# canter transition (sitting trot) help!



## vergo97

I'm struggling to go into canter because I find it hard to get my legs into the right position and give the horse a small kick and to keep my balance. I told the instructor I had in my last lesson ( who isn't my usual instructor though) I found it hard to kick in sitting trot, and she told me that I need to grip with my knees and thighs and use my lower leg seperately to give a kick. Then she told me to go into a sitting trot to see what it was like and she said it was fine so then we started to do cantering again. When I sit the trot when I'm not going to go into canter, sometimes it feels really good and I am going with the rhythm, but other times I am bouncing all over the place, and when she was watching me do the stitting trot I was doing it well. But everytime I go into canter the sitting trot is so bouncy and I feel so unbalanced and when the horse makes the transition I lurch forward and it takes me a while to get into the rhythm it. If my usual instructor is teaching me next lesson I will talk to her then, but I was wandering if anyone has any advice. Also, I thought your not supposed to grip with your knees, but that it what I'm taught.


----------



## mumiinek

First of all you don't ask a horse to canter from sitting trot. I've also never heard of kicking being a cue for canter.


----------



## FoxyRoxy1507

you can ask a horse to canter from a sitting trot, dressage riders do it all the time.. 

no a kick should not be needed for a canter cue... have you tried asking for a canter from 2-pt until you get a more solid leg or from a walk? 

you should not be gripping with your knees. 

also when you ask for the canter try to sit weight in your outside seatbone, this will help keep your balance and the horses balance when they pick up the canter.

if you must do a sitting trot to ask for canter, try to sit for only a couple strides and then ask, make sure your back is loose and you're using your core to absorb the shock and stretch your weight into your heels, this will help with balance


----------



## DraftXDressage

I would disagree with the instructor that you should be gripping with your knee and thigh for any purpose, but certainly not if you are attempting to successfully sit the trot! That will only cause you to lose connection with the saddle and will effectively shut down your ability to open your hip to follow the horse's motion.

As for the canter transition, you do not need to sit for any prolonged period of time before cuing for the canter. I typically post until I have my horse properly set up to cue for the canter (meaning I have her on the bit, bending, and have control over her shoulder), then sit a beat or two before cuing. To be quite honest, I'm not even really certain how many strides, because I do not think of it as "post the trot, then do sitting trot, then cue for the canter." If I had to guess, based purely on what you've written here and not knowing anything about you as a rider, I would guess that you are tensing up and overthinking the canter depart, and that's where you're running into problems. Would your instructor be willing to put you on the lunge line so that you could get the feel of the trot-canter transition without having to worry about doing the cuing yourself.


----------



## Spyder

vergo97 said:


> I'm struggling to go into canter because I find it hard to get my legs into the right position and give the horse a small kick and to keep my balance. I told the instructor I had in my last lesson ( who isn't my usual instructor though) I found it hard to kick in sitting trot, and she told me that I need to grip with my knees and thighs and use my lower leg seperately to give a kick. Then she told me to go into a sitting trot to see what it was like and she said it was fine so then we started to do cantering again. When I sit the trot when I'm not going to go into canter, sometimes it feels really good and I am going with the rhythm, but other times I am bouncing all over the place, and when she was watching me do the stitting trot I was doing it well. But everytime I go into canter the sitting trot is so bouncy and I feel so unbalanced and when the horse makes the transition I lurch forward and it takes me a while to get into the rhythm it. If my usual instructor is teaching me next lesson I will talk to her then, but I was wandering if anyone has any advice. Also, I thought your not supposed to grip with your knees, but that it what I'm taught.



This subject was covered in this thread.

http://www.horseforum.com/dressage/applying-aids-walk-trot-canter-93962/


----------



## vergo97

Can you do rising trot into canter? I have always been taught (from the two different stables I have been too) to do sitting trot before going into canter. At my old stables I was taught just to kick when in sitting trot to get a canter, and only last lesson at my new stables I was taught to move my outside leg to behind the girth when asking. when you say that a kick should not be needed to start a canter, do you mean that I should only give a squeeze?

I'm not very good at two-point, at my old stables I did it for about two lessons in the trot and when jumping (but I was jumping way to early there). My instructor mentioned about two weeks ago that once my canter is better, I will move up to a group lesson and start doing jumping, so I will probably be learning two-point better in a few weeks/months time. I have never started a canter from a walk before, wouldn't the horse just go into trot if you gave them a squeeze/kick at the walk, and then you would be in the same situation?

