DEVELOPING CANTER IN STANDARDBRED HORSES

DEVELOPING CANTER IN STANDARDBRED HORSES

I get to meet lots of standardbred horses and it is not uncommon for them to struggle with canter. I have put together this video and blog to give some insights into how to help these beautiful horses!

This video contains footage of “Brax”. Brax is 5 years old and is retired from racing. Like many standies he use to get anxious and pace when pushed to go more forward.

This video shows the great work my client is doing and how Brax is getting at his canter transitions!

Before I describe my 4 STEP process to develop canter in standardbreds it is important to understand why they struggle with the gait.

Firstly, they are gaited horses, which means they have a nature predisposition to pace.

Secondly, they are typically long in the back and tend to have conformation that makes it difficult for the hind leg to step up and under the horse which is necessary for canter. They are better at “pulling” than “pushing” and hence the pace is the more efficient gait.

Thirdly, if they have raced, pacing has been reinforced by training and equipment. This includes being pulled up quickly if they canter. This discourages the horse from cantering.

Therefore, standardbreds have physical and mental challenges to overcome to develop their canter. However, most can learn to canter well by helping them develop the coordination, strength, balance and confidence to do so!

The most important elements necessary to help them are TIME and CANTERING PRACTICE. The most effective and thoughtful way to do this is to establish a good confident canter in groundwork BEFORE you go and sit on their back and add a whole extra level of difficulty for them to overcome their challenges!

Here is a summary of how I help standardbreds get balanced and relaxed about cantering:

STEP 1: Establish a relaxed TROT in the round yard

To do this I round pen the horse in a 50-foot round yard. I teach the horse to follow my direction, transition upwards into trot, to do inward turns to change direction and to draw into the center of the round pen to chill out with me. I find that the better they get at understanding how to do these things the more relaxed they get and the less they pace. It is only when I see a consistent relaxed trot that I ask for canter.

STEP 2: Establish the CANTER transition in the round yard

In this phase I push the horse until I see ONE step of canter. Then I immediately rest them. Then I repeat and rest and repeat and rest until I see the horse getting more confident in the canter transition. This is what you see on the video. The transition is all I focus on. I don’t care how many steps they do. I just watch for how they respond to my canter cue. I wait until they go off my cue willingly with calmness developing. Once I achieve this, I ask them to canter several times before I rest them and start focusing on how their downward transition is developing. Initially they can downward transition to a pace. As they get more confident in the canter transition you start to see a reduction in the number of pacing steps they do and eventually they start to transition down into a trot (like this video). It is only once they are consistently transitioning to trot that I start requesting they maintain the canter for longer and longer periods of time if they are not already doing so. This request starts off as insisting they maintain a quarter of a lap of the round yard by asking them to canter again as soon as they fall out. However, the more confident the horses get with the canter they typically start maintaining the canter themselves for longer periods.

STEP 3: Establish canter on the lunge

I introduce this stage in the round yard and wait to the canter becomes established on the lunge before I move out to an arena. I use a rope halter or caversson and 14-foot lunge line. The aim of this phase is to develop a relaxed trot and canter on the circle that has been dictated by the lunge line. In the round yard the horse follows the sides of the round yard. When you put a halter or caversson on their heads this brings in a whole new dimension of pressure on their balance. They have to switch from following the sides of the round yard to following the feel of the halter or caversson on their face. Also, the circle is smaller and has an increased degree of difficulty when compared to the round yard. As with Step 2, I will only ask for canter once a relaxed trot is established and I proceed exactly the same as the round yard. I focus on the quality of the upward transition to canter and downward transition to trot to develop, before I ask for more steps. Similar to Step 2, there is lots of resting. If people do not have access to a round yard this is where you begin.

By this stage you should expect to see an improvement in the quality and balance of the canter. The focus on the transition helps the horse develop coordination and each stride of canter helps develop their gymnastic strength in their hind quarters necessary for this balance to develop. If a horse fails to improve or is still showing anxiety or resistance to canter this can be a sign that training has been too rushed or their maybe soundness issues.

Once the canter has progressed you can add on to lunging activities that help develop gymnastics strength by including trot poles and small jumps. Also, in hand hill walking or lunging using a gentle slop can help in further strengthening on the hind end.

The final phase of Step 3 is to introduce the saddle back onto the horse so that the horse performs the groundwork training wearing the saddle.

STEP 4: Establish trot and canter under saddle in the round yard

Once again, I return to the round yard and once again I wait until I have a relaxed trot under saddle before focusing on the canter transition. As before, I wait for the horse to get confident in the transition to canter and back down to trot before I expect more steps of canter. Again, I use lots of rest and wait until I have good evidence that the horse is growing with confidence in the canter before I move out into an arena.

HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO WORK THROUGH THESE STEPS?

As long as it takes! On average a session in the round yard is about 40 minutes with more than half the time spent resting in the centre. Therefore, it can take multiple sessions or days to progress through these steps. The key is that the horse needs consistent work to develop the coordination and strength to show improvement. It is like starting off going to the gym, it is going consistently that makes doing the exercises at the gym easier and you stop feeling sore or fatigued afterwards.

I typically tell people that I would like them to do 10 days straight to start with - even if some days they can only manage five minutes on certain days! This time period allows for a good start to examine the horse’s progress. I advise this time because so many people do not appreciate that the horse must physically and mentally change. The nervous system needs to change and develop new neurological circuits. Muscles, ligaments and tendons need to change and strengthen, repair needs to take place and psychologically the horse must consolidate new learning and build confidence. It doesn’t happen in a day or a week – it takes TIME!

Finally, to have any chance of this process working I ensure that the horse is set up for soundness ensuring its diet, hooves, teeth, tack etc. are appropriate and maintained. Advice and treatment from horse body work experts during this time is also incredibly helpful and help set the horse up for success.