Question
Erica and Flicka
I have a 6 year old Swedish Warmblood mare that I rescued a year ago. I found out after I got her that she was pregnant so it set us back. Unfortunately, her baby passed away. On the plus side, it allowed me to start training her under saddle. She is great walk trot. I have her in a collected headset and she listens very well. Now I am starting to canter her. This is where I've run into problems. She knows the cue, but I can't get her to go into it from a walk! Then once I get her into it, she is great. My big problem is after I canter, she does NOT want to walk. She tries jigging and trotting. I try to be easy on her mouth. She throws her head up even if I try just half halts. I just have trouble getting her into the canter, then getting her to do a relaxed walk after cantering. Do you have any advice?
AnswerHi Erica,
So glad you rescued a horse. I think more people should do that. There are tons of horses out there who need homes to go to. Thank you for doing that. You sound like your on the right track with her training. From what I read, she doesn't know how to transition from a walk to a canter and then once cantering she doesn't know how to get back into the walk. Well, first off, warmbloods are a little "hot" to start with and you have to work a little extra hard to teach them to slow down once you get them going. But it can be done. First lets tackle the walk to a canter problem.
You might try this. First determine which lead you wish to be on. Lets just say you want to take the left lead. This is where the mechanics of a horses gait comes in. To canter in a left lead the right hind foot needs to push off and the left front shoulder needs to lift and step. This puts the horse on a left lead. So....take your left hand and pull out to the left. Not alot. Just lift it up and out just a little. At the same time, move your right foot back behind the rear cinch and cue the horse with your heel. Don't punch the horse, just give a little nudge. This will cause the right hind to push off and lift the left shoulder. Hopefully the horse will go directly into a canter. If not she will go into a trot on the left lead. If she goes into a trot and is on the correct lead, just lean back and give her a quick slap on her right rump. Don't try to hurt her, just get her attention. Some young horse will try to crow-hop at that point. Ignore it and do it again. I have found this to work with every horse I have had this problem with. Be prepared that when you slap her on the rump she may jolt forward a little. But if your ready for it, it shouldn't be a problem.
To train her to stop and not jig after the canter you can try this.
Start at a walk. Walk your horse for about 5 strides and one rein stop her. Don't worry about head sets at this time. We are working on controlling her feet here. After she one rein stops consistently at a walk, do the same at a posting trot. Post trot with her for about 5 strides. Then sit and then do a one rein stop. I find it helpful to my students if when they sit to say out loud...."sit...sit....sit". As the stops get better you can increase the distance between stops. So the sequence is......trot for 5 strides.....sit sit sit.....one rein stop. When she gets very good at that move up to the canter and do the same thing.
Another method I find works is using the rail to teach a stop. Always start these exercises at a walk....then a trot and then a canter. Never move to the canter until the trot is very good.
Post-trot down the rail for 5-6 strides......sit...sit...sit and then slide your hand down the outside rein and pull her head towards the rail until she stops and relaxes. Very important to have both. Stop moving her feet AND relaxes. Increase your distance as she improves. When she is working good at a trot....move on to a canter. She will soon discover speeding and bolting is too much work and would much rather just do as you ask.
I hope this has helped you. Please stay safe. If you have any other questions or need more info please feel free to contact me again or you can e-mail me at my facility. Yazoo Equine Training. The e-mail is blpdoc82652@yahoo.com
Let me know how it is going please. I like to follow up on the training. Thank you again.
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