The "grip with the knee" is really confusing me, at my old stables I was told all the time not to grip with my knee, but at the new stables I have always been taught that I should. They say that that is the only way to stay on, and I can't really tell them that they are wrong. I don't really grip with my knees any way, last lesson I started to use my lower leg to grip a lot, and that really helped. I have been scared that gripping with my lower leg would make the horse go faster, but it didn't. 

I think I am only supposed to be sitting a few strides as I go into canter on a corner, and start to sit the trot just before the corner and am suposed to be in canter once I am round the corner, but I end up not sitting the trot properly or accidently rising, and then going into canter after the corner, taking me by suprise, and I end up lurching forward. 

FoxyRoxy1507 - thanks for the tips for going into canter.

DraftXDressage - I think I am tensing up, because I am trying to think about so many different things and i'm trying to keep my balance. I haden't thought about the lunge line, I have never been on one and I don't even know if the stables does lunge people.


----------



## vergo97

Thanks spyder, I will have a look at that page!


----------



## mumiinek

mumiinek said:


> First of all you don't ask a horse to canter from sitting trot. I've also never heard of kicking being a cue for canter.


Wait, what? I guess have to apologise here as it seems my little brains confused a few things here. For some paranormal reason I mistook the term "sitting trot" for "posting trot". What I meant was "you don't ask a horse to canter from a posting trot", which of course has no relevance to your original post since you never mentioned trying to make the horse canter while posting. So yeah... I apologise 


Also beware of the "outside leg behind the girth" but you'll learn everything in Spyder's article.


----------



## DraftXDressage

vergo97 said:


> At my old stables I was taught just to kick when in sitting trot to get a canter, and only last lesson at my new stables I was taught to move my outside leg to behind the girth when asking. when you say that a kick should not be needed to start a canter, do you mean that I should only give a squeeze?
> 
> Ideally, yes. You should only need to slide your outside leg back and give a squeeze to cue for the canter. That being said, I have ridden a few sour lesson horses in my day, and sometimes a louder aid is required. But on a well trained horse, sliding that leg back and giving a light squeeze should do it.
> 
> I have never started a canter from a walk before, wouldn't the horse just go into trot if you gave them a squeeze/kick at the walk, and then you would be in the same situation?
> 
> Again, this all goes back to how well trained the horse is, and how clear your aids are. When I ask my horse to move into the trot from a walk, she gets a squeeze from both legs, with more emphasis on the inside leg so as to ensure that she maintains the proper bend in the transition. When cuing for a walk-canter transition (though I rarely do this with her yet because it is more challenging and she's not quite ready), I would again slide my outside leg back and give a squeeze. I think Spyder's thread really help give you a good way to think about the way we apply aids for different gaits.
> 
> ...but at the new stables I have always been taught that I should. They say that that is the only way to stay on...
> 
> Without watching a lesson myself, I hesitate to make assumptions about the quality of instruction, but the above statement makes me very, very concerned with what you're learning there. Gripping with your knee will not allow you to have a solid seat, nor will it allow you to have a stable lower leg. If you hope to advance to jumping at some point, gripping with your knee can and will become a huge safety concern. If you are told that again, I would ask them to clarify what they mean -- hopefully the instructor didn't actually mean pinch your knee into the saddle and was instead just explaining herself poorly.


My thoughts in purple.


----------



## mumiinek

DraftXDressage said:


> You should only need to slide your outside leg back and give a squeeze to cue for the canter.


Outside leg behind the girth is not a cue for canter (if we're not talking about backyard cues). Please, read Spyder's article too or go read other threads dedicated to this topic, you'll learn that although some people still (sadly) do this, it is nowhere near correct.


----------



## vergo97

I pretty sure that my instructor wants me to grip with my knees as when I was saying that I found sitting trot dificult she got me to stop and told me to squeeze with my knees and thighs and said that is what I should be doing in the sitting trot. Also, during my first lesson there I fell off (because I had not been taught well at all at my old stables) and I was told that is was because I was not gripping with my knee, and that gripping is the only way to stay on. 

I don't think the teaching other than that is bad, its better than my old stables anyway that had me jumping multiple 2 foot jumps when I couldn't even go into canter without holding onto the saddle. 

As I said though, I can't really tell my instructor that she is teaching it wrong, as I am the one learning. 

I will try out some of the cues in the article spyder posted, and try some out in my next lessom, and hopefully my instructor wont say anything if they work.

