Introducing canter

[winnieandben]

   Need a little canter advice.

I feel that I would like to start introducing a little ridden canter work with Jinx (she is 4 and still pretty green)  After having various things to deal with in the last few months she is now beginning to school nicely in walk and trot.

I have introduced canter on the lunge these last few months and she now understands the voice aid to go into canter and back to trot well but she still gets very excited about it and gets very speedy and boingy!!!   She has never been particularly good to lunge and tends to get a bit silly and switch off, so now she is coming on much better ridden I thought it may be easier to introduce canter ridden.

I have a couple of times popped her over a little cross pole jump and she has cantered away from it.  Ideally I would like to do first canters out on hack but our hacking is pretty much all stoney tracks or tar mac.

So should I persevere with canter on the lunge first until she is calm with it or just carry on asking from a little cross pole jump as I have done??

Or any other suggestions???

[catkin]

Personally I am never in a great hurry to introduce canter in the school as it can be very easy to frighten a sensitive horse if they find themselves unbalanced.
with the Welsh princess I did an awful lot on the longreins until it was no more exciting than trot and she could keep her own balance on circles and down the long sides. Her first canters were actually on hacks following my oldie, who is a fantastic nanny for canter. We had a very definate 'canter' signal and then I transferred it to ridden work (along with the good old rising on the wrong diagonal trick) You will get some boings but if it's become all in a day's work with groundwork then that will minimise some of them, I also always sit in a jumping seat to start with as I find that helps them keep their balance too.

[winnieandben]

Thanks, I am in no rush but just felt today when riding her that she was feeling much more balanced and is getting more consistent in her contact that I was thinking about canter.  I would only be looking to do a few strides at a time. 

But wasnt sure as its not really good on the lunge yet if I should leave it and keep working on the lunge until it is less exciting

[ros]

I'd tend to agree with Catkin - no great hurry to canter in the school. However I was always told when breaking youngsters not to wait for canter - just get on and do it. That way it doesn't take on any special, scary significance, either for horse or rider - the "Big C"!  Definitely nice to have a lead, though, if poss.