Settling Damm horse after canter work?

[piaffe]

My B*****D horse is really winding my up now. I mean REALLY.

Walk work, fine, trot work, brill into canter, great, canter work needs a lot of work ie not balanced and taking weight over hocks but, hey, that'll come in time.

The problem??? Do a bit of canter work and he goes back into trot like a time bomb waiting to explode. Desperate to go back into canter again just anticipating ALL the time.....

Cant do an effing thing with him when he's like that and its starting to get me down so just wondered if there was anything i havent thought about...

I have done-
canter to walk,
canter to LOADS of trot movements ie serpentines to try and settle him,
canter into trot half pass,
canter into trot shoulder in (and to quarters in)
Canter into trot and then shoulder in down centre line,
canter to halt then pirrouettes.
canter into trot, then doing no more canter work but he is so tense and just constantly trying to go back into canter.

Obviously not all in one session but he's been like it for past for or five sessions now. Im starting to lose the will to live and, at the moment, would quite happily take meat money for him.

So what excerise havent i thought of? im sure there are a few more that i have forgotten to add, but you get the idea (hopefully).

 

[flohelf]

How about canter work over poles on the ground, have you tried ?

 

[_jetset_]

How about after canter doing walk on a long rein??

 

[Nari]

I'd say the same as becki2003 but you'll need to be really persistent about it. Do it every single time & accept it will take weeks (or possibly longer!) but refuse to up the pace again until he settles. If he lights up when you pick the rein up then back to long rein walk until he finally accepts that he mustn't anticipate faster work. It's mind blowingly boring but it does work if you stick at it - the key is repetition.

 

[PapaFrita]

OMG! have you pinched PF!! She's better now but STILL does exactly what Viento does; after a bit of canter work she's on her toes and takes AGES to settle into a walk (trot she can just about manage). She WILL go on a long rein as becki suggests, but recently I've really been working on the walk. What I do is bring PF to halt then ask her to move forwards but I keep my hand very firm and still (not holding reins tight because that makes things worse) but sometimes I grab a bit of mane or her breastplate so she can't pull my hands forwards. The Other Instructor describes her body as a train and explained that she needs to 'organise all the carriages' Once she's stepping properly under her, I can soften my hands and then try some trot work again.
I don't know if that made any sense, but I DO understand the frustration of a horse who is soooooo keen to go forwards at ALL times!

 

[Clodagh]

My instructor recommends using a neck strap and pulling back on that with a loosish rein.

Its boring, isn't it...

 

[_jetset_]

I used to have the same problem with Han which is why i suggested walking on a long rein. She would get her knickers in a twist after canter, and no matter how much I tried a varied routine she would always be a bugger after cantering.

I started by bringing her back to walk and more or less dropping my reins as if we had finished. Once she relaxed I would pick them up again and do some work in walk (like travers, shouler in, leg yielding away from the track into the centre) to keep her occupied. If she ever started jogging or cantering on the spot (which was quite frequently in the first few sessions of doing this) I would throw the reins at her again and do some more long and low.

Eventually, I could ask her to have a contact, but still long and low, and trot on in that outline. As soon as she tensed I would slow it all back down again.

The other trick I used was making her stop in each corner, then turned her myself. Otherwise she would prempt the turn, drop her shoulder and run on.

It's not a quick fix I am afraid, because the problem you are getting is that she is tensing up after her canter and getting herself worked up. You need to get her relaxed again before doing anything else.

The other thing I would do is sometimes do 2 lots of canter in a session, and other times just the one so that she was never thinking that once she had cantered she would be cantering again.

Hope this helps, keep at it and just persevere

 

[RunToEarth]

Oshk does it all of the time, walking in long rein has helped to a certain extent but as soon as you retake the reins he anticipates a faster pace. I have just sat through the "fizzy" spots, trying to educate him that just because I have shortened my reins it isnt time to fizz about.

 

[piaffe]

Thanks everyone!

I am going to ride him again in a short while so will give it a go. But, thinking about dropping the reins at the mo makes me laugh!

I can just see it now, cnter, walk, drop reins, [****] off! PMSL!

SO glad you have helped though, will give it a whirl!

 

[Weezy]

Well when Chics was REALLY annoying me doing this I just kept cantering, and cantering and then kicking back on into canter, and more, and more, and changed rein, and went off on other rein and kept going LOL

Prob not conventional but it did work!

Also tend to go for a round the block hack at end of sesh to work down

Also I dont ALWAYS canter - do most work in walk and trot and have on many occasions gotten off, worked canter on the lunge, then got back on and continued the walk and trot work as I think a lot of it sometimes comes from being unbalanced and "panicking" about having to do more canter work so they are GET ON WITH IT AND GET IT OVER - if that makes sense?

 

[piaffe]

well. i tried doing most sessions missing the canter but, hhence the walk and canter are so great now and we are so behind on canter work (on the lunge he's great).

Also tried the "ok, if you want to canter, you can bloody canter til your knackered"

Didn't work, he has more energy than me and i was dying.

Today, for example, i rode for about 20 mins, did a bit of canter then had these problems, jumped off, got lunge line, lunged for 20 mins, 12 m circle on each rein, then got on and rode for about 50 mins (

was determind i was not going to be beaten). he was exactly the same at the end as he was at the begning.....

Got a comp on tues, not sure if i will bother.

 

[Nari]

Piaffe I did suggest long rein walk, not drop the reins

. I don't want your death on my conscience!!

 

[LEC]

I once read Jennie Loriston Clark comment saying if you have a horse about to explode ride like a sack of spuds and flop about all over the place. It normally makes them think what the hell is going on and they switch off. I have tried this on my very tense horse and it did work and it amused me which probably stopped me getting wound up and made me chill. Another thing you can try in tiny circles in trot leg yeilding out spiralling down and same again. Its very concentrated and makes them work damn hard.

 

[Weezy]

lec I do that too - the sack of spuds thing!

Damn Debs sorry none of my ideas havent already been tried - its a very annoying problem

And DO go to the comp - whatever happens it is ALL good education and he may behave far better away from home

 

[teapot]

Baron was like that - but just after trotting, walk became like a kangaroo.

So I did what Weezy did/does - just pushed him on and on and on (within reason, not until he was sweating madly or anything) and then asked to come back nicely. Baron soon got bored of bouncing around

 

[piaffe]

Yes, he was like that in trot!

We'd do a bit of trot then our walk, well, it was piaffe, rearing, spinning but we have now overcome that!

 

[piaffe]

An update!

Bloody horse!

Went Sooooo much better this afternoon. Probably something to do with the fact he was knackered!

Did some walk and trot and he was tense, he tends to expect to canter in the corners or on a circle so goes tense and short etc and this is without even cantering yet. so carried on, did some half pass etc and centre line work then asked for canter.
From canter, went into walk and long rein (he was a bit shocked!!!) after a lot of FWOALR and then collecting up the down again and went back into trot and he was so much calmer!

Did it on both reins and did lots of walk work! Bloody horse now pirrouettes if i just have to adjust my leg (if my boots is slipping) hes so eager to please!

Anyway, changed his bit this afternoon too. Gone the sofest yet a double jointed loose ring snaffle with rubbery covering (dont know its tech name) but it also made a difference! Anyone know what bit im on about and if its BD legal?

Thanks all. Sorry to waffle!

 

[Weezy]

Vulcanite loose ring french link?

Good to hear the improvement tho!