Any advice on sitting better in the canter?

Ell

New Member
Nov 16, 2016
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Hi,
I have been cantering for a couple of months now but I'm still really finding it hard to sit well in the canter, any advice on how to sit in it better?
I have had advice to sing 'Nellie the elephant' to myself out-loud as it has the same rhythm and will make sure I'm breathing properly and not holding my breath - which could lead to tension and becoming bouncy in the saddle.
 
Hi,
It just takes practice really!! Shoulders back, sit tall, keep your heels down and don't grip with your knees, smile :)
 
There is a mantra to keep you heels down. In my experience all wrong. Pushing down on your heels will stiffen your legs and raise you from the saddle.

If you are worried about getting your foot caught in the stirrups in canter as your foot slips further into the stirrup, do what I did and buy some safety stirrups and then forget your feet - relax completely. That will stop you bumping in the saddle. Breath deeply and think the three time rhythm but dont sing - you need you mind to concentrate on the riding - steering the horse and making it go faster or slower.

One learns to canter the same way as one learns to swim or ride a bike. By dong lots of it, till your body gets the hang of it. One RI said to me One doesnt learn to canter by not cantering. If you are in a group lesson or if canter is left till the end of the lesson when you are tired then it can take a long time to learn canter.

However, are you on the right horse? Not all horses canter smoothly. Usually one learns canter on RS horses with a very smooth canter but some horses have a bumpy canter -Even experienced riders dont like sitting the canter of my current favourite.
 
You could try relaxing your lower back and letting your hips and pelvis move with the horse, independently of your back. Ask the advice of your RI first if you have back problems though.

As others say, the best thing is practice!
 
A few years ago I attended a demonstration which helped me understand canter much better, but it involved us physically prancing about. It is hard to describe in words, but the key is to remember that it is an upward forward movement, so sit into it rather than trying to ride over it. Hope that makes some sense.
 
There is a mantra on having heels down because it is important and one of the first things you learn - If you don't have some weight in your heels, you will end up gripping with your knees and your legs will ride up and end up throwing you off balance/tipping you forward while pushing the horse on faster. But yes you don't want to stick heels down with such force youre pushing your leg forward. Talk to your instructor and find out what you are doing when you canter (some people lean too far forward, some too far back, etc so it can be hard for us to give advice) but yea if you imagine its like a rocking horse so you want to try go with the movement, let your hips and pelvis go with the movement, kind of like youre massaging the saddle without pushing the horse on with your seat....but practice on the horse as much as you can! Agree that you should do it early in your lesson not at the end when you're tired as you're using new muscles so you need them to be open to it! :)
Cantering is fun though, hope you are enjoying learning!
 
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