Slowing the canter

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Sarah1

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Hi

Can anyone give me any tips on slowing the canter right down when schooling?

My boy tends to like to just whizz as fast as possible & I have the feeling we're on the wall of death & feel like I'm leaning inwards! :eek:

I'd like to know how to really ask him to rebalance & slow his canter down. Due to the lack of facilities we're only hacking at the moment and lessons aren't possible until the ground is a bit better so anything we can work on out hacking would be appreciated.

Thanks :)
 
I have a giant 17.3 ISH who used to hunt so he also likes to go everywhere as fast as possible, and I know what you mean about feeling like you are on the wall of death!

There are a few things I do (admitedly in the school, would never dare canter him on a hack!) to slow his canter and get him more balanced:
1. Relax. I know that sounds daft, but as a human your natural reaction when something is going too fast for comfort is to cling on. So when he is getting quicker, tell yourself to relax. Consciously relax your inner thighs, knees and legs - these are areas that all tense up and cling onto the horse, in turn making him think we are asking him to go faster. Relax your hands as well, dont start pulling against him as this will speed him up too.

2. This brings me onto my next point - give and retake the reins. Again this goes against all natural instincts, giving a speedy horse all the rein he wants feels like you are about to come off any second. But my dressage instructor had me doing this the other day and it worked wonders! When you feel him getting quicker, do a half halt, then give the reins for a couple of seconds (you will be amazed how much they slow when you stop pulling!), then retake the reins and ask him to bring his nose and neck down into more of an outline. Keep doing this exercise, asking for him to bring his neck down more and more each time. Obviously not forcing the neck and nose down too far, but asking for small movements each time.

3. The above will have him working harder, through his back, and that again can cause him to speed up - when a horse finds something difficult the easiest option is to speed up so they dont have to work through their back anymore. So learn to recognise when the canter feels better, and at that point be prepared to give a strong half halt when he gets fed up and tries to go quick again. Half halts are your best friend when you have a strong, quick horse - but you need to learn to anticipate when he is going to rush off and get that half halt in early.

4. Transitions. One tip I received from this very forum (I had a similar question to you a couple of weeks ago!) was to do LOADS of transitions, from walk to canter, trot to canter etc. Make sure he doesnt get the chance to rush and be silly, he will have to be very switched on if you are asking for a lot of transitions so he wont have the chance to be so excited in the canter. When you get into canter, only do 10 strides of canter then back into walk/trot. So try 10 strides trot, 10 strides canter, 10 strides trot etc and keep repeating until he feels calmer and more balanced.

5. Circles. Keep him on a circle, rather than letting him rush off in a long line. If he is cantering on a circle his balance has to be good, so he cant go as quickly otherwise he will trip or stumble.

6. Sit up and push yourself deep into the seat. Just like holding onto the reins and pulling makes him faster, leaning forward will make him faster too. Keep telling yourself to sit back, sit deep in the seat really feeling your seat bones pushing into the saddle. We use our seat to make downwards transitions, so imagine you are preparing to trot, sitting back and putting your weight down into the saddle. But dont let him trot, keep asking with the leg (the way you see dressage riders giving little nudges with their heels, this is to keep the horse rounded through the back and to keep him going) whilst sitting back at the same time.

Obviously dont do all of this at the same time - have one session on transitions, then on a seperate session try maintaining the canter with the give and retake of the reins. If you try and give and retake whilst maintaining canter, then add in a load of transitions he is going to get confused. I try and set myself one session with lots of lengthy canter periods, where I do the give and retakes to ensure he learns to stay in a balanced canter without breaking, and then on a different session I'll work on our transitions.
 
Defo transitions, from trot to canter to trot, and make sure your shoulders are back. Do not take your legs off his sides, if anything I keep my legs on. This tends to work with my horse.
 
Sit nice and deep in your seat and if he starts to speed up do a circle. Also transitions will help keep his mind thinking what's going to happen next :) but deffinely nice and deep seat and circles worked wonders on my boy x
 
KC100 very good explanation. I am doing the same with my boy, he has big strides and a huge canter so prefers to go faster and I have to do a lot of transitions to keep him steady and collected. I personally find if you get an outline in trot or a steady constant trot to take up about another inch or so of rein and ask for canter, you will have to use your leg to keep him going as they find it difficult, you really have to keep hold of the rein and in your downward transition do not let the rein go, you will find the transition more balanced.

Might also help.
 
Wow, thanks everyone for the replies - some really good tips that I will try out as soon as I can.
I don't feel out of control & have no issue cantering him out hacking he just goes long & lolopy if that makes sense rather than feeling balanced?
Thanks again guys :)
 
Sarah1 said:
Wow, thanks everyone for the replies - some really good tips that I will try out as soon as I can.
I don't feel out of control & have no issue cantering him out hacking he just goes long & lolopy if that makes sense rather than feeling balanced?
Thanks again guys :)
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Then he just needs to be held together, some excellent advice from kc100. In addition to help him balance, raise your inside hand slightly. Vary your canter places and don't let him anticipate, sometimes only ask for a few strides and then bring him back to walk, so that he doesn't get time to get 'strung out'.
 
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