Hello

Question
Hello
    My name is amie and i am 16. I am having a problem with my english riding. I do have my own horse. My level of riding is Intermediate. and i do have my own instructor.
I have a lesson once a week on my horse. We get on with everything else fine. But everything goes wrong when it comes to cantering. I can canter ok going large around the school but when it comes to cantering 20meter circles it failts. My horse will stop half way round the circle in canter and wll go back to a trot. If i smack her with the whip she will throw a huge buck.
My main problem is i just cant seem to canter 20meter circles and i am really struggling with it. Please can you tell me how i cn improve this.

Thankyou for your help.

Answer
Hi,
If you are adding a lot of leg pressure and urging her forward, but she still breaks the canter, then this could be a balance problem.  If your horse isn't balanced, it is extremely hard for her to canter in a 20m circle.  The best thing to do is work on exercises.  Try longing her and work on the canter, so she doesn't have to deal with your added weight.  Work a lot on transitions.  Only when she can easily canter a 20m circle on the lunge line should you try it on her back. You can also try looking at these sites and seeing if these tips work for you:
http://www.horsejunction.co.za/qa/default.asp?CAT=Training&STAT=OFF&ID=722
http://www.todayshorse.com/Experts/LynnMcEnespy/AskLynn121101-3.html
Good luck, and I hope these tips help.
Anne