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Discussion on Any cantering suggestions are welcome.
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Member:
sodmonst
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Posted on Saturday, Jun 12, 2010 - 4:05 pm:
I have a Paso Fino horse and he is 19 years old. It never occurred to me to canter with him until I was watching him play with his friends one day and noticed that he cantered quite easily and naturally. Cantering under saddle is quite a challenge however.
If I allow him to break into a canter on his own, it's like riding along on a magic silk carpet. However, if I ask for a canter he freaks out. He tries going into a full out largo, and if he does manage to break into a canter, it is the most horrible, bone jarring, slamming gait I've ever ridden. He is not bucking, it's a choppy, short striding, slamming gait with a hollow, braced back.
I think that he's been severely punished for breaking gait from a largo, and would love to help him with it. He doesn't have a speck of mean spirit in him, but has obviously been beaten into hysteria before.
This horse and I have come a long way together in the last couple of years. He is smart and learns well when not in a PTSD flashback. He has learned it's OK to walk, gotten over his terror of being saddled, follows me around the yard like a dog, if I step up on the mounting block, instead of freaking out he now places himself right next to it for me. I am so fond of this animal, I cannot praise him enough. So this is our next challenge. Any ideas on how to make it a good experience for him?
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Member:
dustee
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Posted on Saturday, Jun 12, 2010 - 4:29 pm:
I have had a number of horses who, for one reason or another, do not or will not canter. First, if a horse does "accidentally" canter, and I have it in my mind that I would like for us to, I will immediately and softly rub (never hit or smack) his neck and say something like yeah, fun isn't it, we can do this.....on that order.
I will not tighten up my legs or my butt. Instead, I will exhale, which will help to relax muscles I would not want to get tight.
I will develop with this horse an exact departure for the canter. I will only use that departure if I am asking for the canter. I memorize what I want, and the order I want it. It may take 10 - 15 times before the horse will do it - and I may get a wee bit stronger until I get it - then I lighten up.
Mostly I will use the following:
1. Sit up tall - this puts my body position in a straight line.
2. Roll my shoulders open - this balances shoulder over hip
3. DrOp my inside seatbone - to tell the horse which canter lead I am going to ask for
4. Tap with my outside heel - this tells the horse - now - I want canter.
You will need to be exact, very specific, and on a scale of 1 to 10 - learn to adjust the aids.
For example, in the beginning #3 - DrOp my inside seatbone may be a three or a four on our scale.....depending on the horse - it may need to be adjusted to a 2.5 or a 6...this is learning to feel what your horse understands.
Normally, the outside leg - also on our scale of 1 - 10, I will start at about a three.....I never have needed with any horse to go over a six. No guarantees on what their reaction will be at a 7 or higher....
I absolutely never change the sequence on requesting a canter from this type of horse. I do not wish to confuse them. If they are almost there - I might do just a bit of a scoop with my butt and hips as I am asking with the outside leg - but usually won't need it.
You are talking to your horse. Put feeling into each item on the list. Say it aloud - Sit up tall - roll my shoulders open, DrOp my inside seatbone, tap or touch with my outside leg. Do it as you say it aloud. Converse with your horse, and get a full two way conversation going - enjoy that this will be great fun!!!
Do not allow your horse to speed up in the trot to go into the canter. If anything, steady, or a bit slower. Work from the trot first - not from the walk or halt. Do not proceed to the other gaits until you have mastered it together from a medium trot.
The reason you do not want them to speed up - which includes you not tightening your butt up, is that the transition from trot to canter should be tension free, smooth, relaxing, enjoyable....etc......for both of you. Have fun working this out!!!
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Member:
equestra
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Posted on Saturday, Jun 12, 2010 - 6:26 pm:
Hi there,
As the recent owner of a gaited horse (Sept 09)- my Rocky Mountain gelding I love so much - I can tell you a hollow back jarring feeling is a PACE, not a canter! It can be misleading as they so easily transition if they're not conditioned to carry rider and topline in a collected fashion...
Mine will go into a canter beautifully, but can 'break down' into a pace. So I've been building him up slowly in endurance, and bought an inexpensive balance training system that I've just started to experiment with.
Of course, the other thing I notice is that if my body falls out of alignment, he paces... I usually assume problems are caused by rider error in my case. =) So I'm working on balance and pilates myself. =)
We're going to start doing some workshops as we need to learn to gait under saddle... I've only felt it a handful of times. My boy was trained in a hunter / jumper and natural horsemanship stable, but no one had gaited experience. Much to learn... but so much fun!
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Member:
sodmonst
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Posted on Saturday, Jun 12, 2010 - 7:15 pm:
Thanks for your help, Dustylin and Robin C. The horse has a couple of places on the trail when he'd just naturally like to roll into a nice, natural canter, and I think that I'll try connecting the exact cues described here to his voluntary transitions. Perhaps that will help him connect to what I want when I use those cues at other times.
Although the way that I described his slamming gait does sound like a pace, I know how that feels. This is more like a cross canter on steroids. It is unbelievably rough, and feels like I'm being shaken like a rattle.
