Running into the canter....

[Watson]

My horse, who is relatively green at the canter, will take really fast trot steps before he picks up the canter when I give the canter aid, almost as if he has to fall into it.

(Aid is: Sit up, half halt, outside leg back, inside leg at the girth.)

He can take the canter from the walk, so I know he understands the aid...

Suggestions?

Watson

[piedmontfields]

If he can canter from the walk, he can do this properly from the trot. In general, don't practice what you don't want (running/falling into canter) or he will think that is what you want.

One strategy is to get your trot very organized, have appropriate bend, prep for canter and then DON'T CANTER---just keep going in your nice trot. Repeat. Repeat many times until your horse practically begs you to canter (but waits for your permission). Then you say okay and let him step into it.

[PNG_Pony]

For one of my students who has a hard time with her pony running into the canter, I have her aid from a trot going up a hill. It helps them organize themselves, and she gets a nice prompt transition every single time. Then, once that is solid, we move back to flat ground, and they have the muscle memory and the impulsion to transfer the skill.

You can also try aiding the canter over a ground pole, cantering from a step or two of leg yield or SI in the trot (if he's ready for that). Use corners to help with bend on a green horse and ask in the corner. To make sure you stay with his motion you can try asking from the posting trot (change your posting diagonal so you're on the "wrong" one and aid when you sit) or asking while you're in 2-point. Make sure to close your outside hand to receive the energy you create, or he will just trot faster.

[myleetlepony]

Try asking from shoulder-fore and slightly under tempo. It is a balance issue.

[Chisamba]

If the horse can do a walk canter transition it's all about timing, the half halt is not effective or it aids are not timed well or a combination of both.

Its hard to explain, but simply do not let the horse run when you apply the aid to canter. Some times halting, reinback, trot two or three strides, and trot canter, if the strike off is not achieved, stop, makes sure the horse is on the aids, trot a half circle, aid to canter. Repeat.

Shoulder fore into the transition can help. Even yield to the inside leg into the transition on the circle can help.

[PaulaEdwina]

I know that for me, now that Fella is fit (from doing things like cantering up hills, PNG_pony ) I get a much better canter from a walk than a trot because I get tense asking from the trot. Because I"m tense I am stiff and leaning forward when asking from the trot and throw his balance onto the forehand and he was to scramble out from under me to get a canter.

Just my own experience.
Paula

[mari]

I second the suggestion for asking from a few steps of trot LY. Seems to create a bit more push and balance into the canter.

When I was struggling with this a few years back, someone on this board suggested the following exercise: Get a good trot on a 20m circle. Spiral in from outside leg and rein onto a 12m circle (it's good if you're slightly under tempo, as long as it's not flat and without energy). Start LYing out onto the bigger circle. About halfway out, give your canter aid. It really helped us.

[Ponichiwa]

If he can canter from the walk, he can do this properly from the trot. In general, don't practice what you don't want (running/falling into canter) or he will think that is what you want.

One strategy is to get your trot very organized, have appropriate bend, prep for canter and then DON'T CANTER---just keep going in your nice trot. Repeat. Repeat many times until your horse practically begs you to canter (but waits for your permission). Then you say okay and let him step into it.

Piedmontfields, I feel like I agree with you a lot. So much so I'm starting to wonder if I'm a sycophant.

But seriously, OP, the above is good advice. After you get past cantering as an achievement, it's time to focus on quality. You know you can canter. You know he can canter. You don't have to accept rushing steps to get there anymore. So every time he rushes (and make sure you're not leaning forward here), abandon the need to canter and re-establish a quality working trot.

On the topic of rider position/aids, it's very common to tense up and lean forward in the upward transitions. This screams "SOMETHING HARD IS COMING UP" to your horse, so it's equally common to see a lot of rushing in transitions. Knowing that, I do a systems check-- am I in the center of the horse? Am I upright in the saddle? Are my elbows following the bit? Are my stirrups squarely underneath my center of gravity? etc-- before asking for something new.

I'd have different advice for you if you were, say, warming up for a test at a show. But you have the luxury of time when you're schooling at home.

[Watson]

I'm a little confused by the "..then DON'T CANTER", thing. If you just keep trotting, how will he know he was supposed to canter? My horse will never "beg" to canter. Or do you mean, give him the aid, but don't let him canter? Sorry, I'm missing something here.

[kande50]

I'm a little confused by the "..then DON'T CANTER", thing. If you just keep trotting, how will he know he was supposed to canter? My horse will never "beg" to canter. Or do you mean, give him the aid, but don't let him canter? Sorry, I'm missing something here.

