Top Tips Please!

Retty

Retty

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Jan 26, 2003
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Hi,

Just wanted to ask you guys for some top tips on cantering. I am still on the lunge when cantering as I have a problem letting go of the saddle and when I do it's only for a few seconds. I thought that I would have been able to take my hands off for longer but seem to be stuck at this point! I have made a kind of handle by putting a flash through the D rings at the front of the saddle. I can sit to the canter when I am holding onto the saddle with one hand but I lose my seat when i let go with both hands. My stirrups are very long so that I would sit into the saddle. Do ou think I should move them up a bit? Also can anyone explain how to hold onto the saddle with the thighs? Or do you need to grips with knees? Am a bit confused as being told loads of different things but am still coming out of the saddle! Can anyone explain how they sit with the canter, what muscles you are using in your legs etc.
Many many thanks! I sooo want to be able to take hands off and steer!
Retty :)
 
Hi there i am no canter expert by any means, i have had problems with balance in canter, you are lucky to have been able to practice on the lunge, i have had to learn without, to me it sounds as if you are doing what i was doing, you could be trying to grip too much, which will make it worse, you will bounce which will make you feel unsafe, more importantly you need to relax this is the true secret, sounds nuts relax in canter i thought was impossible but i can now do it,

i posted a very simular question to yours and i was told so many times to relax, relax and breath, the more i concentrated on this relaxing and the upper body you feel so secure, my seat felt safer and the canter has become easier.

i try to concentrate on my upper body going with the movement, from the hip/pelvis area rather than thinking that my legs will keep me safe , sounds strange but forget them if you can, it does that make sense ?

Have you tried just placing one hand firmly on your handle, with the other one a wee bit looser, then work on moving your hand that is loose futher away, and then when you can do this with ease slowly release the grip on the handle until it is a light touch, and then in time i am sure you will feel secure once you have the upper body thing and one day you will do it without holding on.

I know it is hard because you are leaving the comfort zone but you can do and you will do itm try to push yourself just over the comfort zone each time and you will be fine, trust me.

I used to freeze when it was my turn to canter in lessons, and i would get tense and it all went wrong from there, after just two private lessons i was actually smiling in canter too ~ ha ha

you will do it keep us posted please.
 
Thanks Debbie

I am really pleased that u answered my post as I have read some of ** threads and know that it will be fresh in ** mind as to the problems that I am experiencing now. Can I ask u, if u learnt off the lunge then did u hold onto the saddle? If so how did u cope with not being able to steer? Did u have a small area to work in? The thing is my friend who is helping me and lunging me had a go at pretending to be me and I lunged her and she had to just sit and not steer and she said it was really hard! She said that it would in some ways be easier off the lunge but I am worried that if I am holding onto the saddle how will I steer and more importantly stop! I only hold on with one hand but when I let go I bounce all over the place. Today Promise did a massive buck and I ended up around her neck! I did get angry tho' and asked her to canter again and it was ok that time. I will attach a couple of pics, one is me sitting and holding with one hand and looks ok, the other is what happens when I let go... ekk.. all goes wrong!
 
The Ok One Holding On

This pic is where I am holding on with one hand and is, I think not too bad...
 

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Hi, From seeing your pics I'd say your main problems are your stirrups are way to long as your learning to canter, length can come with experience. When I started riding I used to ride like a jockey but at least it kept me on, but it doesn't matter cause I now ride with them so long my feet sometimes slip out without me noticing cause there more there for show than to stay on. If you lie your leg down the saddle flap and put your stirrups up till there just above your ankle, give or take. They'll probably feel really short but it'll be much easier. You then need to put your legs so there underneath you and your sitting back and kinda pushing against the irons. Don't grip at all with your knees and with your calfs, instead of gipping try to just keep a feel so their wrapping aroung the horse but giving and not holding you in place.Keep a nice short rein contact. Wot is the horse like you ride? If it is really bouncy would it be possible to get a more comfortable ride? I think you might be concentarting to much so you are panicking your self. Instead of holding on to the saddle try a neck strap as it will put your hands more in the proper place. Once your used to the feeling of your shorter stirrups and feel secure put one hand on the neck strap. You need to stay nice and relaxed + look UP!! Your looking down which is putting you off balance. Get your instructor to put your horse into canter so all you have to do it sit there. But you still muct be relaxed and looking up. To relax yourself think about something completley different. Forget your even riding. I often do this not always on purpose. Or Sing(doesn't have to be out load just 2 yourself)!!:eek: I sing all the time when riding especially when I'm nervous or competeing cause it completley takes your off things. Cause you usully get the song wrong cause your boucing around so you think more about the song...Right so you've got your nice new shorter secure seat, your neck starp done up so it's half way round the neck and your one hand on that and your trotting round singing away and get your instructor to put your horse into canter and don't even think about. Singing also makes you breath!! Thats why I do it cause when I SJ I hold my breath not on purpose I don't think and so many times I've finished my round and past out (which is very painful from a horse or thrown up (not pretty and rather embarrising)but anyway.......The next thing you know you'll be cantering, piece of cake!! So just shorten your stirrups, relax, hold on to a neck strap with one hand if anything at all, relax, sing, relaxe, breath and have fun. It'll come eventuallly. You postition is really nice you just need to stop trying so hard and relax. Good Luck!!!!!!!!!:D
 
