Rehabbing the PSSM canter

[fargaloo]

PSSM gurus, I need your help – either a bit of hand-holding, or a course-correction.

I’ve been on the PSSM protocol for just over 2 months (diet + daily exercise). Most things are coming along beautifully, and I’m so delighted to finally see improvement. However, the canter is still a hot mess. I just want assurance that I’m doing the right things.

For the first several weeks, we did almost nothing but walk, walk, walk – up hills and down, over poles, over cavaletti, in hand, under saddle, etc. At this point, we’ve added trot and canter. Walk is great – nice swing, very forward and rhythmical, tracking up nicely. Trot has its ups and downs – can be short-strided and flat without a good warm-up, but can be reasonably nice with some suspension. The canter – ouch. Maybe 10% of the strides can be soft, rolling and bouncy; 90% are flat and unbalanced with poor rhythm and trailing hind end. One lead is significantly worse. If I push really hard (spur and crop), I can get better push from behind – but it doesn’t feel right. This is a very good-natured, naturally forward mare with a lot of try – I feel like I’m chasing her too hard and not being fair to her. On the other hand, does she have to be pushed hard to actually make progress?

Some info that might help:
– I ride 7 days a week; about half are hacks (1 - 1-1/2 hr; mostly walk, some trot and a bit of canter); about half are arena rides. Arena rides are 15-20 min of walk (warm-up on a loose rein; then lots of changes of bend, serpentines, spirals in/out, LY, shoulder fore/shoulder in, walking over raised poles and/or cavaletti). Then about 20 min of more intense work (trot poles; canter poles, transitions within and between gaits; rein back etc.) She loves to jump so I often set up a tiny cross rail/vertical (no more than 2’3") in a grid or on its own, but we go over that no more than a few times per ride. We finish off with a long cool-out at the walk. I do a lot of bending at the walk and trot, but canter work is almost always on a straight line (or at most a 20m circle).

– She has been worked up extensively by the vet/chiro to make sure that there is nothing else going on (rads; blocks; stifles/SI/hocks seem fine). She gets regular body work (myofascial release). New saddle; professionally fitted. Teeth are fine. I’m pretty sure her only problem is PSSM.

So the $64K question for me is: should I just forget about the canter for a while and try again later? Or does she need to canter to improve the canter?

Thanks!!

[TWH_Girl]

Following…this sounds like my 15 yr old super easy keeper gelding. I don’t canter much in colder weather, my guys gets hock and stifle injections in Spring and is always better in the warmer weather. This time of year is tough for the canter though and just his general enthusiasm

[JB]

More walking - really marching along, work on lateral work. Those longer hacks are great, but more work on work at the walk.

More transitions between w/t, and within the trot. More lateral trot work

More transitions between t/c.

Remember, if the trot quality isn’t there, the canter quality won’t be there either.

2 months into a PSSM diet can be about when things start to really take off, as it can take that long, and even a bit longer, for them to really get into using the fat for energy and muscle, instead of the glucose/starches.

Make sure your “bending” work isn’t just bending the neck left and right. The neck should be pretty straight - quite straight actually - until you get on circles smaller than 20m. Bend comes through the rib cage, and getting those hind legs flexing and reaching forward and under.

[fargaloo]

TWHGirl – I’m in agreement with your gelding – winter doesn’t do much for my enthusiasm either! Hope he gets through the winter ok.

Thanks, JB, for your suggestions. I note that you say t/c transitions – so you think canter is ok at this point? I’m just worried if a lot of crappy cantering is enforcing the habit of crappy cantering. Should I only do a few strides and then drop back? It usually takes a few horrible strides to get a decent one…

[JB]

@fargaloo

Thanks, JB, for your suggestions. I note that you say t/c transitions – so you think canter is ok at this point? I’m just worried if a lot of crappy cantering is enforcing the habit of crappy cantering. Should I only do a few strides and then drop back? It usually takes a few horrible strides to get a decent one…

Yes, just transitions, no canter for the sake of the canter. Just enough strides to enforce that cantering was the right thing, which is maybe 5 strides, maybe a couple more, then back to the trot.

When the first canter strides are “horrible”, it’s nearly always because the quality of the preceeding trot wasn’t there. So don’t do a transition just to do a transition. Work as long as it takes to get a quality trot before asking for the canter. A good trot makes the transition to the canter SO much nicer, and makes those first few strides nicer.

