Teaching a child to sit to canter- any ideas???

nikCscott

nikCscott

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My 7yo daughter is happily cantering and jumping tiny courses, her balance and control of the pony are fantastic and her confidence is brimming which is great :D but her canter just looks a bit messy as she sort of does a rising canter.

Will it 'just come'? I don't want to make a big thing out of it as she's not effecting the pony doing what she's doing but would like to tidy her up a bit.

My mum suggested putting a hankie (do people still have these? may have to use a duster!) on the saddle and encourage daughter to keep the duster in the saddle and not fall off... which we haven't tried yet but like the idea as its a fun way to achieving what the goal.

Does anyone have any other suggestions?

Thank you

OJ and croissant for you :p
 
I learnt to sit to canter with a £5 note between me and the saddle. I was told I could keep it if I kept it on the saddle!
It's hard for kids, they learn to do rising trot, which takes a lot of patience from rider, horse and teacher, and then they're told to sit down as soon as they go up to canter!
 
Loads of no stirrups & bareback, on the lunge or lr if she prefers. Make sure she's sat up straight too. Something on the saddle does work, but if she rises a lot start with something easier like a tea towel & work down to a £5 note, so she doesn't feel its impossible. Sometimes, getting them to actually stand themselves can help too. Eg stand straight (not xc position) for a dozen strides, sit for a dozen. It does make them think, & after standing straight sitting is easier by comparison.
 
Any one that is Heather Moffat instructor, or has one of those amazing simulated Heather Moffat horses will teach your child to sit to canter in one - two lessons. Even though we are down under, a local instructor had a Heather Moffat simulator, ad all my kids got the trot and canter in about 10 minutes.
 
Rising canter hasn't done the Whitakers any harm :)

I would't worry too much, let her enjoy the feeling of canter without making it hard work, perhaps work on her sitting trot for a few minutes every day and it will come. Some ponies are easier to sit to, so that could be part of the problem.

You could get her to do some fun exercises in walk without stirrups and a few strides of trot without, building it up gradually, but don't try canter without until she is secure - could end in tears!
 
£5 note :eek:- maybe I'll print off some 50p notes and she can earn her way to a fiver!

Pony hates no stirrups trot work but she does it on my WB in the lunge- she does have good balance and they way she canters now doesn't impede the sensitive pony at all. But I just want to tidy her up and also as the fences get bigger she will need to sit and ride for them more.

Thank you for all your advise I'll look to see if we have a mechanical horse locally as again this is a fun way for her 'getting it'.

All about the fun first! :D
 
It will just happen. Tell her to imagine she is polishing the saddle is one i always find helps.

Another thing is to make sure her stirrups aren't too short. The shorter they are, the more weight she will put in them rather than on her bottom which for the canter is what you need to encourage (as after learning to trot people are inclined to stand in their stirrupss ;) )
 
Mech horse is a fantastic tool for just this!!
Also make sure she knows the movement to actually make including the backwards bit, as so many forget to explain that bit and makes it so much easier if you know :)
 
I am a BHSAI and I specialise in teaching young children :)

IME.......it will just come. You need to -
- make sure that you spot any basic position faults. Toes pointing down, feet too far in the stirrups, balancing on the reins and being in front of the movement will all make it much harder to sit in canter, for example

- do lots of bareback and work without stirrups. Lots and lots! Try and make it fun somehow, exercises etc.

- don't 'hassle' her about it too much. Get the basics right, and then it's just miles on the clock. Sometimes, especially with girls, I find that the more you remind (nag) them about something, the more they try and over try to do it, which doesn't help, especially with something like sitting in canter/trot. Just get the basics right and let it come naturally.

Personally I'm not a fab of putting something on the saddle as I find this makes them tense and ram themselves into the saddle, which affects leg position badly IMO. But each to their own :)

Often things like this in younger children is just a matter of lack of muscle strength, which you can't really do anything about right now.

Also, how big is the pony compared to her? This can have an impact.

