So my grandma has a thoroughbred that I ride whenever I visit. She lives 3 hours away so I don’t get to visit often. She is also older so the horse doesn’t get ridden much. The farm they live on is a big, open, 15 acre field. I am currently polishing up my canter seat. However, when I ride this horse, once I trot him, he will start going into a fast trot. EXTREMELY fast. It usually takes me a few minutes just to get him back to a walk. Once I get him back to a walk, he will look for any excuse to go back into a canter and one time he even started galloping when we went down a small hill. Once he goes, he is very hard to stop. I want to be able to canter him someday when I visit but I’m afraid that where isn’t ridden much, he won’t listen and will get out of control. Any tips on getting him under control or being able to stop/slow him down? I’m dying to canter him someday but I don’t want to do it unless I feel 100% like I can control him and he won’t take off with me. Thank you!
Don’t take this the wrong way, but I think the best thing you can do is invest in some riding lessons with a good instructor and learn the basics before you hop on your Grandma’s TB and get yourself or him injured. A truly intermediate rider knows how to canter. This sounds like a combo of too much horse for too new of a rider. “Been there, done that” school horses are what you need. Good luck.
P.S. I think maybe you meant to post this in Off Course.
Yes I did mean off course lol. And I can canter, I’m just working on polishing it up. I take lessons and have been riding for 10 years. I just learned to canter a few months ago however because every barn I went to kept me at a walk and trot, but never moved me forward. I have all the basics down but like unsaid I am just working on polishing up my seat at the canter so I don’t bounce to much.
Stubborn horse
So my grandma has a thoroughbred that I ride whenever I visit. She lives 3 hours away so I don’t get to visit often. She is also older so the horse doesn’t get ridden much. The farm they live on is a big, open, 15 acre field. I am an intermediate rider and i am currently polishing up my canter seat. However, when I ride this horse, once I trot him, he will start going into a canter trot. EXTREMELY fast. It usually takes me a few minutes just to get him back to a walk. Once I get him back to a walk, he will look for any excuse to go back into a canter and one time he even started galloping when we went down a small hill. Once he goes, he is very hard to stop. I want to be able to canter him next time I visit but I’m afraid that where He hasn’t been ridden in a while, he won’t listen and will get out of control. My grandma doesn’t own a lunge line so that’s not really an option, plus I’ve tried it before and he’s still stubborn lol. Any tips on getting him under control or being able to stop/slow him down? I’m dying to canter him but I don’t want to do it unless I feel 100% like I can control him and he won’t take off with me. Thank you!
Honestly, it doesn’t sound like you have the experience to ride this type of horse in a big field on your own. How regularly does he get worked? Does your Grandma ride/is she able to come out and give you pointers, or least supervise you? You shouldn’t be trying to purposefully canter him until you can at least keep him at a consistent, steady trot without him trying to get away from you all the time. To be completely honest, I think this situation sounds like an accident waiting to happen and you need someone to give you lessons on this horse if you want to be safe.
yes my grandma does watch me, and I only stay at the upper end of the field. She has ridden her whole life and she also has this problem with him, same as his previous owner. I am definitely not going to even attempt to canter him until he feels stable and is listening to my aids, as you said. I’m just not sure how to get him to listen in the trot. I can control him, but he is just difficult to slow down.
I’m thinking this is not going to be the horse that will enable you to practice cantering. However, without knowing this horse’s background, there isn’t much to go on. What are his living conditions? Is he in a small paddock or does he live in a big 15 acre field? If he is in a small area, of course he’s going to want to run when he gets a chance!
How much training does this horse have? Is he an OTTB that has even learned how to balance himself and a rider at a nice canter?
Based on the info you provided, this horse isn’t going to help you as he doesn’t sound like a horse that can sit around idle for a long period of time and then perform like a school horse.
Grandma should send him out to a trainer…if he’s an OTTB to one who knows OTTBs.
then that is where your work is for the forseeable future.
work on walk/trot transitions at various speeds until he understands what you want from him. be very patient, think of it as your summer project, not next week’s. go slow, slow, slow in this work.
and don’t be too hard on the guy, he’s a TB who was bred to run and who isn’t getting enough exercise from the sounds of it.
My grandma does keep him in a smaller section of the field that is fenced off, so one of my guesses was definitely that he wants to run. He is very well mannered and trained, until it comes to riding in the field (there is no indoor arena). He does have a nice canter when he’s controlled. He is trained and no he is not an OTTB. I feel bad for him because he wants to run and I want to let him but I can’t If he won’t let me control him.
