# Cantering and getting over the fear!



## kambrielle (Feb 25, 2013)

Where do I start?

I'm an intermediate rider, I just do it for fun and don't compete or anything, but I really, really, really love it. It's one of the highlights of my week. I am mostly learning dressage, maybe jumping at some point, and right now am working a lot on cantering.

Last year in February, I was riding and using a saddle the horse wasn't used to. I guess it was pinching him, because he bucked me off and I went flying and got a concussion. Took a month to recover, too! Not fun. I was able to start riding again after I recovered and was able to canter with not much problem.

Then I took some time off again in the summer because of funds, but I've been riding consistently since before Christmas of last year. But now, when I canter, for some reason, I am so nervous about it! I've been riding the same lesson horse pretty consistently, and she has an amazing canter. I've been getting pretty comfortable with her. She has a nice, smooth, flat canter, which I really like because I don't feel like I'm going to be launched out of the saddle (which dredges up those memories of being kicked off that horse last spring).

I'm not nervous when I go into the canter, and generally when I'm in the canter, I feel pretty good...Depending on the horse I'm riding. I had a lesson today and was on a very bouncy horse. I know what I need to do to not bounce all over the place, in theory, but sometimes I get so overwhelmed and start to get freaked out because I feel like I am going to go flying up over the horse's ears. I know that I need to sit back, relax into the saddle, stretch my heels down, and use the insides of my calves to keep the leg on. But when I'm in the saddle, all I feel like I'm doing is bouncing around like a hot mess.

And also, transitioning out of the canter, I feel like I'm bouncing all over the place, too. I try to just go back to posting trot and use half halts and whatever, but I sometimes just feel so out of control.

Any advice? Anyone else going through the same thing? Anyone felt the same and was able to get over it? Any thoughts would be awesome 

Thanks


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## TXhorseman (May 29, 2014)

Dealing with emotions can prove very difficult. Emotions often do not respond to logic. Also, emotions can be deceptive. In one particular lesson, a student’s horse seemed unusually tense. I had been working with the woman for months, and we had done a lot of work with relaxation techniques. Her body position looked quite good, and I didn’t want to automatically repeat things we had worked on. At first, I attributed the horse’s movements to the fact that the woman had not ridden for a couple of weeks and other people had ridden the horse with less refined techniques. Finally, I asked the woman how her day had gone at work. She is an accountant and replied: “It’s the end of the month, and that’s always stressful.” I said, “And what does that tell you?” She stopped her horse, and we worked through some stretching and relaxation exercises. The rest of the session went much better.

Unnecessary tension inhibits good riding in a human and good movement in a horse. This tension is most noticeable in gaits the rider is less comfortable with, but it is generally present in all gaits. I suggest you begin addressing this issue while moving at a walk and riding with two hands using a snaffle bit so you can feel what is happening at your horse’s mouth.

Even before beginning the walk, I want you to become aware of your body while your horse is standing. Try to sense what your body feels like. Are you trying to hold your body upright or are you simply letting your bones support your weight in balance? Are you trying to push your heels down or are you just letting gravity work on your body?

As you sit, try to release any tension in the muscles of your torso. As you release this tension, your muscles will expand and you should feel your body grow. The bones of your spine will automatically stack one above the other and take on their natural shock absorbing curves. When a rider’s spine is balancing their head and supporting their weight, their muscles can relax and respond better when asked to move. You don’t want your shoulders hunched forward, but you don’t want them pinched back with muscular tension either. It often helps to rotate the shoulders – up, back, down, forward, up – several times. Stop in the up position and let your shoulders relax. You upper arms should hang loosely to your sides. 

Your lower arms – along with your wrists, hands, and reins – should form a line to your horse’s mouth. Your thumbs should be at the top so the bones of your forearms are not crossed. Your wrists should not be broken. Hold the reins as you would hold a couple of small birds. You don’t want the birds to escape, but you don’t want to squeeze their guts out either. You should have just enough contact with the reins that, if you squeeze your hands, you feel as small difference at the bit. You may need to adjust the reins as you ride.

Release any tension in the muscles around your pelvis including the crotch. Release any tension in the muscles of your legs including those in your feet and toes. You should feel your seat sink deeper into the saddle. Your legs should drape loosely around your horse’s body due to the effects of gravity drawing them downward. Think of gravity drawing your weight downward through your body like sand in an hourglass. The stirrups support the balls of your feet, but gravity draws your heels lower. You don’t need to push your heels down; just let gravity do its job.

Once you have released the tension in your muscles, lightly squeeze and release your legs and ask your horse to walk. Let your hands follow the motion of your horse’s head as your arms rotate at the shoulders and the angle at your elbow opens and closes. The tension on the reins should remain a constant one or two ounces rather than increasing and decreasing with the horse’s movements.

Allow your legs to swing with your horse’s body. Allow your seat bones to follow the movements of your horse’s back. You should feel them drop, move forward, and rise before dropping once more, each moving independently approximately 180 degrees off from the other. Your lower spine should be moving every which way. Enjoy this movement. Think of it as getting a free massage.

