May be no one will answer. But I am starting this new thread so as not to high jack KPnut's discussion about "training" another parent's pony.
I am not a trainer. I like hacking and my fav hack retired at Christmas since when it has been hard to find a replacement and the best yet is a largish pony which looks much like the Highland ridden by the Queen. She is safe, sweet and so compliant that I sometimes wonder whether she has a mind of her own, she is so entirely at my beck and call.
My first request to canter on each hack so far has been a failure. I have had one small buck but most of the time, as KP describes, when asked to go forward she trots faster and faster with her head up high.
It seems that this pony isn't simply a beginners pony, but a beginners on the lead rein pony. She is not used to receiving direction from her back. Plus she is not that used to much canter as the beginners don't usually canter.
Like KP nut, I have tried to ride her at my very best but found that, if I cue her to transition up to canter as I do the dressage horse in the school, the pony interprets my asking for energy in the trot as a request to trot faster.
I have not tried running her faster and faster to see if she will canter. I have seen Michael Peace work with someone in a school, asking them just to run a horse into canter, trotting faster and faster and leaving the transition to the horse. And it was what Mark Rashid had me do (against my inclination) when I rode one of his Western horses in the States. But it isnt something that is easy to do out hacking - because on any straight stretch we will eventually reach a point on the track where the pony knows most people canter.
This pony is accustomed to transitioning up and down by following just behind another horse ridden by an RI or, when exercised by staff, she is probably cantering only at certain places on the track. Unless we are at one of those regular canter locations, the idea of canter doesn't enter her mind.
Of course I have to calm the very fast trot but I found weighting my seat and slowing my rising wasnt enough - I had to half halt far more firmly than I am used to and give her a right tug with my right hand before she slowed. I then rode masses of walk trot transitions, both heading out on the hack and heading home. I found the upward much easier to get accurate. These beginner horses are not used to being ridden accurately into downward transitions.
My most successful asks for canter have been after only a few steps of trot. Or when I have delayed canter. I have asked for canter by relaxing my hands, sitting back and saying Canter and giving her quite biff on her sides with both my legs.
I dont like biffing her to get canter and tugging her with one rein to steady the trot.
But if you KP can get canter from this pony you are training without visible and decisive pulls and kicks, please give me some advice.
Unlike you, I dont have to change this pony, school her or even ride her. But (I imagine) like you, I am riding someone else's pony and she is still being used to teach lead rein lessons. Opinion is divided as to whether I should be teaching her my ways at all. But I think it worth considering that Rashid's minimal cues are probably more similar than most RI adult riding to what a small child is able to deliver.
I am not a trainer. I like hacking and my fav hack retired at Christmas since when it has been hard to find a replacement and the best yet is a largish pony which looks much like the Highland ridden by the Queen. She is safe, sweet and so compliant that I sometimes wonder whether she has a mind of her own, she is so entirely at my beck and call.
My first request to canter on each hack so far has been a failure. I have had one small buck but most of the time, as KP describes, when asked to go forward she trots faster and faster with her head up high.
It seems that this pony isn't simply a beginners pony, but a beginners on the lead rein pony. She is not used to receiving direction from her back. Plus she is not that used to much canter as the beginners don't usually canter.
Like KP nut, I have tried to ride her at my very best but found that, if I cue her to transition up to canter as I do the dressage horse in the school, the pony interprets my asking for energy in the trot as a request to trot faster.
I have not tried running her faster and faster to see if she will canter. I have seen Michael Peace work with someone in a school, asking them just to run a horse into canter, trotting faster and faster and leaving the transition to the horse. And it was what Mark Rashid had me do (against my inclination) when I rode one of his Western horses in the States. But it isnt something that is easy to do out hacking - because on any straight stretch we will eventually reach a point on the track where the pony knows most people canter.
This pony is accustomed to transitioning up and down by following just behind another horse ridden by an RI or, when exercised by staff, she is probably cantering only at certain places on the track. Unless we are at one of those regular canter locations, the idea of canter doesn't enter her mind.
Of course I have to calm the very fast trot but I found weighting my seat and slowing my rising wasnt enough - I had to half halt far more firmly than I am used to and give her a right tug with my right hand before she slowed. I then rode masses of walk trot transitions, both heading out on the hack and heading home. I found the upward much easier to get accurate. These beginner horses are not used to being ridden accurately into downward transitions.
My most successful asks for canter have been after only a few steps of trot. Or when I have delayed canter. I have asked for canter by relaxing my hands, sitting back and saying Canter and giving her quite biff on her sides with both my legs.
I dont like biffing her to get canter and tugging her with one rein to steady the trot.
But if you KP can get canter from this pony you are training without visible and decisive pulls and kicks, please give me some advice.
Unlike you, I dont have to change this pony, school her or even ride her. But (I imagine) like you, I am riding someone else's pony and she is still being used to teach lead rein lessons. Opinion is divided as to whether I should be teaching her my ways at all. But I think it worth considering that Rashid's minimal cues are probably more similar than most RI adult riding to what a small child is able to deliver.