I am not an experienced rider and my horse is not very experienced as well. When I canter her, she tends to canter very fast and when I try to slow her down it makes her mad. She will throw her head around and her rear bounces around. She is not balanced and is all over the place. What can I do to get her more organized and SLOW down? Should I be pulling the reins in to slow her down?
Slow down the Canter
- Thread starter CareyK
- Start date
can you get a instructer to help you with the horse?
sometimes a unbalanced rider can make a balanced horse become un balanced, and you said you wern't very experianced maybe you are unintentionally throwing your weight in differant places making the horse unbalanced. if the horse is very new to canter i just try to get the horse into the canter then let him/her figure it out for themselves before i really try to collect them. right now tahoe is picking up his leads and cantering fine but if resisting when i try to collect. he understands halfhalts well little halfhalts will slow him down a bit. im not pushing it to much right now though.
is it also possible that you are pulling on the mouth a lot? that may be why she is tossing her head a lot. or perhapes the saddle is hurting her or she is soar in some way.
sometimes a unbalanced rider can make a balanced horse become un balanced, and you said you wern't very experianced maybe you are unintentionally throwing your weight in differant places making the horse unbalanced. if the horse is very new to canter i just try to get the horse into the canter then let him/her figure it out for themselves before i really try to collect them. right now tahoe is picking up his leads and cantering fine but if resisting when i try to collect. he understands halfhalts well little halfhalts will slow him down a bit. im not pushing it to much right now though.
is it also possible that you are pulling on the mouth a lot? that may be why she is tossing her head a lot. or perhapes the saddle is hurting her or she is soar in some way.
Maybe you could try using a martingale so she won't toss her head so much? I use one on Casey now, and he's doing so great now. 
sorry, but I disagree with the martingale bit. It won't solve any problems, just put a pause button on them. Better to find out why. Check the bit, and all her tack, when you ask her to slow down maybe something is causing her pain, which makes her toss her head. But the other thing is the balance. You must get her balanced well in the canter before asking her to do it under saddle. Spend some time longing her, building up more of her muscles, and help her to learn how to balance and even out her canter. You should seek out the assistance of a trainer or instructor, someone who has lots of experience with young horses.
How old is the horse and how long since she was backed and been in regular work?
If you are unbalanced you will be compounding any balance issues your horse has and asking her to slow or collect is putting more pressure on her - she can't physically do it so she fights.
Are you cantering her in a school or out on hacks? If she's doing it on hacks it could well be excitement - my ancient Tb does the same, but it's because she just wants to go!
Like Freedomstar I think lunge work would help and if at all possible you need to look at having some lessons as well.
Keep us posted!
larri
If you are unbalanced you will be compounding any balance issues your horse has and asking her to slow or collect is putting more pressure on her - she can't physically do it so she fights.
Are you cantering her in a school or out on hacks? If she's doing it on hacks it could well be excitement - my ancient Tb does the same, but it's because she just wants to go!
Like Freedomstar I think lunge work would help and if at all possible you need to look at having some lessons as well.
Keep us posted!
larri
I am sorry, no Im not , I am on such a groundwork kick right now!
The best thing you can do for an unbalanced horse is get off their backs and teach them how to be balanced by themselves (without rider) first. That way they begin to feel what correctness is like and seek it out. Then after they've managed that, you can add a rider and incorporate what you both have learned from the ground (you will learn alot about your horse too, just as much as your horse will learn about the exercise). An unbalanced horse is a worried horse, a worried horse is a stiff horse, a still horse is a hurt horse, a hurt horse will end up hating its work. ( I said that before somewhere...) By no means am I a professional but I have read a very good book that pointed these things out to me, which I tried with my horse and all worked better than I could have imagined!
Good luck,
Toots
, I am on such a groundwork kick right now!The best thing you can do for an unbalanced horse is get off their backs and teach them how to be balanced by themselves (without rider) first. That way they begin to feel what correctness is like and seek it out. Then after they've managed that, you can add a rider and incorporate what you both have learned from the ground (you will learn alot about your horse too, just as much as your horse will learn about the exercise). An unbalanced horse is a worried horse, a worried horse is a stiff horse, a still horse is a hurt horse, a hurt horse will end up hating its work. ( I said that before somewhere...) By no means am I a professional but I have read a very good book that pointed these things out to me, which I tried with my horse and all worked better than I could have imagined!
Good luck,
Toots
Pulling the reins will make your horse fight against you. My horse has quite a fast canter but I find keeping my hands at a nice height and a good width apart and squeezing the outside rein steadies her. Another important thing to remember is make sure your sitting up straight!! I used to have a tendancy to lean forwards in a kind of foetal position (basically because i was terrified!!) but that will encourage your horse to go faster.
Also what kind of bit is she on? My horse takes the micky on a normal eggbut snaffle (head down leaning on my hands and full speed ahead ) but works really well with a waterford - tho this is more severe, i must keep hands light on her mouth or it drives her crazy!
Good luck
Kez xx
Also what kind of bit is she on? My horse takes the micky on a normal eggbut snaffle (head down leaning on my hands and full speed ahead
) but works really well with a waterford - tho this is more severe, i must keep hands light on her mouth or it drives her crazy!Good luck
Kez xx
My horse is a 10yr old TB mare. I use a loose ring snaffle on her and know her mouth is not the problem as I just had her teeth worked on a month ago. Her saddle is good and just had it reflocked 2 months ago. I was out on a hack when I asked her to canter and she just wanted to gallop like a race horse. I try to slow her down but it just makes her more wound up. In the arena, she is much easier to handle but still her canter is too fast. I read that lots of transitions can train her to go slower in the canter. Do you agree?
Lots of transitions will keep her attention on you which may help when you ask her to slow down only because she will be looking for the instruction. You say this happened moreso when you were hacking which means that she may have been uneasy rather than just not balanced. If so, then the transitions would keep her focused on you more than the scary stuff.
But, look into the balancing stuff too as most of us suggested. Either way, you cant go wrong exploring that possibility.
But, look into the balancing stuff too as most of us suggested. Either way, you cant go wrong exploring that possibility.
I don't have huge experiences, but when I'm cantering on hack, and the horse is feeling alittle 'energetic', instead of holding them back, I let them go, so they can get all the silliness out.
I usually find that they realise they didn't want to be a racehorse after all, and it's actually quite an effort to be a racehorse!!
Of course, only do this if you feel safe & in control - if she gets too fast and it starts to become dangerous, pull her up.
I usually find that they realise they didn't want to be a racehorse after all, and it's actually quite an effort to be a racehorse!!
Of course, only do this if you feel safe & in control - if she gets too fast and it starts to become dangerous, pull her up.
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