GETTING HORSES RELAXED IN CANTER

GETTING HORSES RELAXED IN CANTER

In a dressage discussion group on Facebook this morning a member asked how do people get horses relaxed in canter - by lunging or with a rider?

Tension/rushing or refusal/difficulty in cantering are some of the most common problems that people ask me about at clinics.

This is how I approach the issue...

1) I get the horse good at cantering off a cue in the round pen. Then I let them clock up time cantering in the round pen. This is because horses have to LEARN to canter in a relaxed manner...they need to get confident, balanced at the gait minus reacting to the adrenaline that can be associated with accelerating. The shape of the round yard gives them a line to navigate and coordinate plus they are at liberty, so they have no restriction on their face or body that impacts their balance. Yes, they will may start off counter bent and posture not perfect but trust me, get a horse confident and relaxed in its association with cantering and these things are way easier to improve then trying to improve things all at once.

2) Next, I introduce online work when the horse is relaxed and cantering at liberty in the round pen. Online, the horse is now on a smaller circle and the guidance from the line comes from the halter or caversson on the head. Again, I allow the horse to adjust and get confident. Always starting off with getting them good with the transition and then expecting more.

3) Next, I return to the round pen under saddle on a loose rein. Again I revisit the round pen that they are already confident in cantering. I just add a rider and again just focus on the transition until calm and then duration. Once this is good I introduced more connection with the rein, more bending and turning...which directly relates to the online work.

Here is some video of a young horse that had cantering issues. It was near impossible to canter him under saddle and took constant pressure to get him to canter online.

Here he is getting confident with the upward transition to canter....just canter off a cue....no longer having to be highly pressurised into the gait.

This horse is a fresian warmblood. Some of these horses, when they are worried slow down and grind to a halt, unlike other breeds that show there anxiety by getting tense and rushy. These type horses can therefore get canter issues because people can misread the slowing down as the horse being “lazy” or “stubborn” and apply more aversive pressure with the whip. This unfortunately, can just make the horse more worried and even less likely to go forward! But...if you understand them and just let them LEARN to canter and make it easy for them....no rider, nothing on their face, just focusing on the transition initially before expecting more steps....they don’t get as overwhelmed....they then LEARN and you end up with a horse that is on their way to being relaxed, confident and willing in its canter work!