Tense and uptight pony..

lelabell

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I have a 10 year old Arab x Cob mare who has been been backed now for a year and a half. She is getting much better in her trot but the canter is just not coming along as it should. When I got her she could not canter so at least she can do it a little.
She tends to be uptight in her front end and the back end just does it's own thing.
Some folk say it's cuz she's very upright in front and some say it's a balance issue.
Does anyone here have similar problems? What did you do to help with things?
 
It was much better than I expected and looks relatively normal for a young or green horse that still has not found it's balance, my thought would be that you are too fast in trot and you need slow that down so she is better balanced, softer through her body and taking more weight behind, the canter will reflect what is happening in trot to an extent and feel worse because it is faster and you struggle to ride it/ contain it.

I would slow everything down for a while, work on getting her more relaxed and through in the trot so you can ride it more effectively and it should help the canter become more balanced, she has lovely paces don't spoil them by rushing her out of her rhythm in an attempt to get her forward, when teaching I tell more people to slow down than ask for more forwardness especially with green horses, they often need an extra moment to take things in and it is often easier to reactivate than to get them relaxed and confident.
 
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