From: Eleanor
Dear Jessica, I'm having canter problems and hope you can help me with advice. My horse is an Azteca (Andalusian - Quarter Horse cross), nine years old, very sweet and willing and really pretty well balanced. I rode him Western pleasure for three years, then he was off for a year because of a tendon injury, and for a number of different reasons I ended up taking hunt-seat lessons on a friend's horse all that year (it's a long story). It was a good year but now that Chico and I are back together and he is sound to ride again I knew I didn't want to do any more WP, but I didn't think it was a good idea to jump a horse with a tendon problem, so I've started taking dressage lessons. I'm having a good time and Chico likes it too.
Our canter problems are probably my fault. When I rode WP I had to stay totally stiff and so did the horse, and then when I rode hunt-seat I always got up in a two-point position to canter, so I think I don't know how to sit a canter because it's not something I've ever had to do. Chico is not a lazy horse, but the change from WP to dressage is probably pretty hard on him and I'd like to make it easier. When I ask him to canter, and I stay in my saddle, he either doesn't want to pick up the canter, or he picks it up and then right away goes back to a trot. He does this even when I lean forward and give him plenty of rein. When I do that, I have to get the rein back pretty fast so that he doesn't run off at the canter, not that he ever does that but I worry about it. I should probably use my legs more but I don't want to push him too hard or make him go too fast because of his tendon. I know it's my fault because sometimes he does pick up the canter and then I get scared and tense because he feels like his back is coming up so much more than it used to. I start to grip with my legs and hands, and then he trots. What can I do to make Chico's canter better, please?
Eleanor
During his WP years, Chico probably learned to do a flat, four-beat gait that was called a lope" but had nothing to do with an actual lope or canter. It sounds as though he's trying to offer you a real canter now - which is probably why you're getting scared, and why he feels as though his back is "coming up so much more than it used to" (good description, by the way!). This is a good sign. If he's built like most Aztecas, he'll probably turn out to be a very nice mover - and from your description, I'd say he's already on his way to better movement. It's getting more comfortable for him to use his belly, lift his back, and move correctly, which is great, but now you have to learn how to sit quietly and allow him to do those things.
If you become nervous and grip with your legs, you'll pop your seat right out of the saddle, and if you're holding the reins hard, even though what you're really saying is "I'm scared and I don't know how to sit this canter", what Chico will hear, through your legs and reins, is "Trot, please, I don't want you to canter!"
Here are some things you can do. Leave your seat IN the saddle when you ask for the canter, and when you ride the canter - don't get up, don't go anywhere, just SIT. Practice sitting in the saddle at a walk. When you know you're in a balanced position, sit quietly and just breathe. Feel how your hips move up and down and back and forth, and how your seatbones lift and drop, one at a time, as Chico's hind legs take turns moving forward. Let your hips and pelvis do all the moving - your seat should stay softly in the saddle, and your back should remain straight. When you find that you're doing this easily and automatically at the walk, you'll be ready to try it at the canter.
You'll find it easiest to ride the canter if you ask Chico to take it from the walk, since you're working to improve your own position and movement. If you do walk-canter transitions and you're riding the walk correctly, you'll find that in canter, your position will be the same and the movements of your hips and pelvis will change hardly at all.
If Chico is offering you a nice, forward, energetic walk, he should have the necessary impulsion for a good canter transition and a nice canter. If he is offering a flat, short-strided walk, don't bother with the canter until you've worked on his walk for awhile. He needs to get into the habit of "using himself" at the walk - in other words, putting some movement and energy into it.
When his walk is good enough to give you a good canter transition, be sure that your aids are very clear, so that he knows which lead you want. If you're out in a big field, you can concentrate JUST on getting the transition from walk to canter - on either lead. That's probably the best way to begin, because when you're teaching a horse to offer an energetic transition up into the canter, you don't want to be bringing him back to a trot right away for any reason, so it's better to put yourself and your horse into a situation where you just don't need to worry about whether he's on a particular lead.
When you give your canter aids from the walk, don't change your body position at all. Shifting your outside leg back to ask for the canter is all you'll need to do, because if he's walking well, your hips and arms will already be moving with him correctly. The action you've described - leaning forward and giving him rein - is actually going to interfere with his canter transition. He needs to be balanced to step UP into the canter, and how can he stay balanced under you if you suddenly lean forward, throwing away the contact and dumping your weight (and his) on his forehand? Try to sit very softly and quietly, so that Chico can keep his balance and make the good transition you want.
As he takes that first canter stride, feel your hips and pelvis moving, just as you did when he was walking. As long as you can keep your rear end in the saddle and your hips moving with your horse, you'll know you're not interfering with him or confusing him. But be sure you can feel your hips and pelvis moving - if they aren't moving, something is wrong. Hint: If you grip with your legs or tighten your buttocks or lift your seat out of the saddle, your hips and pelvis will stop moving.
If you're in a good position, moving with the horse at an energetic walk, and give clear aids for a canter transition, you should get the canter promptly - and as long as you let your hips and pelvis continue to move with the horse, you should find the canter quite easy to sit. I think your problems have come from the way you've been asking for and riding the canter. It sounds as though you've been unbalancing your horse on the transition, then becoming nervous whenever he DID manage to pick up the canter, at which point you would sit up, clamp your legs, and haul on the reins. If both you and Chico are balanced and you go from a good energetic walk to a canter WITHOUT your body getting out of position, I think you'll find that the canter you get is much less scary and much easier to sit, and that you won't worry about him going too fast for you.
Since you have someone to give you lessons, is there any chance you could take a couple of longe lessons on one of the instructor's horses? It would be very good for you to learn to sit the canter without worrying about steering or speed or your horse's tendon. Even just a couple of longeing sessions would help you by letting you focus on yourself and not your horse wYou would have a chance to get the FEEL of transitions and the FEEL of sitting in the saddle quietly (but not stiffly) during the canter. If you can possibly set up a couple of lessons on the longe line with a good instructor, do it - you won't be sorry.
Good luck!
Jessica
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