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Disengaging in canter?
Hi,
My horses canter is a lot of work, she apparently constantly disengages in her canter. Can someone fully explain this term to me (I'm experienced, just never had a horse that does this)? From what's been described to me (and you feel her doing it under you) she changes her back legs (like a flying change just with her back legs) then just falls flat in her canter (and it's spazzy cause her back legs are wrong, I bring her back and start again), she doesn't drift over or anything, she'll do it whilst on a straight line. I know how to disengage a horses hindquarters by pushing them across but it's not like that. Anyone had any experience with this? Got any tips?
At the moment I'm lifting her front end up with reins (not tightly, just hands up, so she doesn't disengage and fall into it, she has quite a nice araby uphill canter), pushing her forwards with legs to keep her going (and her legs moving), bum deep and hips tilted forward. This keeps her going longer without disengaging, I'll get like 2 laps of a 20m circle (just letting her canter I'll get 1 lap). When she does it I bring her back, get her balanced again in trot and go back into canter.
So yeah, anyone had experience? Got tips? Excercises?
2 Answers
- Anonymous1 decade agoFavorite Answer
Some horses will just do this. I would start out working a lot of lateral movements, starting from the walk then the trot. Practice bending, steep leg yields, shoulders in, anything you can do to make those legs cross and to get her more supple. When you've got her easily switching bends walk trot do your canter. Just keep her on a circle pushing her out almost like to ask for a leg yield but not quite that much. Then take that feeling down the long side. If you keep her bending and wanting to get her inside hind leg under and be supple she shouldn't try to change.
- Anonymous1 decade ago
horses usually naturally keep the correct leads, she may be a little sore in a joint or something, you could teach her to keep her hind quarters to the inside on a lot of small figure 8,s, at a trot. when you get to the center pick up on reins to let her know there will be a change where the weight is on your outside pockets, so the weight will be on the outside of the new circle and leg pressure to push her hips toward the inside of new circle. then do it at a canter.
If she has soreness it may get worse, but if it is just habit she may come out of it.
I was asked to work a horse that was totally one leaded, but he had a tiny bit of calcium on the pastern, I warned tham that it could make it worse, but they insisted i teach him to take that lead and keep it. It was a lot of work but I got him to hold the lead and take the lead on cue, but it make his condition worse, the next summer he went unsouond and that got rid of him.
Source(s): working with lots of one lead and cross lead horses. If a horse has his hips a little to the inside of a circle it is more difficult for them to take an outside lead.