Then it’s because the horse isn’t strong enough that the canter quality starts to degrade, and that’s where you build up time in the canter.

if you start out with a poor quality canter, it’s not the canter that’s the problem, it’s the trot that preceeded it

[fargaloo]

@JB

if you start out with a poor quality canter, it’s not the canter that’s the problem, it’s the trot that preceeded it

Yup, this is true! What is messing with my brain right now, though, is that the good strides are (to me) pretty unpredictable – sometimes the first few strides are fine and then they fall apart; other times, the first few are atrocious and then it straightens out. It doesn’t seem to be related to the quality of the trot or walk preceding it (normally, I think I would be able to gauge this). Lousy strides after the depart are not the typical falling-on-the-forehand-splat-out-of-a crappy-trot; it’s like she tries to rock back on her hocks and gets kind of… stuck? Hesitant? It’s really hard to describe…

Sorry, I’m not trying to argue – I don’t disagree with what you have said at all. It’s just that this kind of unbalanced is really different than what I would recognize as typical green/baby horse/unfit horse unbalanced. It’s like she is “stuck” trying to go forward. Not sure if I’m communicating this effectively or not…

Normally, if I had a crap canter transition, I’d say “my bad; poor set-up” and I’d go back to the trot and try again. Now, I find that I am always wondering “maybe the next stride will be better? Maybe the next one? How about this one?” and I keep going, because sometimes I AM rewarded with a couple of good strides. If it starts well, then gets worse, I keep wondering if I can push her past it. Should I just be disciplined enough to think “Set up as best I can; then do 5 strides, good or bad, then transition down”?

Sometimes I feel like a gambling addict at a slot machine – “this one will be good! Ok, maybe the next one will be good! JACKPOT! Ok, that sucked… how about this one? Maybe the next one…?.”

[tinah]

Okay, give me a minute to get you the link. I’ve got a video of me riding my mare and the “stuck” that you are trying to explain. We were just farting around at home, and you’ll have to turn the sound down since my 9 year old is narrating, but there is an absolutely perfect example of. PSSM at play.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Vfm3lNd4Q1s

okay, the interesting bit starts right about 1:15. S she comes around the first barrel, she tries to pick up the canter, realizes he back end is funky, and gives up. If I pushed the issue, she’d start either cross firing or bunny hopping.

[tinah]

And I’m not sure how to fix it either. I just keep working on strengthening her back end. When I pulled her out of the pasture this spring she could hardly walk, so we have made progress. It’s just so slow.

[fargaloo]

Yup, Tinah, that’s it. Thanks for posting! Not that I’m happy to hear that you’ve been struggling for months, but it’s reassuring to know that it can be so slow (I keep second-guessing myself and wondering if I’m missing something). Good luck with your progress!

[tinah]

It really is that slow. Dialing in her diet has been hard. She needs lots of fat, but seems to do better when I play with the sources. Right now she’s on 2 lbs alfalfa pellets, 1.5 lbs bluebonnet intensify omega (12-12, 14% NSC), half a cup of canola oil, a handful of boss, 1 TB mag, copper and zinc, loose salt, and vit e. I’m adding in tri amino to see if it helps.

[fargaloo]

I feel like the diet part is going well for me because everything else is improving – except for the *&^&($ canter! Ugh - so frustrating!!

[JB]

In the the moments leading up to asking for the canter, she’s strung out, on her forehand, and not engaged at all. Everything there can be translated to even a healthy horse. I don’t mean that to imply that PSSM isn’t playing a role, just that what I saw isn’t relegated to PSSM horses - it’s very typical of a horse who isn’t packaged together, working of the hind end, and is a “rear wheel drive” horse

So for me, this still goes back to basic work. Work at the walk - don’t just walk. She’s rushing even in her walk - it’s nice and energetic, but she’s just walking without real function, if that makes sense.

so far, I still see a purely conditioning issue.

[fargaloo]

(Just to be clear – the video posted isn’t the horse I’m talking about in my OP…)

What I recognized in Tinah’s video was that funky “back end just not working” thing. It’s not exactly what I’m feeling with my horse, though – it feels like she’s bringing her hind legs under her and lifting her front end to strike off nicely – and sometimes she does, for a stride or two, but sometimes, its like she just never pushes off from the back end. It’s like she stalls in mid-stride.

