right, we had a pretty good weekend attitude wise from the boy, he wasn't "fighting" me as normal but we still have big problems with him tanking off in his canter. not so bad warming up, but he becomes VERY strong in the test, to the point for all my canter stuff I got comments from the judges about my "unforgiving" contact...

So anyone got some ideas of what I can work on to help soften him in the canter more? His problem is he LOVES cantering and just doesn't want to come back again, thus any walk or trot work after our canters suffer too.

Have been through this with my great gimp (GG) Jaf. Best thing I found to do was train a different aid for the half-halt, as opposed to your downward aid, otherwise you gain the half-halt but lose the actual transition. Mine is actually a hand lift (about an inch) with a vibrate added to it. After we have canter strike off, he gets two short sharp half-halts to sit him correctly on his bum, followed by a release, and the moment he tanks again, he gets one soft half-halt followed swiftly by a really firm one if he ignores it. You teach this vibrating half-halt in walk and trot before canter, and you'd be amazed how good it works. Can get a video of me doing it if you want.

When I first got him our canter resembled a motorbike with the accelerator rammed down with a really hard hold against me (he sets his neck). Now we actually aren't too bad. Have got to the point now where I can do 10meter half circles with ease, and have just started canter H/P. I also did LOTS of trot/canter transitions with him too when I first got him (his not the anticipating type) and this helped strengthen him physically. The longer we cantered for, the flatter/harder in the hand he got, so I cantered 1.5 circles, trotted a circle (or maybe only 4 strides) then back up again.

For me (and probably you) its a long on-going process. If Jaf spazes out, it is his contact which goes first, and our canter reverts back to the motorbike, but really teaching this new aid and enforcing it swiftly at hoem and in the warmup has helped. He starts to 'go' mentally (and you can feel it really clearly) I give two quick half-halts and he focuses back to me 90% of the time... the other 10% involves me getting into safety position and hoping I've worn nappies!

hahahaha at the nappies!

Yes Mac sets his neck and poll and just locks like concrete the bugger. he is a tense boy at the best of times let alone when he decides to lock against me for whatever reason (and there are a few!) I call the tension over the weekend "positive tension" because at least we weren't going head to head, it's just he was being very enthusiastic so try not to punish him tooooooo much LOL.

A lot of the problem of course is me not thinking at the time how to ride him properly thru the attitude and just hanging on and then him just setting against the contact, but once it's set its damn hard to give it away to get him off it because you give him an inch, he takes the mile and we're gone full speed ahead hehehe.

So I will work on that thanks Kerry, sometimes I really wish he was just a dumb old TB who would do as its told when its told LOL.

I'm trying to get the video of the musical at least off the camera (new camera having difficulty figuring it all out LOL) but I can get it automatically onto you-tube so once it's up I'll bring it over here and you'll see the wee pillock in racing speed.

OK video is in the video gallery, I had the settings to private but it's showing OK for me in there so hopefully it's working right

I just watch the vid (Yeah its working ok) and its quite hard to tell from the vid - he didnt appear to be too strong but its always harder on a vid to pick..

Loved the vid BTW too


Tuahiwi - just trying to follow your description - when you refer to half halting in the canter (After the stike off) you are refering to the vibrating one you described? Hmm might try that as My girl tends to get strong in the trot after the canter...

yeah I watch and it think it doesn't show him being as strong as he was either LOL. You can see coming out of the 2nd medium canter him fighting being asked to slow back down and in the first medium canter I have to start asking him to come back (quite visably LOL) even with hubby and the camera, and the yucky canter/trot/canter transitions is him fighting coming out of the canter (damn lucky we got nearly all of the transitions with the music!) The last canter/trot up the centre line was late because he wouldn't stop!

Ok - I have seen the video now!

I actually think he needs to be stronger physically. By memory this is your first season at Elementary with him? Looking at him, I would be doing lots of transitions with him, transitions don't have to be walk/canter, they can be collected trot, working trot, medium trot, with VERY clear distinctions between them - they have to happen straight away, and immediate to the leg aid, and then immediately back again to the hand aid. Whole transitions and half transitions as I call them...

Another exercise to try with Mac is to go medium, say across the diagonal (or on the longside) 3-4 strides of medium, 3-4 collected, 3-4 medium, 3-4 collected. Works really well on repositioning the horses onto their bum, and off their forehand. Remember that the moment he comes back from medium to soften, and then allow him to go forward into his mediums.

I think the vibrating rein aid will help you a lot as you don't get that "lean back and haul" look to get them to slow down - lol! I was the queen of that one.

I would probably be more demanding that he soften to the rein too, you ask him to soften, he pretends to, but doesn't actually give over entirely. Lots of focus on bend and flexion will help with that. Do you do poll flexions before you start your work - another thing that has helped my horse that locks his poll - he gets them when he gets tense too. We stop for a walk, stretch the poll horizontally and vertically, then pick ourselves back up again.

Jody - yes the vibrating rein aid is my half-halt now. So if I say half-halt in any of my posts I mean elbows in, hands lift an inch, and vibrate. You can actually vibrate further and further upwards at home to REALLY get the horse listening, but I would normally find that the horse only needs the reins to go up a couple of inches in order to get the idea!

When I finish my exams I will get a vid of me doing it on Jaf.

cool, thanks Kerry, that's all stuff we do in our lessons (but not enough of at home, I forget to do stuff like that!) and unfortunately we don't get that type of tension at home (and more of a head to head fighting at lessons) so we don't have much chance to work on getting thru that type of tension as he does long and low OK (in fact he even does it OK in our warm ups)

but yes he does need to strengthen up, still getting some "wide behind" comments on our mediums, altho not as often as we did.

and unfortunately when he's like he was in the video he doesn't even PRETEND to soften, he just refuses and sits against me non stop or goes into self carriage and drops the contact.

Right lots of transitions coming up!!!

Yup, its something we are all guilty of - not doing things at home that we have done at lessons coz we think things are 'ok'. Truth be told, things probably aren't ok, we usually don't push ourselves to the same extent our instructors do.

So when it comes to the tension and transitions it doesn't matter if it happens at home or not. All you need to do is correctly develope the neuron (sp?) pathways so that when you are in competition arena, you can over shadow his objections with what he KNOWS from his work at home. And in practice - sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, lol!

aaaah too true, ingrain the habit! Then I can just bash him when he is naughty and doesn't listen LOL