Strong Forward Going Canter Help!!!!!!!!!

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laurahayley

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Hi, I need some advise. Dylan is a big TBx WB who's problem is the canter (well it's me as well) Wheb things go wrong it is always the canter that is affected! He launches into the canter which in turn causes me to loose balance, which inturn upsets him & we have an ever decreasing circles! I need some advise/exercises to help me have abetter seat & to encourge my horse to go forward, but steady!! He is only on grass at the mo, but he is abit fat, so is having to go in a starvation paddock to help get the weight off. he was described as a cob with a mazartie (cant spell it) engine in. He is very strong!! He knows how to use his weight & strength to pull me forwards when I do try & stop.
Any advise would be greatly recieved
 
I used to have trouble balancing in canter too!
My teacher took my stirrups away and overall i must have done abut 3 hours in total of trotting with no stirrups & going over trot poles etc .. helped SO much! So you could try that? Just remember not to bring your knees up & tense otherwise you will fall off i can promise you that lol x
 
Can you get some lessons on the longe to help you with your seat? It's really useful not having to worry about steering for a bit. Also, can you canter him in a place where you have lots of room for straight lines, so that he finds it easier to balance? For example, while hacking? Is it possible that you're grabbing onto his mouth for balance/out of nerves, thus making him lean on you more?
 
I don't know if this will help but i have a similar problem. Hot headed arab, who's not quite balanced. He gets faster and faster and leans on his bit, when he gets stress ie only in canter my instructor says i do to. The old issue you have to relax first, by you relaxing the horse will relax When sitting to your canter legs all in place blady bla try rolling your shoulders with the hip movement,it forces you to relax, keeps you balanced and lightens your hands ... I have very very good instructor.
 
Some lessons with an instructor who understands big powerful warmbloods, and who can maybe ride him so that they know what to teach you to help.
 
Trot standing in your stirrups and alternating rising/sitting trot to help you get in his rhythm; pilates is also a big help - my mare is not strong but needs a lot of leg and improving my core strength has really helped my position in canter.

Some year ago I had a big powerful cob like yours - don't know if you have the same issues out hacking but when mine used to launch into canter, partic on open grass or stubble it felt like sitting on a volcano! He got better in the school as he got older and more educated. You might be tensing a little which will make it harder to sit on - need to tell yourself in no uncertain terms that he's not going anywhere and that it's no problem.
A good exercise for smoother canter transitions without him having too much room to pick up speed is to use a large circle and canter at a set point, say A or X in the school and then canter for precisely half a circle before making a transition to trot. Organiser the trot and continue back to your first marker before you canter.
If he starts to anticipate, go away and do something else and then come back and repeat it on the other rein.
 
Thank you for that. i do have lessons with a BD & IHA trainer so she knows what he is like. It is annoying as we were ok last year, but we have had such a bad time re moving etc the canter problem has come back.. He was in a pelham, but broke at the pole & went over the bit & used his strength again on me. He gets stressed/excited cantering very easy. head comes up, bouncing about. aleast I am going forwards & not backwards or sideways like I was a month ago!!!! her throws his head up as I hold him to much. My fault!!
 
That does not help! He was in a pelham but that made him worse, taking the bit & f ing off. That is not fun trust me.
 
It sounds opposite, but when my mare gets strong and fast in the canter, it works to give her the rein more, otherwise she just gets short and fights, and to sit back and put my leg on. She really comes back to me and listens.
If she really is insistent on going fast, I urge her on down the long sides. She soon realises it isn't so much fun when I make her work.
I would also recommend lessons. I have a wonderful teacher, and I was afraid to canter mine. But in one lesson we went from me being too scared to canter her, to me cantering laps of the school on her!
 
As you go into canter, breathe out and 'sink' into the saddle. To begin with, you could also try popping your reins into your outside hand, pulling yourself into the saddle with two fingers under the pommel of the saddle, then take back your reins once the canter is established. To work on balancing the canter, use half halts down the outside rein, riding leg into hand, so the energy goes into making for a better, not a faster, canter. I also find using your voice helps a lot of horses, steeee-ddeeeeee etc. If the horse feels like he is motorbiking, weight into your outside stirrup can help. To come back down into the trot, stronger half halts, and ask going into the shorter end of the school, as they will normally slow and balance their own pace a little going around corners.
 
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try him in a stronger bit ?

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Then when he gets used to that an even stronger bit and then another stronger bit until you have a horse no one can hold as his mouth will be so hard.

A stonger bit is not good advice and not the way to go

My idea would be to slow things down, more schooling and for you have some ridden lunge lessons to help learn balance and how to give the correct aids etc.
 
My horse was like this when I bought him. Initially canter was a big panic, he would stick his head in the air and rush off at breakneck speed. Once we got over the panic stage his canter was still very fast and he was strong.

A much stronger bit is not the answer, as you are not solving the problem merely trying to treat the symptoms. (However I would recommend playing around with a few types of snaffle and different nosebands to see if there is a better one - hanging cheek and flash worked for mine, just gave a little more persuasion without being harsh).

Don't hang on to the reins, you will not win the tug of war and will end up with a horse with a dead mouth. Instead lots of half halts and giving the reins so he can't hang on, it is scary as to begin with he will prob get faster every time you give, but stick with it. Eventually he will just ignore the drop of contact and keep going in his own rhythym.

Also, my instructor had me canter on a circle, with a deep seat leaning slightly backwards and legs on, somehow slowing with your seat yet still pushing forward to keep the canter. And relax.

I also did a lot on the lunge with him, using a harbridge aid to encourage him to go long and low not like a giraffe. It allowed him to find his own balance and learn to canter slowly without interference from a rider.

It has taken me a year of lessons and regular schooling but I now have a horse that is a pleasure to ride most of the time (compared to one that shot forward every time you touched him with your legs, which is what I started with!).

Good luck and don't give up!
 
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