Introducing The Canter

[1 morejump]

I am at a loss.  I have cantered on Lance twice, last year, and since then have avoided it like the plague!  I am so scared that I am going to mess it up since he is so green with it.  I swear his canter is like being on a runaway freight train!
We don't have an arena yet (the guy doing it is still looking for fill dirt to level out the front where it will be) but I am trying to figure out how to go about it when the time comes.  

I am so nervous because I don't want to ruin it.  Does anyone here have any experience starting the canter?  I know transitions are a good way help him collect himself but is there something I am missing?  

[epona]

Cant help much! But will be watching this thread with interest as I am in a similar position.  My Mare can be quite unbalanced in canter - not alway - but sometimes she slips even falling over once   We dont have an arena either and I am always a bit wary of cantering around the field in case she slips over, we canter along bridle paths with no problems but cornering is a bit  at the minute - which makes the canter thing all the more an 'issue' in my head :(  :blush:  

[pintopiaffe]

on the lunge, on a 20m circle.  Sometimes exclusively with sidereins, sometimes without.  

A horse MUST be able to balance on a circle *without* the rider before they can balance with.  They must be relaxed in the back, and stepping through with the hind.

It doesn't hurt that the voice cues are firmly ingrained from this work, so that "walk" means WALK and you don't have to worry so much about the down transition.   And canter (whatever cue you use, I use a sharp "shht" backed up with the lunge whip in the beginning) means canter now, not run into it.

The horse must be balanced BEFORE cantering, and you should only canter as many steps as STAY balanced.  Careening around like a motorbike only builds WRONG muscle, not good muscle.  

Early on, when the young horse offers it--say uphill, or on a straight away, I take what they offer, never punishing for it, always praising, and *trying* to bring them back before they loose balance.

Some horses, particularly those who are very short or very long in the back, will be well established in lateral work and even beginning collection (i.e. *sit* ) before having a decent canter under a rider.    My stallion worked piaffe before canter.    We *still* have days where the canter just isn't there--he's not sitting enough--he's particularly short coupled--and we only do four or five strides on a long  side, not even an entire circle.  But WHEN it's there, it's THERE.  So it is worth the patience and the wait.  As he becomes stronger in it, it will be equally up to the level of the other work.  Right now, it is holding us back from showing--it isn't strong enuogh yet to ask for the figures in the level of tests where the rest of the work is.

Sometimes the RIDER needs to canter quite a bit on a horse they trust, who is balanced, to get back into the feel of it, and to work the abs so they are a more balanced, positive burden for the horse.  Riding greenbeans exclusively sets you in very bad habits, and so the downward spiral begins.  If you can get the feeling of a good, uphill, "fun" canter in your mind and muscles, it will be much easier both to let go, and to shape the young horse.  

[Heather]

Great post Jaeme!

But would you answer my email and pm sometime please? Just cant seem to get any reply!!


Heather

[visconde]

with my boy (short coupled luso) I did lots of longreining and lunging with 2 reins (3 months) before I tried cantering him in the school while on him. I dont use a roller or side reins or any other training aid-reins go direct to bit. I have used side reins on other horses but after trying them on him I felt that they didnt suit him and he didnt seem happy in them.
I built up transitions on voice command (for canter I say 'hup'-not sure why!)-the outside rein helped to balance him. I would also once/twice a week have a ground pole on a 20m circle and built up to him cantering over it-he had to look where he was going and balance himself. That was built up to 2 poles on opposite sides of the circle-again he has to find a stride and look at what he's doing. Next year this will be brought up to 4 poles on a circle. I would also lunge on 2 reins in the field on a slope (just a slight one!) to get him thinking about what he was doing etc. I would only do this with a horse who has a great sense of his own preservation though! His canter was much improved and he was capable of doing nice walk-canter transitions by voice command before I began cantering him in the school under saddle-when ridden, I began just asking for a few strides and then 1/2 circles across the school. Out hacking I would canter in a straight line but not for very long before asking for a simple change of lead. After a lay off we are just getting him fit again using the same principles.
Thats what seemed to work for my boy-anyway, hope there are some ideas you could use from it.

[dubhcapall]

Hi,

I like to start my green horses in a canter on a bit of an uphill slope with nice firm footing.  The uphill slope is easy for them to be be balanced on and I only ask for 3 -4 strides of canter at first anyway. As they get stronger and more balanced, which takes time and work, you can gradually ask for more.

Before cantering with a rider on, they need to be balanced and solid with halts, walk and trot under a rider. No need to rush into cantering as it is harder for some to balance with a rider in canter at first, especially younger horses that are still having gangly stages as they grow, making them unbalanced anyway!  You dont want any bad experiences for them through starting something too early without a solid foundation.

How long it will take to progress your youngster does vary a lot depending on the individual horses too, some are naturally stronger and balanced earlier and others take longer to mature...

Dont rush, enjoy the ride and get it all nice and solid and by getting it right in the foundations, you will have a safe, sound horse for a long time. Cheers, M. :    

[visconde]

Some horses, particularly those who are very short or very long in the back, will be well established in lateral work and even beginning collection (i.e. *sit* ) before having a decent canter under a rider.    My stallion worked piaffe before canter.    

hi-I am very interested in that statement (not questionning it!) wrt short backed horses. why would a short coupled horse find it difficult when you would think (well, I did!) that it may be easier for them?

[pintopiaffe]

On a very short backed horse there are a couple of things going on.

They are usually not as supple in the back and can be a bit 'muscle bound' if you will.  They are stronger in some ways because of that, but it can make it harder for them to 'sit' and lift their back--they can go around with it flat much easier, if that makes sense?

Also, a rider has MUCH more influence on a short back.  The bigger the rider, the more  influence.  So that a small movement--deliberate or not--is magnified and can put the horse off balance.

 

[visconde]

doh! makes perfect sense and seems very obvious when you say it like that! many thanks    

[1 morejump]

For me that was probably the hardest part about learning dressage.  The schooling horse I was on was a rather short coupled mare and I had to keep from asking her to bend too much on the 20m circle.  She would bend but because she was so shortly coupled she couldn't give a big impressive bend.  She should have been given to a more experienced rider who knew how much to bend her but the trainer said that we "worked well together". <_<  Dumping me in the dirt?