Horse Won't Canter

Q:

I have my beautiful Arab cross mare Luna that we have been working off and on again, since discovering she can now tolerate being ridden. I can get her stretching beautifully into the bridle, compacting her body, bringing her back up, and LOTS of SWING! Now when asking for canter that's a different story. She pins her ears, and kicks out at the wall, drops her back and rushes into the bit. When asking I squeeze my ankle bones together, and lift my inside seat bone, she's not happy about it. Is there another method that we can try? She is canters on the lunge in side reins beautifully, perhaps she needs more time to develop the loin. What are your thoughts? Thanks!

A:

Thank you for your question. It seems like this mare has a history of going to work and being laid off for some reason, then being brought back into work. You are not specific about why she has had a history of difficulty under saddle. If you have exhausted your resources looking for lameness issues from your local veterinarians, equine chiropractors, farriers and massage therapists and she has been given a clean bill of health, you may have training issues to work through that developed during injury and attempts to recover her. Even if she is now not in pain, behavior problems can remain after recovery from back injury or trauma that caused her to become difficult.

It is important to look at our approach to training in cases like this. We can be tempted to rush through work too quickly when things are going well. If she is being good at the trot, let her work at a trot for several weeks, even up to three months, before you begin your canter work under saddle. Use your longe work to develop her balance, strength and fitness for the canter while you develop her carrying capacity under saddle at the trot. Use ground pole work and little jumps (12-inch crossbars) on the line to get her using her loin correctly in the canter. Practice many transitions on the line betweeen trot and canter until they are smooth and she carries herself equally well through both the up and down transitions.

When you start to ask for the canter under saddle, use your half seat to lighten your seat on her back. Don't try to drive her into the canter by getting behind her and driving your seat into her back to "push" her into it. Instead, get up off the horse's back and use your legs by bumping her with your anklebones instead of "squeezing." Too strong and steady a pressure might be causing you to pinch with your knees and accidently shut down the forward motion. A tap with your whip can help bring her into the canter if you are not effective with your legs. To help her stay balanced into the canter transition, you can ride a leg yield exercise and ask for the canter as you complete the leg yield either on the straight line or on the circle. Go quarterline to the wall and depart as you approach the corner, or ride a 20-meter circle, spiral into the 10-meter and leg yield out with your depart happening before you get back out to the 20-meter circle. It may take some carefully planned and strategically arranged departs for her to learn that there is no pain and that she can step smoothly into the canter under saddle. Hope these ideas help!

~ Michelle

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