I agree it’s a conditioning thing (her back end muscles are damaged, after all). It’s just not like anything I’ve ever sat before. I’ve ridden funky green canters before but this feels just so weird…

[IPEsq]

My horse is rehabbing some back and SI stuff and sometimes acts like a PSSM horse so we try t manage him similarly. I have done more and more canter in hand and nothing under saddle unless he offers. The best days are when I get some nice, willing walk to canter transitions on the longe. On advice from th vets, I do a good warm up in hand with some canter if possible before getting on. It has really helped his back get rounder and more swinging. I think the sluggishness you are feeling is some hesitation and bracing. Rather than push that, find some other ways to work on it.

I also will will let my horse have some play time by doing some little jumps on the longe as well. We trot them mostly due to his issues but also greenness (canter poles are just starting to get nice in hand). So he will use his back to jump (he’s naturally a round jumper) and if he lands in a soft canter without trying to get hoppy, he gets praised for that.

[fargaloo]

@IPEsq

I think the sluggishness you are feeling is some hesitation and bracing. Rather than push that, find some other ways to work on it.

Yes, bracing is a good description.

I’ll admit that I don’t do much longeing with this horse. She’s been super-easy from the start – kind of a gas-n-go type of horse – so never felt much need to longe. We’re kind of missing that part of our repertoire ;). I can see the value of getting her to relearn to canter without a rider, though.

So it seems the consensus is not to push the canter and work on conditioning at the walk/trot with a few canter transitions thrown in. I can live with that. :). Any other suggestions of specific exercises would be great!

[IPEsq]

I longe for his rehab work, exercise and mental focus without a rider. I don’t longe to just chase him around. Unridden work can be very useful. I hate doing so many circles, but some days I walk quite a long way around the arena to give him more space and straight sides. I will also incorporate trot and walk cavaletti as well as work in the Equicore system in hand. It’s also been relationships building for us, which is needed because he’d gotten so ornery from being uncomfortable for so long, but anyway, in hand work isn’t just for the horses too difficult/hot/whatever to ride. It can be really useful for physical therapy.

[fargaloo]

@IPEsq

I longe for his rehab work, exercise and mental focus without a rider. I don’t longe to just chase him around. Unridden work can be very useful. I hate doing so many circles, but some days I walk quite a long way around the arena to give him more space and straight sides. I will also incorporate trot and walk cavaletti as well as work in the Equicore system in hand. It’s also been relationships building for us, which is needed because he’d gotten so ornery from being uncomfortable for so long, but anyway, in hand work isn’t just for the horses too difficult/hot/whatever to ride. It can be really useful for physical therapy.

For sure! Pretty sure I still have a pair of side reins buried at the bottom of a tack trunk… maybe I should dig them out?

[IPEsq]

I don’t personally use anything connected to a bit right now except long lines occasionally. I want to be sure the horse is thinking forward, forward, forward. I like the Equicore system because it gives input to the hind end and leaves the front end alone. But then again, my horse is built more long and low with a light mouth, so the front end longe devices aren’t very useful for him anyway. He struggles to come through from behind and his core. Doing a lot of transitions also helps with proper carriage. So, when I am working on walk to canter transitions, I first do a lot of walk trot transitions. Then I go trot, walk, canter, then back to trot. I’d already gotten the walk transition sharp and working so he is under himself when asking for canter. It’s more precise than chasing from trot but is hard to do. At first, if the canter quickly falls apart, I don’t care. I try to piece in more and more canter steps, but they have to feel confident pushing off into canter first.

[fargaloo]

Thanks for the suggestions! This is challenging for me because although my horse is not super fancy, she’s always been very forward. This sluggishness makes me feel like I’ve got a completely different horse. It’s been an interesting journey so far…

[halt]

for my own edification, what are you OP and @tinah feeding your PSSM horses?

I think you have to canter to improve the canter. Some better exercises to do to improve that are what JB mentioned and also, I really like the serpentine loop canter exercise - start on serpentine at trot, during new bend, ask for canter for one of the bend loops, back to trot for a bend loop, and then back to canter again. Works on flexibility and suppleness. I generally do a 3 to 4 loop depending on size of arena.