Hope some ofthis is helpful :)
 
patterdale said:
I am a BHSAI and I specialise in teaching young children :)

IME.......it will just come. You need to -
- make sure that you spot any basic position faults. Toes pointing down, feet too far in the stirrups, balancing on the reins and being in front of the movement will all make it much harder to sit in canter, for example

- do lots of bareback and work without stirrups. Lots and lots! Try and make it fun somehow, exercises etc.

- don't 'hassle' her about it too much. Get the basics right, and then it's just miles on the clock. Sometimes, especially with girls, I find that the more you remind (nag) them about something, the more they try and over try to do it, which doesn't help, especially with something like sitting in canter/trot. Just get the basics right and let it come naturally.

Personally I'm not a fab of putting something on the saddle as I find this makes them tense and ram themselves into the saddle, which affects leg position badly IMO. But each to their own :)

Often things like this in younger children is just a matter of lack of muscle strength, which you can't really do anything about right now.

Also, how big is the pony compared to her? This can have an impact.

Hope some ofthis is helpful :)
Click to expand...

110% agree with patterdale - I learned just by enjoying my pony, bumping around and having a blast. It just ‘came’ and so did natural balance which is something imho is lacking in people who are taught too formally in a RS without the opportunity to ‘just ride and have fun'. The best way to learn for me was burning about the countryside:D
 
They must be proficient in sitting trot without stirrups first. I teach by getting them to hold the pommel with the inside hand and keep the outside hand and rein out, for brakes and steering. Keep everything really short, steady (fast canters bounce everyone, not just learners) and in a straight line. Circles just throw them outwards and off. As they get more confident they can hold the mane instead of the saddle (keeps the hands forward and still) and give them a glove to sit on to see if they can keep it under their bum.
 
I have just had exactly this problem with an extremely bouncy child in canter. She was tensing her knee which made her leg rigid and the bouncing would get bigger the longer she did it.

I got her to canter 'rising' like she was on a hack and then sit for a couple of strides 'making her knee all bouncy' she understood this, better than 'untense your knee' :-) She would sit for a couple of strides and then stand again and repeat. Over time we increased the amount of time she was sitting and she can now do whole circles before the bouncing kicks in. Now she understands 'bouncy knees' when I shout it across the school, but anyone listening would probably wonder what on earth I was on about!
 
I'm another no stirrups fan... But I see you say pony isn't keen. I'd say bareback is good practice and loads of sitting trot. It took me ages but then realised my pony was incredibly uncomfortable when I finally tried another :-) it will come for your daughter, just lots of practice! Good luck to you both x
 
Thank you all - I think i'm going to semi leave it she does sits a couple and stand a couple (like a show jumpers canter rather than locking her knees) so will try asking if she can sit for longer periods of time.

I do hunt but my horse is a bit hot to take her with me so am trying to find a more suitable ride / loan so we can hunt together.

She does PC rallies and lots of shows too so I'm sure with all of the above it will just come, she's a cracking little rider and i'm trying so hard not to be 'pushy' and take the fun from it. The way she rides doesn't effect her sensitive little pony so I think just slowly slowly over the winter it will come.

Thank you all again

BTW came 2nd in the Mum's race at school today - check me out! ;):D
 
It sounds like your daughter is coming on brilliantly, I'm another to believe it will come as she gets older and stronger.

Also it hugely depends on the type of canter the pony has, if it is particularly active it will take longer than one that has a rocking horse canter.
 
Have you asked her about why she does it/if she is aware she does it? With you saying stands a couple and sits a couple, and the pony is sensitive there is a chance it could be deliberate.

Many years ago I fell in love with a horse at the riding school that was too much for me at the time, could just about hold her in trot but canter bordered on disasterous. I found that coming out of the saddle slightly helped with my control cos it meant I wasn't inadvertently giving seat aids for a faster canter and also (with hindsight) think I tipped forwards a bit when sitting whereas my body was more upright when out of the saddle so I had better leverage to slow down. Also with hindsight a better way to deal with this would have been to work to improve my seated position rather than avoiding the issue, so if it is deliberate is probably worth nipping in the bud, given that it took me the best part of 10 years (and a much more observant/knowledgeable instructor) to get out of my bad canter habits from that one horse!

If its just lack of experience/muscle groups bouncing though then I agree it will get better as she does more of it.
 
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