frustrated Quarter Horse

Question
HI Solange
I received this horse for free from owners who no longer wanted him.  He is 7 yo QH gelding. He has no training since he was 3. He never lived in a stall so I have in a paddock with a large stall for shelter.  He gets hay 3 times a day. He started cribbing 3 weeks after I got him in June 2006.  I did alot of long lining work with him with few problems. His thing now is he walks and trots beuatifully but sometimes he stops at the canter, backs up and starts to spin.  Ive had him vetted and his teeth have been floated and hes physically fit.  His barn manners are great and he doesnt have a mean bone in him. It seems he has a temper tantrum when we canter, but not all the time.
Any suggestions?

Answer
Hi Lorraine!

You started off with this fellow correctly...treating him like an unbroke baby and starting at the beginning with him.  Good Job!

It sounds like his cantering issue is nothing more than a gap in his education...this can be easily fixed.

Take him back to the longe line and start with the basics he knows...walk - trot.  Get both of your confidence levels up and then work on the canter.  If you can get him to canter on the longe line on voice commands (with WHOA! being very important) and also get him to rate at the canter, well, that would be a first step in the right direction.

Continue working the canter on the longe line and do not ask for it under saddle until both of you are really ready.  And then he should only canter the straight sides and trot the turns of your arena.  Just lke a baby...don't ask for too much too soon!  It gets them all bent out of shape!  Ask for just enough to get him to do it properly, praise him and then you say it is time to stop, before he does.

Be happy with small progress and build on it.  This way the training will stick and you won't have to keep sending him back to "school".

Good Luck and remember to always wear an ASTM/SEI approved helmet!

Solange