I think the horse I am riding for my lesson needs more than a squeeze, but he is not dead to the leg so all he needs is a light kick.


----------



## ItzKayley

I have no advice but I also get told to grip with my knees. :-S
_Posted via Mobile Device_


----------



## LetAGrlShowU

Gripping with your knees will close in your hip angle, push you forward, and mess up your lower leg position. I have never heard of gripping with your knees. 
Let us know when you speak with your regular instructor.


----------



## DraftXDressage

mumiinek said:


> Outside leg behind the girth is not a cue for canter (if we're not talking about backyard cues). Please, read Spyder's article too or go read other threads dedicated to this topic, you'll learn that although some people still (sadly) do this, it is nowhere near correct.


I have read the article, and while interesting and helpful, I do disagree with some points. My mare is professionally trained by an accomplished dressage rider, and that is the leg cue she is trained to. I'm sorry that you find this "backyard" and incorrect, but thank you so much for your pleasant and helpful contribution to the discussion.


----------



## DraftXDressage

I should add that Jane Savoie agrees with me, and she is by no means a backyard rider. Dressage Training with Jane Savoie - How to get the correct canter lead every time | Horsetalk - articles on riding and safety with horses

I have no issue with others training their horses on different aids. Different strokes for different folks and all. However, the canter aids that Spyder gives may not be terribly helpful to the OP, given that is not the way the lesson horse she is riding is trained.


----------



## mumiinek

DraftXDressage said:


> I should add that Jane Savoie agrees with me, and she is by no means a backyard rider. Dressage Training with Jane Savoie - How to get the correct canter lead every time | Horsetalk - articles on riding and safety with horses


A quote from the artile you posted:

"*Give a little squeeze with your inside leg on the girth to tell your horse to go "forward into the canter"*.
Use your outside leg in a windshield wiper-like action to signal the outside hind to strike-off into the canter."

I see nothing agreeing with what you posted earlier in this. A cue for the canter is an inside leg. The outside leg is a helping aid and not even close to being the main signal to tell the horse to canter. You should not squeeze or kick with an outside leg to ask the horse to canter. Has Jane Savoie ever suggested asking a horse to canter by squeezing the outside leg behind the girth? I'd very much like to hear/read that.



DraftXDressage said:


> I have no issue with others training their horses on different aids.


I have no issues with various people teaching their horses various cues for various things either, as long as they don't claim they have something to do with dressage. If you originaly meant to say "You should only need to slide your outside leg back and give a squeeze with the inside leg on the girth to cue for the canter" it would be much closer to what actually Jane Savoie is saying, though there still is the word "only" which makes your whole statement dresagewise worthless.

I haven't found anything unpleasant about my posts, I originally only wanted to help. But some people think they are perfect and don't want to accept anything apart from what they think, no matter how close to the truth and reality it actually is. My bad for trying to be helpful, though I still believe some people will benefit from what was pointed out in this discussion. 

However I think you should at least read something about Jane Savoie's techniques before totally messing them up.


----------



## DraftXDressage

Again, I thank you for your pleasant demeanor and overall contribution to this discussion. At least I have learned who to avoid on this board now.


----------



## mumiinek

I seriously thought you were going to exaplain to me what your technique of squeezing the outside leg behind the girth has to do with any Jane Savoie's teaching, or any other dressage technique at all. But since there is no relation what so ever, it's probably the best the discussion is over. I hope people will choose to follow the correct techniques of riding a horse, be it Jane Savoie that's promoting them or Peter Pan  After all it's all about what's best for our horses, not what we find works best for us.


----------



## DraftXDressage

I didn't think it was necessary to state that the inside leg stays at the girth. I figured it was obvious that a rider wouldn't pull the inside leg off entirely, or throw it forward onto the horse's shoulder or some other such silliness. Yes, the inside leg is at the girth, and yes, the outside leg does go back behind the girth, no matter how much that may offend you. I am also hesitant to say that it should be a squeeze from the inside leg at the girth only, because I think that many horses will take that opportunity to bulge the outside shoulder and either give you an ugly depart on the correct lead or pick up the wrong lead entirely.

A horse that is trained to FEI levels is going to respect the "windshield wiper" leg (though at that point it is so much more about seat aids anyhow) without an actual squeeze, but I think you are forgetting that we are discussing a beginning rider who is riding A LESSON HORSE. Not a Fourth Level horse, not necessarily even a dressage horse at all. A lesson horse at a lesson barn (a lesson barn where they are teaching her to pinch with her knees and kick her way into the canter, no less). That horse is going to require a squeeze, as are most lower level or green horses.


