Correct Canter Lead

[raymond]

Hello, bit of background to help you get the picture re raymond's problems with canter leads. Ray is now a 7 year old skewbald gelding, who I have had for nearly 2 and a half years now.
He was originally broken to drive - and so struggled with canter full stop. It has taken over 12 months to convince him he can canter in anything other than a straight line. His left canter is getting there - finally forward - and in our last lesson nearly round and quite bouncy as well! His right canter is way way behind. He never picks up the correct lead, but will often change after 2 to 3 strides generally after a large buck which he seems to use to sort his feet out. He gets v stressed about it and tense, even on hacks he will strike off on left lead. When jumping though is not a problem and will happily flying change as we go round if needed. He has had back, teeth, tack you name it checked, been up to equine hospital in York for more checks that you can imagine - so nothing physical is wrong with him. Any ideas that may help?

[Maes Seren]

Have you got side reins/preferably a pessoa?
Id say he needs lunging in a pessoa, gradually, starting with a 5min lunge at a walk, building up to using about 20mins in all 3 paces.

When asking when riding, over emphasise everything, take your time. Raise the inside hand (to help with inside flexion), sit deep, move your inside hip back, outside hip forwards, outside leg back and give a little squeeze with the inside leg. I'd also stick him on a 15m circle.

Hows his trot work on that rein? Hows the muscle development going on both sides?

When you ask for canter, steady his trot up so its almost at a walk, but only when his trot is really relaxed. If he tries to rush, bring him back, and give him a little scratch on the neck, reassure him that the transition wont kill him.

[kateflashy]

i have the opposite problem i cant get flash to do counter canter she's ok if it like 2 or 3 stride changes but in a test a while back they wanted a half circle as soon as i got it she'd do a flying change back again

[duckles]

I see your horse has been well checked out! I usually think back problems etc cause wrong leads but obviously not here. Are you also ok? A lot of people (especially riders who fall etc) have a rotated or out of line pelvis. I had myself and it can cause some difficulties with horses sensitive to weight. To be honest, I don';t suppose you have these problems but am just throwing them in as i am sure you are going to get excellent advice on dealing with this and just thought i would put an alternative view. Where I used to ride, the acccepted way of dealing with wrong leads was to put a pole accross at the corner of the arena and then ask for canter- usually worked

[brigadier]

Hi Raymond
He sounds lovely

First question do you use diagonal or lateral aids for canter? The reason i ask is that some people prefer diagonal aids and if you are tending towards classical riding which Im assuming you are as you are doing dressage. however if you use lateral aids I will do an answer for both.

I do think from your description that he is trying to sort out his legs- the buck tends to confirm it- its frustration that results in the buck, and although you need to tell him the buck is wrong you must do it in such a way as to not cause him more anxiety.
The fact that he was a 'trotter' means that physically he will find canter challenging as his muscles have developed diagonally and they can get locked into the diagional movement especially if it is well developed- trot is also the most effecient pace so its no wonder they find anything else tricky when it has been developed for carriage work.

So the solution.............try duckles suggestion in placing a pole in the corner of the school- its an easy win solution and it may work, but if not.......

Forget about trot to canter transitions, do walk to canter. When he goes on the wrong lead- does he appear to stick his outside shoulder out some way just before the strike off? If so you need to keep him as straight as possible and use the outside hand to control the shoulder- think about not letting the shoulder escape and just sit there controlling that shoulder- if this is what is happening this may be enough for him to juggle his legs and get the correct lead.

Lateral aids- Sit really tall and light, Keep your hips in line with those of the horse ie, inside hip slightly forward, outside hip slightly back, Keep your shoulders in line also ie inside shoulder slightly back, walk on a 15m circle and simply allow with the inside hand, control the shoulder with the outside hand, dont ask for flexion as you will have that on the circle and squeeze with the inside leg, tapping with the whip to re-inforce if necessary, support with the outside leg which due to the position of your hips will be in the correct place. now.....keep the position with your bum light whilst the horse finds canter-use voice aids if necessary but otherwise dont move a muscle-just sit there and wait until your horse gives you the canter. Praise if its correct and do a couple of circles, then walk- give him along rein and praise then repeat.

Diagonal Aids- Again from walk

- Same position, inside hip forwards, inside shoulder back, Control with the outside hand, allow with the inside but again dont ask for flexion, the circle will give you that. Sit upright and light and allow your inside leg to maintain the bend on the girth, then simply sweep your outside leg back a little to give the aid, or tap with your leg, whichever you prefer, then sit and wait for the horse to give you the strike off, keep that outside shoulder(horse) controlled with your outside hand and tap with the whip if necessary behind your outside leg until the horse gives you the pace.

