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Cantering dilemma?
So after my fall off my gelding where I broke my wrist I haven't gotten the courage to canter him again. I did after I fell right away but haven't since. My biggest problem is I fell because he dropped his head and shoulder and is still doing that. My mare did it to me the other day and I just sat up and applied leg and made her move forward. But with him I just get nervous. He doesnt lunge and I know I can get on another horse and canter it's just him. Because that's where the confidence problem stems from. I truly know that once I over come the issue of being nervous on him that I'm
Going to excel and not be nervous. I did that with my mare. I didn't ride her for 9 months then one day it clicked and I rode her and we did everything together and I was never nervous riding her again, not even after I fell off her. How can I tell my self that I'll be okay and to work up the courage for the canter or how to stop him from
Dropping his shoulder/neck and going behind the bit?
2 Answers
- ty_rosewoodLv 56 years ago
Take the focus away from cantering for a while - if you know someone, ask another rider to canter him to keep him in practice at his transitions. This will also let you watch him moving. If they're really confident, ask them to canter him bareback. Work with him to suss out why he's dropping his head and shoulder. If I were asked to help solve the problem, I would give his saddle a good once over and make sure it's not pressing on his withers or spine, which may make the extension for canter uncomfortable so he's resisting it, which is why I suggested cantering him bareback. I would also make sure he's not sore in the mouth and generally check the movement in his legs... and then I would look at you on him. Something a lot of people do with the canter transition is they fail to go with the horse properly and ask the horse to canter ... then catch it in the mouth with the bit while still pushing it on, making the canter transition confusing. I would then get into a school with plenty of space, give a loose rein so that even if I pull back by reflex, I won't be able to pull back enough to get the mouth, and ask them to canter on a loose rein without trying to steer them to see if the transition is better. If it was, or improved after a few times, that would tell me I was getting the horse in the mouth during the transition. More horses will, partly by habit and partly by nature, canter around the edge anyway. I would also take it out on hacks and let the horse have a good blow out - cantering takes a lot of effort, especially when they have to canter canter canter canter turn a corner, canter canter, turn a corner, canter canter canter canter, turn - and a good straight-line run outside the school can really rejuvenate a horse and get them in a good mood. So check saddle, check him, make sure he's not sore, and then get someone to watch you.
- 6 years ago
Mabye try and work him from the ground a little bit? Build up a little bit of trust again by doing groundwork. Things like join up and bonding exercise will increase your horses trust, try get someone else to ride him first, see how he behaves for the other person to give you an idea on what he does. Sometimes it's just good to get straight back on and have a go, you will never know unless you try!