Thank you!!
Working on 20 meter circles, figure 8’s, and maybe a little lateral work at the walk and trot might keep him focused. Don’t canter him until you feel he has really good brakes at the walk and trot. You might find that if you ride him every day, by the third day he will be more calm. Lunging him before you ride might help get rid of some excess energy. You do need an instructor or Grandma to lunge him a few times to make sure he knows how to lunge and will lunge safely.
check out Warwick Schiller on youtube. Then find his professional page on FB and get the subscription.
well, you can get a longe line for $12, so I really don’t understand how you can write that off as impossible. BUT, tiring this horse out right before you ride is not even vaguely the solution. You can’t jump on a horse that you don’t know very well, only every few months, and expect that horse to help you polish your canter seat. Practice that skill on lesson horses, in an arena.
It’s late. I’m tired, so I may not sound as diplomatic as I hope to.
IMO, you should not be riding this particular horse until you are MUCH more capable.
I don’t quite understand that you have been riding for ten years, know how to canter, but trying to polish it so you don’t bounce?
If after 10 years of riding and lessons, you are bouncing at canter, somebody didn’t give you proper instruction!
Your lack of good basics, coupled with this horses lack of education (in other than racing) is a recipe for disaster.
You sound like you REALLY want to be a better rider, and I am sure you can learn tons riding more schooled horses for the time being, and be safer and have lots more fun:)
First off you posted on the Off Topic Forum ‘The home for your other non-horse-related musings.’ the rest of the forums above this one are horse related.
Second what is a canter trot? A running trot? A tranter where a horse canters and trots behind?
Third you need to reassess your riding skills and be realistic here. An intermediate rider has a bigger skill set and a toolbox.
You need to learn how to ride with a plan. It sounds like where you’ve taken lessons that you were passengering vs learning to become an effective rider. What AKB said is how someone ‘rides like a trainer’ vs the horse taking them for a ride.
I agree with Sobriska.
An intermediate rider should not “ride like a trainer”. Good lord, please do not try to “ride like a trainer”, OP. You got very good advice from suz. Don’t pay attention to the people who just want to tear you down to make themselves look superior. Good luck, kiddo.
Ride like a trainer means that you prepare for what can happen. It’s having a tool box. Like playing chess vs checkers. Being an effective rider. Knowing what a half halt is and how to install it, how to slow your body rhythm, how to ride with control. It’s planning your ride vs being a passenger.
Others have suggested that the OP needs some help. She needs to know what better instruction is so she can find it.
You are overhorsed and odds are high you are gonna get hurt and/or suffer a major loss of confidence. Don’t take offense, all of us (who didn’t start in a good riding program - and there are really very few of those in the US) have been where you are now, that’s how we know.
You’re grandma isn’t very experienced either or there is no way she would let you ride this horse in that situation - unless she has a large life insurance policy on you and is hoping to cash in haha (I’m sure she loves you and it is the former).
Yes, you can take 10 years of lessons in American and still know virtually NOTHING about riding. There are a ton of charlatan riding “instructors” in this country who are still having trouble “boucing at the canter” themselves.
Use this as your wakeup call that there is a whole other world of riding out here, those who really do KNOW how to safely teach you to ride. You are young enough you can still become a REAL RIDER if you locate and hook up with a REAL INSTRUCTOR.
Start googling your area and start asking questions, find yourself a proper mentor.
Btw, the TB sounds like a saint to me! Give him a pat from me . I know far too many TBs who would have near killed you by now for that kind of riding!
From your previous posts about your canter seat coming loose in the tack is not a good scenario with a TB that takes off with you. One sudden twist or stop and you will be hitting earth and hard if it is at speed.
If you are bouncing around on the canter then your lower leg will be loose also. If you’ve had years of lessons then I am with everybody here questioning what you’ve not been taught. Cantering on a straight line on a stiff horse is not going to help you learn to sit. I had those lessons in my teens, group lessons where the horses just went around the arena and the instructor yelled 'sit down, sit down." I didn’t learn a thing so I stopped wasting my hard earned teen money and found a better situation. So all of us mean well for you - we’ve been there and had to learn the same life lessons. We’re sharing with you to help you transition to real riding.
If you persist in riding this horse then use circles. Bending breaks resistance. I would focus on the w/t and use the circles, figure8s and transitions as suggested to be a better rider. We have no clue what you can find for better instruction in your area. Do you know any local person you can ask for advice?