The rhythm is pa-TA-da-da pa-TA-da-da pa-TA-da-da, it isn't three beat, and there's no rolling motion as there would be in a canter, and the steps are breathtakingly rapid without covering a lot of ground. He seems to slam down on his forehand with his shoulders braced on each stride.
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Member:
ajudson1
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Posted on Saturday, Jun 12, 2010 - 8:40 pm:
Hi Susie,
I want to say first to Dustylin, that is one great thought out "how to canter!"
I have an 11? year old gelding who also struggled with cantering. I figured spending so much time on his walk, and relaxing jog, that the canter would be easy. Nope. His idea was trot trot trot, canter, hit down hard on his front legs after a few strides, squeal, then buck!
So I figured I was doing something..some THINGS wrong. I think I ride with very soft hands, move my "energy" to speed him up, and exhale to slow him down. (works wonderful in the arena, not so great on the trails always!) He's very soft and light in my mind anyhow.
I am pretty sure my body language was some how confusing him when he did start to canter. I was very lucky to see Linda Parelli do a show on helping some one with changing gaits and tempo, and what she had the rider do was move her body like she was cantering. As in really exaggerate her arms and shoulders, like her arms were the horses front legs. And I think lean back a bit, roll with the horses movement.
I think with everything Linda does, it's not about looking "correct" like you are being judged but rather whatever it takes to help the horse move freely. I know you weren't asking about that, just wanted to get that in there about the horse moving freely.
Cody is cantering better now, and now I plan on studying all those steps above so I can "ask" him in more subtle ways.
Your horse sounds like my Tango. Not sure if I could move my arms like front legs to get him to canter and live to tell about it! Just getting to the point of getting on him AGAIN; he's almost offering to stand at the mounting block from both sides now. So if you try that, be careful it may shock your horse a bit if you normally don't act like a chicken taking flight while riding, lol!
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Member:
sodmonst
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Posted on Sunday, Jun 13, 2010 - 12:19 am:
Thank you, Angie. I like what you said about a mindful exhale to settle and slow your horse. I'm adding that to the predictable, clear, consistent cue set that Dustylin mapped out so well.
I think you are on when you say that he might be a bit like your Tango. Too much arm movement would send him into sensory overload, but I'll bet that if I just imagine myself going into chicken flight he'll pick up on it. Most of the time it seems like he reads my mind and responds before I actually ask him for something. I'll try chicken thinkin' and report back on how it goes. 
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Member:
lilo
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Posted on Sunday, Jun 13, 2010 - 10:15 am:
All - this is very interesting to me. I have a Rocky Mountain gelding, like Robin. He was not very well trained to gait, and I had no experience in getting him into a smooth gait. He is naturally "trotty". In other words, he never gaits in the pasture - he trots and canters.
So - I finally decided to ride him in walk, trot and canter. That is what I am used to, and he seems to like it better. I occasionally ask for the gait (word command - counting 1,2,
3,4) and he tries. However he moves in a very hollowed fashion, with his head high, and is not smooth. Sometimes, when I ask for trot on a loose rein, he actually volunteers the gait, but I can feel it is not right. So Robin - I would like to hear how you are getting your boy to gait.
However - with the canter, he initially took the left lead only - never the right lead. Angie - I watched the same show with Linda Parelli, and now I can get him to take the right lead. The more I tried to give him the cues I am used to, to more he took off in the left lead. So - now I just try to do the Parelli method from the trot, and have much better success. Fortunately, I don't show, so it does not matter what it looks like.
Thanks, Dustylin and Angie, for your insights. And good luck, Suzie.
Lilo
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Member:
ajudson1
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Posted on Sunday, Jun 13, 2010 - 10:55 am:
I am so laughing at the "chicken thinking"  I don't think I want to think like a chicken...brains are way to small, lol! But seriously, I think Linda is a genius with her concepts on riding. I can sit a trot now by remembering her showing how to "peddle" your feet to get in sync with the horses movement.
I always try to remember a horse can feel a fly on them, so can you imagine what we must feel like? How our subtle shifts in weight must make them want to go "WWHHOOOAAAAA CRAP, NOW WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO BE DOING??"  I know my Cody is like that. Yet he's not over reactive; a good balance.
The older I can the more I worry about how the horse is FEELING about what I am asking. I always remember horses know how to do all the fancy moves, and trot, canter, back, etc., just fine without us, so we need to get out of their way.
I am also a very firm believer in lunge line work with WORD commands. I see no reason why a gaited horse can't be lunged? I lunged our Tennessee Walker's we had.
For asking for the canter, make circles with the lunge whip, even "canter" yourself. My goal is when lunging is I DO NOT MOVE, the horse does, but when teaching something new, I move with them. When you have walk.."TROT" or whatever, canter, and whoa from all gaits, it sure helps with transferring it to riding work.
Nope, not an expert, just excited as I am always learning something new too.
Let us know how the chicken thinking works out
;-).
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