My horse needs to........

Question
I have a 8 y/o Thoroughbred gelding that used to race (he stopped when he was 2, he was not fast enough). I'm now using him for Show Jumping. His problem is when he makes the transition from trot to canter the first 4 or 5 strides are fast a it feels like there "out of control". He is VERY fast reacting to my cues and is very good when it comes to the "go" cue..how can I get him to slow down the first couple of strides when going into the canter???

Answer
Hello Holly
Your horse seems to want to go. Ok you should be using alot of half halting, and latting him know that you are the boss. You may need to consider a more severe bit, or even a martingale to hold his head down a little bit. My horse is the same way. If you are not excercising him enough, this may be the case. You can try trotting ALOT before you ask him for a canter, so then he will be tired out a little bit, so he will not want to go so fast. Let me know how you make out!
Thank you!