Fitness and developing the canter

[no.stirrups]

My current project is the weakest horse, as well as the most crooked horse I’ve ever ridden. When I took him on a few months ago he literally could barely canter at liberty. No exaggeration, he could barely do the transition. After a few months groundwork and very light riding he was strong enough to enjoy cantering on his own or on the longe. We then did a bit of cantering under saddle but came across two problems:
1.) It’s difficult to get correct leads because of his crookedness
2.) he gets tired VERY quickly, which leads to him getting on the forehand, heavy, and just barrelling forward. Down transitions then become pulling contests.

So I quit cantering for a while to work on strength and straightness which is coming along nicely. He’s still weaker one direction but not much more so than many horses. We’re working on coming over his back, pushing equally with both hind legs, ground poles and trail rides with hills to build strength overall. He’s still very weak.

My questions are: have you experienced a similar situation? At what point would you add the canter back in? Would you wait for him to be strong enough and straight enough that it is easy before practicing canter? Or would you work on developing the canter by practicing the canter even if it’s a little ugly? What if he’s still very reluctant to pick up one lead? Would you just practice cantering in one direction or would that be encouraging his asymmetry?

I think I know what course of action I intend to take but I’m curious what others have done or would do.

[S1969]

How old is he? Makes me wonder if he is still growing?

[outerbanks77]

Can he canter on the lunge line? I had a mare who could barely canter in the pasture when I got her as a 3 year old. I got her cantering reliably on the lunge line over a period of months, alternating with walk/trot riding. For cantering under saddle, she was luckily an easy going type, so I was able to take her out on trails when she was very green and have a friend canter on ahead and we would follow.

Right now I’m rehabbing my mare who is very crooked from an apparent old SI injury. With her, I find that I need to use the canter to get proper trot work out of her. I think I could stick in trot for a year and she wouldn’t gain much useful strength because it’s nearly impossible to get her to build impulsion without incorporating canter. Her right lead has been tough, but is getting better. I would definitely focus on the harder lead as much, if not more than the easier lead. Otherwise, you are just reinforcing that he can use his stronger lead all the time, and the asymmetry will become even greater over time.

[AnastasiaBeaverhousen]

What is his age? And fitness? Is he at a good weight?
Did you have a vet examine him?
I ask because you say he is stil very weak after conditioning work. In what way is he weak?

The thing to remember about the canter is that what we call a canter is actually not natural to horses. Horses in the wild gallop.

Cantering is difficult for a horse especially when they are still learning how to balance themselves and adjust to the weight of the rider.

I would check and make sure that your horse does not have any physical issues , then check saddle fit.

In the meantime I would still do meaningful trot work, and hill work for conditioning.

I would do transitions from gait to gait and within the gait.

Also, if you are comfortable with the idea and your horse has steering and brakes, I would let the horse do a hand gallop. Dont try to get a head set or a specific “frame” or try to make him round.

He still has to steer of course, and respond when you ask him to slow, but I think you can ask him in what is called a hand gallop, and just let him roll along, that would go a long way to help him find his balance.

And establish a good trot before you ask him for a canter. If he has no energy at the trot , it will be difficult for him to canter.

I would also do some trot to canter transitions up a hill. Its actually easier for the horse, in my experience , to canter up hill.

I would also allow him to tell you how much he can handle. Be flexible. If he can only comfortably handle six strides of canter then let him .

You can gradually increase the amount of canter as his conditioning improves.

Dont underestimate the value of trot work.

And I have found that for my horse, working at canter first actually improves his trot work.

Hope this helps.

[RedHorses]

I would canter even if it is ugly, but I would transition back to trot before he collapsed and turned the down transition into a pulling contest.

I would also canter on a longe line if he can - again, short bits of canter then trot and canter again. If it’s a quarter circle that’s okay, just ask again for canter.

One exercise I found helped my horse was 10-10-10 (101 Dressage Exercises). 10 strides canter, 10 strides trot (I counted full strides), 10 canter, 10 walk, repeat. I used to do figures (circles, serpentines, changes of rein) so we weren’t just going round and round in one direction.

Another (101 DE variation again) I’m doing now is to counter canter the long sides and true canter circles at A and C, trotting the corners and short sides. Counter canter on the long sides lets the wall/fence help straighten the horse.

