Slowing down the canter.

[Tharg]

Rode share horse today and it went better but not fantastic. First off he wouldn`t give me canter on the right rein and wouldn`t keep to the outside track (when I first tried him he drifted in but hes not too bad now). I believe this is down to my aids not being clear enough, also he can take the piss which I am not too amused at!. The right of my body is weaker than the left so I have to be careful not to use too much left rein or his head would be facing towards the outside of the school and his quarters inwards slightly.

Towards the end of the session he would give me canter but at warp speed, any tips on keeping it slower?. Normally when I ride I make sure there are plenty of circles, serpentines and change of rein generally in trot. When in canter I tend to go large with some circles. When hes pissing he is (obvious) not paying attention to my aids. Are there any excerises I can do in canter to keep it calm?. He is a good horse and I can be too soft riding him which I fully know he will take advantge of.

I am having a lesson next week, I`d like to concentrate on lateral work and getting to be a bit softer. On a positive note jumping him didn`t go too badly, just did a small crosspole which he stayed in trot going over. He enjoys jumping.

 

[tigers_eye]

There's a post in CR atm regarding a "show jumping" canter, some of it might help! Good luck!

 

[beaconhorse]

It depends really on why he is doing it. I had a similar problem about 18months ago with my lad, he was doing it because he was unbalanced and did not understand half halts, the more I tried to slow him down the worse it got. So one instructor said just sit there and let him go, I was convinced he would fall over going around corners (he was that fast) She said he won't!!
Well he did stubble a few times and scare me a little BUT it was the only thing that worked

I did have to find nerves of steel to do it tho lol

The only other thing I can think of is smaller circles, however I could not do this because he just was not balanced enough.

Once he realised I wasn't going to make him slow down he slowed down on his own.

Normally the best way is to contain the front and push the back end but he was so strong in front I could not contain the front at all if I pushed I just got gallop

Walk or stand to canter can very often help too, they are more engaged so don't tend to rush off on the forehand which is what he is doing!!

 

[Tharg]

I generally go into canter from walk, at trot sometimes he just rushes off which makes me think my aids aren`t clear enough. Hes 16 years old but when he goes at warp speed (not at my bidding) I sometimes feel he is going to fall over in the corners, anything I can do about that.

I`ll check out the thread in cr

 

[Tharg]

I can`t find that thread tiber_eyes!