Don’t rush this work at a walk. You might even take or whole riding session or multiple sessions to develop this work. Doing things well in the beginning can lead to better progress later. As you move with your horse, I want you to become aware of how your horse feels beneath you. Are the horse’s movements stiff and mechanical, or are they soft, smooth, and flowing. As you continue to move smoothly and in balance with your horse, you should feel your horse’s muscles loose their unwanted tension. It may help to breath deeply through your diaphragm, hum, or even sing softly to your horse.

The test of how well you have done this work it to simply stop moving with your horse’s movements. If your horse has relaxed and become accustomed to your two bodies moving together, your horse should stop when you stop.

Then, you can think of doing similar things at the trot and canter. An athlete with relaxed muscles (read: muscles without negative tension) can respond more smoothly than one who is tense. Your horse’s transitions should become smoother and more easy to sit. Your deep, relaxed, and stable seat should allow you to employ your body parts independently so you can perform smoother and more subtle half-halts when necessary.

I hope these ideas and techniques prove useful to you.


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## frlsgirl (Aug 6, 2013)

Oh yes, the fear of cantering. I got thrown many years ago and I had just gotten over it when the lesson horse I was riding tripped and fell at the canter. Fortunately, I didn't get hurt but it certainly brought back all those memories. 

Unfortunately, the only way to get over the fear is to face it, but very gradually. Jane Savoie refers to this as "advance and retreat" - basically find the slowest, smallest horse that is used for little kids and canter on that horse until you are absolutely bored to tears with it. Then move up to a slightly more challenging horse. It takes lots of time. 

I'm still not 100% but I'm getting there and you can too! Good luck!


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## Equine Isabelle (Aug 12, 2014)

I just got over my fear of cantering thins summer!! In the 4th grade I fell off a horse during my first time ever cantering, and broke my right arm. Since then I had not ridden up until two summers ago, and even then I was like "no way, not cantering, can't make me, nope" and I just stuck to trotting. Well, you can only go so far with trotting, you know? This summer, I KNEW I was going to have to learn to canter and be comfortable in it, because this is the first year I am competing on my HS equestrian team, and in order to compete you have to be able to canter. 
I just started getting into It very slowly. Canter 3-4 strides. Go back to walking/trotting. Canter one side of arena. Back to walk/trot. Canter one time around arena. Back to walk/trot. The more you canter, the better you will feel. Those first few times cantering around the arena, all I could do was tell myself don't look down or you'll fall, don't look down or you'll fall, cause I was bouncing all over the place! (My horse has a lot of lift in his canter) 
I just kept at it. Cantering can open up a whole new realm of possibilities. You have a brand new gait to play with it mess around with. What really helped me is sitting deep in my saddle and kind of using the suede knee rolls on my saddle to my full advantage for more grip. 
It all just takes practice, but I know how you feel. Being uncomfortable in the canter. While my friends told me tales of how beautiful their horses looked while cantering through the woods, or how the sound of their hooves cantering was the best sound in the world, I just felt so left out and lame. But with a little time and some brave moments, you WILL be able to become fully confident and comfortable in the canter &#55357;&#56836; "Just cue and ride" is my motto now &#55357;&#56842;
-IH


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## SorrelHorse (Apr 9, 2009)

Burn some circles and relax. Set up some cones or barrels/poles and canter a pattern. Cruise for a while. Don't canter just two or three circles and stop. Do it until you are relaxed, and then break down again. Sometimes setting up the obstacles helps you focus more on your pattern than the canter itself which will help with your under confidence.


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## Emma2003 (Jan 9, 2014)

It took me quite awhile to feel confident at a canter. I cantered a bit on lesson horses which I felt safe on, but then I got my own horse who turned out to be much more spooky and had more attitude than I was used to. Needless to say I was a little nervous. My instructor told me she would rather have a short, pretty canter than one that was long but ugly. By that she meant that if I got even a few strides of a smooth, controlled, canter with my butt in the saddle, then slowed down, that was better than a long period of cantering with me bouncing out of the saddle and my horse all over the place. Gradually, the short but pretty canters became much longer as my confidence and riding ability improved. Practice makes perfect, and, eventually, I think I'll be able to hold my seat when my horse trips or jumps to the side to avoid a puddle, or those oh so dangerous piles of poo.


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## tempest (Jan 26, 2009)

Only thing that will help is cantering. I had a horse who threw me enough times at the canter that I would scream every time I cantered him. I eventually asked to be put back on one of the school horses. I was still terrified to canter but I no longer screamed. After about 2 months of working with the school horse I got it to the point where I was just extremely nervous to canter and would have a death grip on the horses mane but I could canter. I was then switched to another horses. Eventually I was placed on the horse I currently ride. It took me about a year and a half to learn to let go to Razz's mane. To this day I still get a tad bit nervous heading into canter but it's not unhealthy anymore. It's more of a cautious nervous that puts me on my guard. Once I'm in the canter I relax. I always had to be on my guard because Razz likes to occasionally throw a small buck at the canter if I relax too much.

As Nike the slogan says, "Just do it." To get over your fear you have to face your fear head on. I suggest finding yourself a steady-Eddy school horse to increase your confidence at the canter and then moving up from there. And do NOT forget to breathe. I'd get nervous and I'd "stop" breathing resulting in my starting to bounce. Breathing will help you relax. As your cantering say outloud "Breathe" if you have to.


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