Youngsters... canter help please.

[showjump]

Also in New lounge.


Ok so my new(ish) horse is 4.5yrs, he is going fairly well for his age. When he first came he would break to trot in his canter, so we worked on keeping him going forward.

In my lessons we have worked on trying to get him to hold his own canter on a short stride. We have been jumping a tight one strided grid to get him to hold himself. This is fine, however i was woundering if there are any other exercises i could do to help him. At the moment he canters and holds him self on the short stride, then either breaks into trot or quickens. Now somebody said when he quickens, bring him back to trot. But if he breaks to trot what do i do? Should i kick him to canter again (poss getting his babyish fast trot.. then canter0 or do i get a nice trot back, then canter?

Hmm, any help is much appreciated.

 

[dianchi]

If he breaks i would balance the trot and pop him back into canter as soon as possible.

Have you done circles and things to help him balance?

 

[franki]

I'm not sure I understand your comment about "holding himself on a short stride". If he isn't strong enough to hold his canter I can't imagine he is working correctly on a short stride. I would suggest lots of work out of the school to help him strengthen his body generally. I would also canter in a 2 point seat and do some laps of the school. If he does break into trot I would rebalance the trot and move back into canter. However, you need to try to catch him before he breaks. Work carefully on maintaining your own balance through corners, make sure you ride very shallow corners (don't go deeply into the corner), hold him with your outside rein and repeat the canter aid (even though he is already in canter) as you approach the corner to reinforce to your horse that he can keep cantering. Sometimes youngsters just panic slightly and don't believe they can keep cantering without falling over.

 

[Iestyn]

If he breaks from canter to trot don't rush him back into the canter. Re-balance the trot on a couple of circles first and then ask for the upwards transition. I would probably think he still finds holding canter difficult as he's likely to be quite weak still in that pace. I have a 5 year old (but based on how late he was backed and then brought on more like a 4 year old) and I have a similar problem - but I haven't done much jumping at all with him and have focussed entirely on his flatwork. Granted I am going to dressage him but he can and will jump in time (seeing as that was what he was bred for). but not going to rush it ntil he is completely secure and balanced in walk, trot and canter.