HELP! I'm Afraid To Canter!

Are you afraid to canter?

Most people at some stage of their riding career will go through a period of being too scared to canter.

Mine happened when I was 8 years old and I had my first fall.

It. Was. A. Doozy!

I was riding the old faithful of the riding school and we were doing games. I was cantering down the straight when, (and totally out of character for old faithful, Thomas) he turned into a bronco. He bucked me over his head and I landed on my head and flipped onto my back.

After that, it was a whole year before I cantered again. I remember every lesson being asked if I would canter that lesson and being terrified and sitting it out. Eventually, I worked up the nerve and started cantering again but it took a whole year for me to try.

 My second horse was also particularly good at bucking me off. It got too a point where I was too scared to ride him. We ended up sending him to an old bushy who spent a couple months working with him - but he said he was an absolute gem for him. At the same time, he would take me out on the weekends riding my horse while I rode his old faithful. Again I was terrified. I was so used to my horse bucking going up and down hills and basically any other given opportunity that I was terrified even on his horse.

My game changer?

My mum bought we a stock saddle for my horse. This meant that each time he bucked the wings kept me in the saddle and I was able to stay on, pull his head up. Eventually, I got really good at sitting bucks and pulling horses heads up!! It was a handy skill to develop to become a horse trainer. These days however, I prefer to not let my horses know they can be broncos.

What can go wrong with the canter.

Cold backed

If your horse is cold backed, the first canter few canter transitions is when your horse will buck.

The canter has natural scope and roundedness to it - whereas the movement of the walk and trot is flat and straight.

A horse can warm up hollow and flat in the walk and trot, and when this happens the first canter transition pulls over his topline and can trigger bucking in a cold backed horse. After the first few canters this should settle down and they can transition into canter without bucking.

This can be avoided by making sure the back is well warmed up before the canter and engaging the self carriage muscles correctly.

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Rushing in the canter.

The longer the horse stays in canter the more on the forehand, rushed and unbalanced they get.

This can mean they pick up more and more momentum and it can feel like they are out of control. In this unbalanced, rushing canter it can be hard to pull up or turn the horse.

Often inexperienced riders will hang onto the horses mouth. If you are riding an ex pacer or race horse this actually encourages them to go faster and “take the bolt”.

You can correct this by spending lots of time on getting your horse to think “halt” & “rein back” in the walk from bit contact. Once you are ready to reintroduce the canter, spend time initially riding back to trot as soon as you’re in canter, then extending the canter for short periods before trotting again. Keep testing your brakes and riding back to the trot before the horse picks up too much momentum will help avoid the rushing, and the fear associated with it.

Stumbling.

The roundedness and scope of the canter can make horses more prone to trip and stumble if they are leaning heavily on the bit and not using themselves properly.

This can be improved by only doing short periods of canter, transitions into canter over the pole and making sure your horse isn’t on the forehand and leaning on the bit, especially in half halts and downward transitions.

Final Tip

The more established your seat is in canter the more confident you will be.

So if you are really struggling with your horse in canter a great way to improve your confidence is to go to a riding school and get some private lessons purely focusing on your seat in canter.

Periods of canter without the stirrups, transitions into and out of canter without stirrups and 2 point seat in canter for periods of time will all do wonders for your balance and confidence in canter.