My horse CANTERING?

Question

ok, so when I first got my horse, he always wanted to gallop. Now he does a nice much slower canter. But I would actually prefere it to be a little bit more slower. I also have a had time collecting him. I know about half halts, squezzing with your legs, but holding him back to collect, and etc...but it just doesn't seem to always work with him. I would appreciate your answers alot.

Answer 1

Depending on how slow he's already working at, he may not be able to get any slower with his current muscle tone

Answer 2

First I have a TB so he's very hot, what i don't do is circles..they just make him morse speedy and hyper. Once you get him collected it should be very netural for him to slow down a  bit. First, make sure that you're not too foward up on his back and that your outside leg is slightly behind the girth(and your inside leg) that will give him the foward que. To get him to bring hsi head down(not using his back/haunches yet) make ur outside rein about 1/2-1 inch shorter than your inside rein. then with your inside leg on him and squeezing with your heel...NOT YOUR CALF, jiggle the outside rein(making sure not to break ur wrist and line), while you're also putting pressure on the inside rein and putting that inside hee on him. so jiggle with the outisde rein, while also pressur on the insude heel and rein. Don't release until he puts his head down. at first, it's okay for him to throw it down, becaus ehe doens' tknow how much ur asking him to put down. so any bit of down-ness of his ehad would be great. be sure you release the pressure(not drop ur reins) right away. trhis will be his reward. and if he suddenly put it up right away repeat those 3 things at the same time.

next once you have mastered hiw head set, you will adk him to go round through his back(this means using his haunches and trcking up at the walk/trot) this will also build up his back muscle and make it easier for him to go into frame. remember, never ask your horse to go round at the canter until ua hve first mastered his head set and going round at the walk and trot. the canter is much more difficuklt, i still ahve troubel with it sometimes. now to activate his haunches...simply ask him to puthis head down then put you CALF on him....he may want to put his head up, but if he does..(you may need ot do 8 things at once ...lol)if he does, ask him to put it down while also upsing both calfs...make sur eur going on a striaght line not turning at first while you're asking him to use his haunches. he will get the hang of it pretty soon. Make sure once he does this perfectly around the ring once, you allow him to walk freely with hishead however he wnts it and pet him..scratch him and keep that foward walk. let him relax. rememebr, if ur horse is a bit fast, you dont' want him to ask to do too muchat once because this will get him wither aggrivated or very excited, and all he'll think about is GO GO GO!....rememebre, this may not work with all horses, i found this works best with my 9y/o tb who still thinks he's on the racetrack or in the grand prix at times. Practice makes perfect. i suggest not cantering for a few weeks and only trotting/walking to build up his muscle. cantering in a perfect round-ness takes MUCH muscle mass of the back and hindquarters.

Hope this helps <3

Answer 3

i do lots of circle work when my horse wont collect.  the smaller the circle the slower he has to go. when i get the pace i want i open my circle up or let him go down the longside. if he speeds up and i cant collect him... right back into a circle he goes! obviously not a tight sharp circle that should have a barrel in the middle of lol but a decent size so he can move freely but small enough where he has to sit up and balance and collect himself. hope this helps =)

Answer 4

Let him gallop a bit(if you have a fear of going fast nows the time to get over it) and then when he gets tired sit back A LITTLE and squeeze your leg THEN hand, remember the saying "leg into hand"

Practice and Patience makes perfect

Answer 5

Try breathing and counting with his strides like cound 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 and if his strides get faster than your counting slow him back down with half halts and sitting back in the saddle etc.

Answer 6

Squeeze with your calfs and at the same time gently pull on the reins, when you pull on the reins pull and release, pull and release, until it is the pace you want. HOPE that helps