I think the idea is to stay in walk or trot and continue to prepare until you can feel that he's ready to strike off in canter without running into it, and then ask him to canter. IOW, set him up to canter, but don't give the aid for canter until you can feel that he's balanced enough to produce the kind of strike off you're looking for.

When I first started cantering under saddle I spent a lot more time preparing to canter than asking for canter. And in fact, I still spend a lot more time preparing to ask for whatever I'm planning to work on, than asking for it. That usually involves a lot of flexing and bending and si, and then sometimes I only ask for it once because if it's really good then I'll end the ride when I get it.

[piedmontfields]

Watson, this is very similar to how I teach the half halt. I apply the halt aids, the horse reacts (slows, prepares to halt) and I say "never mind, keep going!" This is how the aids for halt start to help you to teach aids for half halt. Eventually, we get more refined and the horse understands half halts of many different degrees.

So do the necessary preparation for canter (proper bend, alignment, energy), do some lovely half halts, sit up/back, maybe tickle your horse with whip on the outside hind if s/he is not thinking something is about to happen, and then you go "Never mind, just keep that lovely connected, energetic trot, please. Perhaps I'll ask for something else later. Stay tuned." Then as you feel your horse shift into this nice trot, they will be more balanced and actually able to step into canter. So it's not that you don't actually canter, it's that you work on setting your horse up for success by improving their balance/alignment/readiness--Then, when you say GO CANTER, they GO and step immediately into the gait.

Probably someone else can explain this better!! LOL

[Ponichiwa]

^ That will also trigger the rushy steps, which gives you a chance to correct them. Put the aids on, and if he rushes off, return to trot and try again. If he's softly on your aids, you can go all the way to canter and hold for several quality strides-- at least 1/3 of a 20m circle.

Rinse, repeat (and reward).

Canter/trot/canter transitions on varying figures may also help. Start on a 20-m circle, and eventually you can graduate to long sides or serpentines. The arena is your oyster. Again, as above, kibosh the canter if he rushes the trot strides ahead of the transition.

And another thing! Make sure your trot has sufficient energy and at the very least a level balance so that he doesn't feel like he's got to rush into the canter. If he's jogging along (not sure if he is, but if he is), you may need to channel some Valegro moments and do transitions within the trot to add some impulsion-- not quicker, just "more" trot.

[Chisamba]

I do not consider the half halt half of a halt, so i do not teach it that way. In the half halt i want the horse to remain active behind, and transfer its balance so that more weight is carried on the hind leg. I do not want the horse to ever think it is okay to interrupt impulsion and tempo when half halting, ( which is why i am not really a fan of the term half halt, but it is so consistently used that I use it too.) I personally, would also not give the horse the aid to canter, and then refuse the canter. I use my legs differently when i ask for more impulsion, and when i want a transition, so i feel, in my case, and for my horses, it would be confusing.

there are many roads to Rome, and its a good idea to keep along on the road you started on, so that you do not have to start over for the horse to understand you method. If you are comfortable with the Ponichiwa/ piedmontfields method, that is the one you should use.

Spiralling in and yielding out on the circle, then asking for the canter in the moment the horse feels forward, full in the outside rein, and responsive, is a very useful exercise for trot canter transitions.

[piedmontfields]

I do not consider the half halt half of a halt, so i do not teach it that way. In the half halt i want the horse to remain active behind, and transfer its balance so that more weight is carried on the hind leg.

This is a good point and dare I say one could attend to activity while changing one's mind?

I personally, would also not give the horse the aid to canter, and then refuse the canter.

FWIW, I don't actually give the canter aid--I just get close to it (which is really just half halting in some ways) before saying nevermind!

Spiralling in and yielding out on the circle, then asking for the canter in the moment the horse feels forward, full in the outside rein, and responsive, is a very useful exercise for trot canter transitions.

I agree!

[Chisamba]

Piedmontfields, i was not criticizing your method, just saying that i use a different one, and there are many roads to the same place, to clarify!

I did not understand you correctly when you were talking about adding impulsion, but not cantering, i think i understand it more clearly now

[Flight]

How long has he been cantering under saddle? My 2 horses did it for a little while when I first started them, and it just goes away after a little while.
I found if you start fiddling too much, taking your aid away but not getting a result, they don't learn (or they learn that if they just run faster the pressure comes off). At this stage don't worry if they get the wrong strike off, keep going on in the canter.
If you do any lunging, associate a voice prompt with the transition that you can use under saddle. It helps too.