In both instances if he only trots at least he has tried, if he ignores the aid then you need to be positive with the whip but you must never chase the canter with your body as you will throw him onto the forehand and he will revert to what he has always done ie wrong strike off. Be patient, positve and kind, the real trick is to control the outside shoulder and once he realises what you are doing then he will give you it- he sounds really genuine so its worth the effort.

good luck
Brig (sorry about typing errors got numb fingers today!)
,

[arumanii]

Excellent idea with the pole (am gonna go try that now!) I'd never thought of using it that way even though I've taught horses to canter using the pole! Sometimes the simplest things are the best! Gr8 advice guys!

[maximum]

cannot possibly add to brigs fantastic reply!!

never been a fan of lateral aids- the diagonal aids just make more sense!! you want the horse to strike off with the outside hind so it makes sense to use the outside leg to ask for the transition!

[salexis]

what a fantastic answer from Brig. My trotter mare has exactly the same problem - well except for her its left canter!

My instructor says if she strikes off wrong, calmly bring her back to trot and ask again. Because she shoots off into canter on that rein I have a tendancy to hold on a bit to the rein, so she had me ask for canter, as she struck off wrong, bring her back to trot and give her her head and ask again, funnily enough she managed to sort her own legs out and struck off on the correct lead!

Another thing we tried was keeping my inside leg right on her inside shoulder, slightly nudging it, then ask for canter with my outside leg - that worked too.

Because she gets so worked up on that left rein when she knows you want to canter, she is like a banana bent the wrong way with her head in the air. Because of this when schooling her I always do the first canter on her awful left rein as she is more relaxed and not anticipating it. When she is worked up there is nothing doing, she will tie her legs up in knots rather than give left rein canter.

She is so bad becuase of when she was trotting in a cart, she had a very sore stiff back and hind leg which has taken a year to come completely right and build up even muscle. Our Bowen therapist reckons the left rein canter avoidance is now psychological rather than because of pain or stiffness - still doesn't make it easy to get that correct canter lead!

Try leg yielding and shoulder fore on the circle to improve bend.

I'm not an expert just letting you know what my instructor has us do to improve it. You will get there, we are much better now. During my lessons I get left canter most times, its when I'm on my own we're not as good!

Good luck, and let us know how you get on.

[racaille]

Hey, this should be in FAQs - it's a topic that will crop up again and again!
It's certainly one that exercises me - Paco is a beast about left lead. In his case it is sheer laziness! He can do it perfectly well but chooses not to a lot of the time and I fear that by making a thing about it I have now taught him that there is an issue so he gets het up.
Thanks Brig for lovely clear instructions - it's good to be reminded to soften my hands. He does do better in walk/canter transitions as he rushes otherwise. I deffo will try the pole, and it's an interesting theory to try the 'difficult' lead first. It may wake him up, so that's another exciting idea.
Thanks guys. ;D

[raymond]

Thank you all for helpful advice, I am planning a schooling session on Friday so I am going to put these ideas into practice and will let you know how I get on.

We have come so far and I can't wait till this issue is sorted - although I of course appreciate like everything else with Ray it is likely to come on slowly!!

[maximum]

racaille is correct so am stealing this my bit!!!

[racaille]

Well blow me down, ladies, you're all geniuses! Put it all into practice today and it worked a treat! Had a flatwork lesson and did a million transitions and caramba, he was brilliant! Not a hoof out of line!
In the warmup he was pratting around a bit, so I thought OK mate let's do left canter first and that'll teach you .... and it did. I thought carefully about my aids and tried softer hands with the inner one raised slightly and .. eh voila! Every time!!!!!!
And here's another thing: something felt better too, he was trying to get his back end under him more and the bonus was that my own back was softer and the transitions miles better on my part, could really sit through his choppy downward trot.
So cheers, m'dears, I'm off to raise a glass (or three) or rosé to you all!

[raymond]

excellent Racaille - that's brill. Well I am ashamed to say I have abandoned my schooling session for today and am off hacking instead. I have a lesson though tomorrow so will let you know how I get on!

[brigadier]

Hey Racaille thats brilliant- well done, enjoy the wine, got a rather nice Zinfandel at the side of me as i type!
brig