Bouncing In Canter

[unicorndanca]

Since injuring by lower back at work, cantering has become a nightmare for me(and probably my poor horse ). It has gotten to the point that I realize I have been avoiding canter altogether as I feel it is stressing my horse out. For example when I ask for canter she pins her ears and swishes her tail angrily and rushes forward into a flat out trot and if I let her she will fall into a fast, unbalanced canter(as a reference her saddle is correct fit and back has been checked).

Have been practising transitions to avoid the rushing although I have been thinking it is more probably caused by a dread of my body being so uncooperative in canter(much to my disgust in myself :(  )

CAn anyone offer suggestions/tips on working past the horrible bouncing.

 

[Mandeigh]

suppleness in the lower backis the key to absorbing the movement of canter.....BUT..... like you I have also had a serious back injury and I can really sympathise with you.  What i did for a long time was rather than sit to the canter (which aggrivated my sciatic nerve) I went into a X country position both for the transitions and while in canter.  This a way of being able to keep canter work in your routine although I appreciate that it is not to good for a competetive situation.  When you are off the horse you can work on building your core strength through flexibility and muscle building in the abdominal and back muscles.  

[unicorndanca]

Thanks will give that a go, fingers X. While practicing today I used my back saver and that seemed to help.

[Mandeigh]

I forgot to say also...make sure you don't arch your back in the forward position...all the absorbtion is through the legs....

Back support is a good idea, I used to ride with one all the time...made me look nice and slim!!  

good luck and keep us posted on how you get on!

[cptrayes]

When you do get to go back to trying to sit to the canter again (it seems a great idea to me to stand for a while) it may help to try to think of the movement being up-and-down rather than the traditional way of describing canter as "polishing the saddle with your seat". Think of how you move your hand when you bounce a ball - as the ball comes up, your hand comes up with it until it reaches the top of its arc and goes downwards again. I found that thinking of canter as gently bouncing a ball was much better than the polishing idea. It involves less movement of the back, but it's actually more in keeping with how the horse moves. I hope this helps.

Caroline.