Sort our canter!

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smellsofhorse

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My 6 year old tb x has lovely paces and real potential.

He is talented but also quirky!

For the last few months we have been having weekly flatwork lessons, with a great instructor, she specialties in this and is a great teacher.


As he had time off and an easy year we have started from scratch and are building him up.
He lacks top line.

The trot has improved loads and he has a lovely walk, but the canter is still way off!

He either canters on the spot, literally going up and down not very forward or wants to rush with his head up.

He can be tense with his neck pulled in.
I know its about his balance too.


We are do lots of long and low work, lots of different exercises and I lung alot, firstly with side reins but now with a pessoa.

Hes had teeth and tack checked recently and had the physio out and all were fine.

Anything else you can think of to help him?
 
You may find that cantering just out of the saddle to start with helps as he may find balancing himself with your weight across his back hard. If you just stand up a little in your stirrups, ask for canter very quietly and stay off his back for the first few circuits then as he steadies lower yourself very gently into the saddle. I wouldn't worry too much about where his head is atm, get a steady balanced canter (remember they use their head to balance) established then concern yourself with the technical bits!
 
My horse struggled with canter when I first bought him. He had been a show jumper so I would have expected canter to be his default gait, but he was very flat and on the forehand. For a long time I didn't canter him at all, but concentrated with my instructor on getting him balanced and in a rhythm in trot, and carrying himself properly from behind.

When we did introduce canter, my instructor (who worked for 30 years breaking and backing babies) suggested that I adopted a much lighter seat and got off his back. This is apparently what is often done with youngsters, to help them balance themselves without worrying about a rider. I have to say, it did help tremendously, and his canter work did improve.

It will get better. It is the gait that they find hardest and you are right to be taking it easy.

Perhaps try some halt / walk / trot transitions to lighten him up, get him thinking and working from behind. Also, my boy lightens up if I ride a smallish circle with a slight outside bend for a few strides in walk, then change the bend to an inside one and ask for a transition up to trot.
 
Thank you, i will try a lighter seat and see if that helps.

Ive been told also when cantering him on the lunge to do lots of trot, canter, trot transitions to help get him balenced.

He does have a lovey trot now, nice rhythem and out line, but then it all goes horribly wrong in canter, the transition from trot to canter is awful but walk to canter nicer but thhne he seems to bounce around instead of forwards!
 
The lighter seat really does work.

Try cantering him out hacking too, if you have a large open field start cantering on the straight and then bring onto a huge circle and then start bringing it in smaller. being balanced in the school is a big ask, so working on balance on a much larger circle first then making it smaller. once he has sorted this out the school will be easier for him. :)
 
We canter out on hacks, apart from the odd buck he is fine when im in a forward seat.

We do lots of circles in trot, start big, leg yeild out then spiral back in.
We do this in canter but find it difficult.
 
mine is exactlly the same :rolleyes: but he just runs and wont collect
poles put slightly short have helped him to collect a bit but as soon as the poles have gone its back to the same. Is he better when jumping? mine is as it is something he enjoys might be worth a try
 
dafthoss said:
mine is exactlly the same :rolleyes: but he just runs and wont collect
poles put slightly short have helped him to collect a bit but as soon as the poles have gone its back to the same. Is he better when jumping? mine is as it is something he enjoys might be worth a try
Click to expand...

Yes he is alot better when jumping.
He loves it and is very talented.
I can collect him up and lengthen his stride to suit.
He just seems to go nicer.

But this could be me concentrating on jumping rather than when doing dressage concentrating how we are going!

Could my seat be affecting him more than i think?
I jump in a jumping saddle and obviously have short stirrups.

In flatwork i use a dressage saddle and have been made to have very long stirrups, longer than i used to have!

People have suggested having a more forward lighter seat, but this is harder in a dressage saddle!
 
may just be stubborn then thats all it is with mine the little wotsit
or try doing flatwork in the jumping saddle to see if that makes a diffrence
 
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