Thanks Velvet

Hi, Thanks 4 ** reply, I will try these things tommorrow, the horse is mine, I love her to bits and would not ride another horse as when I have ridden other horses I have had accidents! My horse (Promise) can be naughty on occasions but I know her v well and can often tell what mood she is in etc so I feel happier riding her. She did do a big buck today but I think it was because she is in season (yes unusual time of the year I know!). My friend who helps me is an experienced rider and she has ridden Promise and said she is wonderful to canter on but harder to canter on the lunge than off as she falls out of canter. It was a real eye opener for my friend as to understand how I was feeling and what it felt like to just sit there with no reins and pretend to be a beginner we swapped places and I lunged her! She is a great help to me as I cannot afford lessons, the only problem is she concentrates on keeping Promise going and out on a circle so it's difficult to watch me all the time aswell (hence my daughter has been taking pics so we can see where I'm going wrong!). I will let you know what happens when I try your top tips tommorrow. Thanks:)
 

Would you be able to try it without the reins on? That way when you do try to take your hands off the saddle you will not be pulling on her mouth and interrupting her movement - which will make trying to sit to the canter that much harder. Also if the reins aren't there you will most likely not be anxious about what you are doing with them so you can then concentrate on your position more.
 
Not sure if this will work or not but I learned to canter in two-point. That way I wasn't jarring myself or the horse by smacking into his back. Once I got the feel of the movement, then I moved on to sitting it. I found this really easy b/c it allowed me to concentrate on what the canter felt like before I had to synchronize my movements with his.
Just a thought....
 
if you're trying to 'hang on to the saddle with your thighs or knees' then you are going to find it hard. the trick is not to 'hang on' but to make the same movements with your hips as the horse's back is making. you mirror the horse's movement, and then you only need to do minimal hanging on. think of sitting (or even leaning) back, and as the horse moves underneath you, moving your hips up and forwards to go with the movement.
think about what movement your hips and pelvis make in walk - it's similar to that. in sitting trot as well, it's an active movement of your lower back and pelvis that makes it look as if you are sitting still on top of the horse.
if you tip forward, then the lower back hollows and it's hard to move with the horse - leaning back a bit rounds the lower back and frees the hips to come up and forwards.
 
Retty

The stirrups may look longer than they are as you look like you are pulling up a little with your legs.

IMHO it looks as if you are tightening up in your hip joints - probably trying to stay on :D

This will give you some tightness in your back/hips, and prevent you from relaxing down with your legs. You could shorten up the stirrups to help with this, or work on relaxing hips and the legs will come down a bit with that.

Cantering on the lunge can be quite tough because the circle is quite tight at that speed. If you have an arena to work in, see if your friend can 'walk' the circle a little bigger when you canter.

I would echo the suggestion to work without reins. It can be a bit confusing to have both lunger and rider giving instructions !

Imagine you have a weeks grocery shopping hung on the bottom of each foot. I would propose you focus on getting relaxed in your hips and where your legs just wrap around the horse before you worry too much about taking your hands off.

If you want to try off the lunge, a one hand hold will work. Normally better to set an outside rein length and hold on with that hand, then use inside hand for turning etc.

One good exercise (if you are feeling brave) is to try and lift your legs away a fraction from the side of the horse. Then you will really feel the movement and support through your hips and seatbones. Only do it for a little while, as its pretty tough to do.

If you imagine sitting on a rocking horse (or even on a swing ?), your hips need to rock a little like that. (But canter is not quite straight back and forward, so your inside hip will lead a little).
 
I'm not the most experienced one to be answering you by far, but it looks to me from the pictures that you're squeezing with your knees and thighs, which just lifts you OUT of the saddle instead of letting you sink down into it and go with the movement. I was taught to "wrap" my lower legs around the horse, which automatically opens your hip angle and keeps your knees from pinching in. It was scary the first time I actually made myself do this while cantering, but then I realized that it actually made me much more secure!

Also, if the horse is not in balance while on the lunge, his canter will be jarring and very hard to find a rhythm to. In this case, it may be easier to learn it off the lunge. Good luck!
 
It may appear odd, but the thing which helped me most with cantoring was doing sitting trot!!!

Can you do sitting trot, without stirups or reins, on the lunge line?

The goal when cantoring, is to not really hang on at all! Instead to move with the horse so you simply stay in balance. You need to be relaxed, but NOT floppy.

The thing which helped me most was to concentrate on allowing my hips to open and close angle with the cantor so my upper body stays straight upright at all times. Other people swear by also flexing your lower back in time with the movement, but in my case this just caused backach:) (I suspect it works well when you can already do an ok cantor).

Have fun
Mark
 
retty

In answer to your questions, firstly i would be too scared to be lunge, i am having problems with cantering in circles which many people will tell you is hard.