My older horse found canter easy. Younger boy not so much. Younger horse’s canter reminds me of Pepe le Pew from Looney Toons when he’s lacking strength and balance.

First is developing the canter, then you can start to mess with it.

[no.stirrups]

The horse in question is an 11 yo OTTB! So no concerns that he’s growing Good thought though! He last raced as a 4-year-old and apparently spend most of the intervening years in a lot too small for meaningful exercise so he just wasted away. He was also down to body condition of 2 when his previous owner found him. He is now at a healthy weight and has been for at least a year.
He is getting stronger, but still has a ways to go. At this point there is literally no amount of canter that can be done without the down transition being a little ugly but I’m not sure how much of that is lack of strength and how much is lack of comprehension that there is another way! He just within the last couple of weeks started understanding half halt and doing transitions from trot to walk without falling on his forehand.

[Dutchmare433]

Does he have the temperament where you feel comfortable asking for the canter out in a big field or in the woods. I’d be OK with the transition being not so pretty, that will come with more strength. I would try to canter on both leads.

[kashmere]

How are his feet?

I learned the very hard way how unbalanced or otherwise unhealthy feet may be masked in the even gait of the trot but come truly into the light at the canter. OTTBS are notorious for having balance issues that follow them around after the shoeing practices on the track, particularly run-forward feet which certainly impact a clean canter.

It’s also very possible it’s a strength and fitness issue: lots of straight lines up and down hills, over poles, cavaletti, etc. Riding out over terrain and building some functional muscle will be helpful. Depending on his history before you got him, a few months of work may not be enough to get him strong enough to canter well under saddle.

Other likely culprits are rider balance and poorly fitted saddle, particularly if the difference is truly marked in terms of longe vs under saddle.

[Posting_Trot]

If possible, I’d take him on out the trail. Do walk/trot/canter in short spurts and in a situation where there aren’t any curves, turns, etc. that might challenge his balance too much at the canter. Let him improve his fitness on the trail, and gradually come back to working on the canter in the ring.

[PNWjumper]

I would be cantering him every day. If he is only strong enough to hold it for a little while then just canter for the amount of time that he is comfortable. I would also be adding in canter -> halt -> a few steps back -> back to the canter, starting with one or two and slowly adding in more. I have found that to help a tremendous amount with balance and strength over all without engaging in a pulling match with the horse.

And yes to all of the above suggests - cavaletti, lateral work, trail work, and another thing I do with all of mine is back them up the hill from my barn into my arena every day before I mount. So they back up in hand about 60 feet up a little hill.

And I would not make much of a fuss over leads at this point. That will come with straightness and balance.

One other thought is an evaluation of his feet, as others have alluded to. My TB came off of the track and was horridly crooked also (and in the opposite direction you might expect). He gradually got stronger and more comfortable in his flatwork, but still laid over one shoulder very hard over jumps. A clinician suggested we add a bigger wedge pad to his RF. I don’t remember what the difference was, but my farrier went to maybe a 1 degree wedge pad on his LF and a 3 degree wedge pad on his RF and that made a massive difference in his straightness. It also allowed him to hold his chiropractic work better. Eventually we were able to level the wedge pads out and now he’s in equal-degree-pads on his front feet.

[Lv2rid3]

Following! My QH has a limousine for a back and was bred for halter thus he has a very awkward canter. Can’t wait to try some of these suggestions!

[blue_heron]

OP, I don’t know your BG so this may be unsolicited, but how comfortable/balanced/confident are you at the canter and in the transitions into and out of?

I knew something was up with my horse when her canter was excellent on the longe line but terribly crooked in the up transition and jarring in the downward transition, also a flat running canter. Turned out to be hock arthritis. If he can canter on the longe nicely and there’s no underlying physical issues, it might be worth considering how well you are riding his canter. A little tension can disrupt the whole picture.

Are you working with a trainer or have eyes on the ground?

[Bluey]

How did he ran, consistent or in spurts, what is his race record?

Could he be a horse that ties up?
We had one endurance horse that, once he started tying up, his canter was awful and it got worse if you were not careful to manage him where he stayed comfortable.
He was retired, not fair to him to keep trying to push the issue.