. we are doing well in walk and trot. She will leg yield and turn on the fore (not brilliantly but getting there). I do loads of transitions with her. Problem is that canter is prooving to be a real challange. transitions are rushed, her
head comes right up with ears back, she races in trot and then canters. Downward transitions are very bad also, breaks into a very fast trot, and takes a long time to get settled.

She is not using her back end well in any pace but if you use your leg she gets faster and starts to fall in. I do a fair bit of road work with her on her hacks and there are lots of very steep hills. Rather than use her back end, she pulls her self along with the front. Again, if you use your leg, she just speeds up. She is down on the bit though.

just wondering if there is any website or anything like that that out lines excercises that you can do to school. Any advice would be great. thanks.
 
I forgot to add, I lunge her in a pessoa once a week. I can't do tight circle work with her as she has bone spavin poor confirmation in her hocks and I have been advised by vet not to.
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just wondering if there is anything else I can do.
 
Although her head might be in the right place, if she isnt using her back end she isn't on the bit correctly! I think you need to focus on exercises that encourage her to step underneath her with her hind legs more such as lots of lateral work. Have you tried working her on a circle and spiralling in and out through lateral movement to increase and decrease the size of the circle? What about raised trotting poles? They will also help her to regulate the speed of the trot as well as engage her back end. Make sure you use plenty of half halts (not with the reins but squeezing with your knees and using your seat) to slow her trot down, you can then quietly close the leg around her to encourage the back end to come underneath her. Avoid turn on the forehand as it puts them on the forehand and will make it harder for you to engage her back legs! Rein back can be helpful as long as you ride it correctly dont just pull her back with your hands.

To help the canter, at the moment you need to do hundreds of transitions. Use the school walls to help you get your canter strike off and to slow her down afterwards. Try walk canter walk (it won't be pretty to start off with!) because this will help to get her to jump off your leg into canter and to slow more quickly once she is back into trot. When you get her into canter, keep her there for 4 or 5 strides and then try to ride a walk transistion.

I think an instructor will be more help to you than a website but you may get some schooling exercises from some of the books out there.
 
When I got my youngster he was rising 5 as well and so green he couldnt canter. I had to teach him out on hacks (and it wasnt pretty). In the school he just refused and would run about in a really fast trot. My trainer taught me a great exercise. You put up a little jump, say as high as a milk crate, and then trot towards the jump, as she pops over you ask her to canter - the jump encourages the back end to work.

Other things have been suggested - transitions, trotting poles and spirals etc. If lunging, have you thought about using a chambon or bungee reins? I dont like pessoas as I think it puts them on the forehand.

As has been said - dont worry about what her head is doing, you need to get her to understand that leg means more impulsion rather than go faster. Lots of walking up and down hills making her really use herself and not rushing (especially downhill) will get her using herself better in the school.

At this stage you need to condition her more and also get her more balanced so she can start to work better.

I assume she is sound now? You have also done all the usual checks with back, teeth, saddle etc?
 
From what you have been describing i would say the first thing you really need to do, is to get her to except your leg, many horses start off rushing off the leg, but you must keep it there and let her get used to it, otherwise you wont get anywhere! This will take a bit of time, but be persistant, when she is trotting round, wrap it around her so she realizes it isnt just for running away from, when she is excepting it, then you can start to use it without her shooting off. Regarding the canter, it may be a good idea to teach her on the lunge, and get her very clued up to your voice so she understands canter, then when you ride her use your voice, i teach all my babies like this. When you ask for the canter transition if she runs in trot, bring her straight back and start again, dont let her run in to the canter, this is where the voice command comes in usefull! I should book yourself a few lessons with a decent flat trainer too.
 
Hi

Thanks for the replies. Yeah, i decided this evening to get lessons. I do half halts and she responds really well, she halts without use of the reins. I found that the walk canter transitions were actually fizzing her up a lot. She went really well when she was being professionally schooled but I did find, and so did the person schooling her, that she would get very fizzy when warmed up. she was accepting the leg and going really well. i worked on calming her down when she came back but now I need to work on implusion as you said.

thanks for the advice. I can't really do a lot of spiral work again as I can't do tight circles. She is totally sound but risks going lame if heavily worked particularly in tight circles (according to the vet).

I don't want to use chambon or bungee reins as she was over schooled in draw reins when broken and basically is inclined to be over bent. I am just now getting her to relax into a better shape at the front. Problem is, I have lost the back!

thanks for the help
 
the shape at the front comes from the back end being used properly.i would rather see a baby using its bottom and being above the bit than curled round and back end trailing out.
i agree with pandas suggestions
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