I learnt to canter by myself in a manage, with an instructor yelling at me to relax sit back relax and smile * that always made me laugh * so i relaxed that has to be the key to cantering relaxing !!

I used to practice at work in my chair by getting my hips so shift foward and back ( yes i did get many a weird look ) like a swaying movement, this helped me to get some rhytham and because you are sitting on achair your legs are relaxed, i do hope this helps you.

I hoped while i was cantering that the horse would have sense and he did to work the school other than crashing into the side, okay so i did not stay on track but it ceratinly helped me, that is why i am having problems with 20 metre circles in canter, i am learnign to steer ~ ha ha

I have only held on to the front of the saddle for brief moments to get my balance, i think you are so brave being lunged, so try not to be so hard on yourself and yes shortening your strrups is worth a try, mine are short at the moment and when i am more comfortable i will let them go longer.

You are clearing bouncing because your tense, i used to think people were nuts when they said relax in canter " yeah right easy for you to say" but it has helped me enormously and it will you too.

Let us know how you get on Good luck,

usful canter chant " Relax, relax big breath, smile, relax and breath !!! Relax," keep concentrating on this you will soon forgot about what your hands are doing !!
 
To be honest holding onto the pomel with one hand became a bad habit for me, at 1st it was ok, but it became habit. Anyway, the best advise I had was to look too the horizon when cantering which made me keep my head up and back straight, it stopped me looking down and tipping forward, helping me to relax lower back. Having total trust in horse too was another big pluss. Another of myfaults was lifting my hands while cantering {oddly I did not realise I was doing this:eek: }
Good luck
:)
 
Thanks

Hi,
Thank you all for your top tips, unfortunately I didn't get to ride today but I will certainly try some of your ideas tommorrow. I will let you know how it all goes. :)
 
Just a thought - when it comes time to losing the comfort of having your hand on the saddle, do you look down? That can throw your balance off, causing you to tense up and a lot of people who do it don't even realise they're doing it:)
 
Retty I am having just the same problems! After a couple of lessons trying to canter on the lunge this is my advice (for what it's worth!). The first time I held on to the saddle and I think it made it far worse - I was bouncing all over the place and scared to death. This week I tried again - I was very nervous but did lots of work in sitting trot and really relaxed in that by chatting and having a laugh with my instructor and not really thinking about riding! Then I asked her when we went on to cantering to do it in short bits so I didn't have to worry about going round and round. That helped and I didn't hold the saddle which I think kept me slightly more upright. I didn't do alot of cantering at all but for the first time I realised it's a hell of a lot more comfortable than the trot and that alone was a break through (even if it was just for a few seconds!).
Good luck.
 
Hi Retty, Are you confident in walk & trot off the lunge..??
If so try riding without stirrups for a while trying to get your legs as long as they will go (imagine having heavy boots on).
Ride serpentines & figure 8's as well as circles on each rein.
When you put your feet back in stirrups you should feel more secure.

Then try a canter off the lunge along a straight side of the school,
lean back slightly take a deep breath and exhale slowly. Just do a stride or two to start then back to trot...then do it again.

It is scarey the first few times, but when you master it it's very easy.
I've ridden for years & have never cantered on the lunge, to be honest I find the thought of it terrifying
:( .

It sounds daft but singing does help, I do it too when I'm competing :)

Keep us posted XXXX
 
Have you tried holding onto the back of the saddle with one hand????I know this may sound strange but it will help you sit back.It looks as if holding onto the front is making you tip forwards which is making you bounce and then tense up which is making the matter worse.
As you are practicing on a lunge knot your reins in front hold on to the front with the hand inside to the the person lunging and then hold onto the back with the other .when you canter it may feel strange at first alomost as if you are leaning back when in fact you will be more upright.You should find it easier to push you weight down into your heels.When you feel ok try and let go slightly with the back hand and eventually bring it down to your side.If you dont like this idea ....Have you got a martingale strap or a strap round the horses neck you can hold onto?try and hang onto this instead of the saddle.even if you progress from the saddle to the neck strap,if it keeps you hand down and still it will stop you pulling on the reins.I find a neck strap is easier to use as you are nearly using your hands in the correct position so when you let go it doesnt seem so different.The front of the saddle has a different feel to what your hands feel like when cantering not holding on you probably panic which is why your hands shoot up and you tense up.
If you think your stirrups are too long do an easy check by slipping your feet out.The bottom of the stirrup should rest at your ankle bone and to put them in you shouldnt have to move your leg just the angle of your foot so your toes are in with your heel down.You may find you prefer them slightly shorter or longer when you get used to cantering etc.
I would practice lots of sitting trot without stirrups then move into canter as you will find canter much easier if you have been doing lots of trotting first.let us know how you get on.
do you get to ride any other horses???as well as promise as a change might help?All horses canters are different and another horses might be easier for you to get the hang of then you can move back to promise?I only say this as there was a horse that I found impossible to canter he used to bounce me all over but some people thought it lovely!:D
 
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