----------



## mumiinek

DraftXDressage said:


> That horse is going to require a squeeze


Yes, but not only of an outside leg as you have originaly suggesed to her.


----------



## DraftXDressage

Actually, I would be willing to bet that's exactly how that horse is trained.


----------



## DraftXDressage

I think the reason we're getting crossways here is that I am trying to give advice to the OP based on the horse she is going to be riding right now, whereas you are advocating what you consider to be the ideal for a horse you consider correctly trained. 

We all have to start somewhere. Yes, there are more refined cues to be learned and trained. Absolutely. But the OP is just starting out and trying to learn to canter. There is no reason to make things needlessly complicated for her, because the lesson horses she's riding likely won't be trained to the aids you are advocating.


----------



## mumiinek

DraftXDressage said:


> Actually, I would be willing to bet that's exactly how that horse is trained.


That's (unfortunately) possible. However I was only reacting to your advice "You should only need to slide your outside leg back and give a squeeze to cue for the canter" and a statement that Jane Savoie would agree with that and even suggest her students to ride this way.


----------



## DraftXDressage

Perhaps inartfully worded on my part. I was responding to the OP's statement about "kicking" for the canter depart. The "only" was a modifier on the verb "squeeze," meaning that I was attempting to convey that she should "only" need to squeeze, not kick. I worded that poorly, and I can see where it would seem that I was saying that the only thing involved in cuing for a canter depart is sliding the outside leg back. Though for her purposes and the horses she's riding and the level of riding she's at, I do think that's all that will be required of her at this time. No, it will not give her a beautiful, straight, balanced depart, but there is a time and a place to learn about refinement of the aids, and she is not yet there.

As for my reference to Jane Savoie, I posted that in response to a comment from you that I interpreted to mean that you did not believe the outside leg should move behind the girth at all in the canter cue.


----------



## Spyder

DraftXDressage said:


> Perhaps inartfully worded on my part. I was responding to the OP's statement about "kicking" for the canter depart. The "only" was a modifier on the verb "squeeze," meaning that I was attempting to convey that she should "only" need to squeeze, not kick. I worded that poorly, and I can see where it would seem that I was saying that the only thing involved in cuing for a canter depart is sliding the outside leg back. Though for her purposes and the horses she's riding and the level of riding she's at, I do think that's all that will be required of her at this time. No, it will not give her a beautiful, straight, balanced depart, but there is a time and a place to learn about refinement of the aids, and she is not yet there.
> 
> As for my reference to Jane Savoie, I posted that in response to a comment from you that I interpreted to mean that you did not believe the outside leg should move behind the girth at all in the canter cue.


The purpose of the outside leg is to PREVENT the horse from swinging its haunches out. It is a *guard*, not a canter request. At the top level the rider's leg doesn't even touch the horse.

However most lower level horse are trained to canter with an outside leg back as a cue. These horses have to be RETRAINED when they are asked to do more advanced movement such as the trot half pass which IS the outside leg back.

I can't count how many low marks I have given to competitors that overuse the outside leg when cantering and you see then coming up the long side of the arena with the haunches virtually leading the canter.


----------



## FoxyRoxy1507

so then i have a question... if you're horse is trotting and say you need more bend in the body you would "squeeze" with your inside leg... how do you differenciate for the horse that you want more bend and not canter or vice versa?


----------



## Spyder

FoxyRoxy1507 said:


> so then i have a question... if you're horse is trotting and say you need more bend in the body you would "squeeze" with your inside leg... how do you differenciate for the horse that you want more bend and not canter or vice versa?



First why would you want more bend in the body? If the horse is already there you should not be asking more but to get *any* bend it comes from the INTERACTION of the inside leg AND the outside rein. This is something the rider will adjust according to what is wanted and how the horse reacts.

The other thing is that I don't squeeze for a canter but shift my hip/thigh slightly forward and close them on the inside. The leg will only be used if the aid is not understood ( on a trained horse it should never come down to a strong leg aid).


----------



## FoxyRoxy1507

what do YOU mean by interaction of the inside leg and outside rein.... to push the horse into the outside rein you would squeeze/push w you inside leg...


----------



## DraftXDressage

Spyder said:


> The purpose of the outside leg is to PREVENT the horse from swinging its haunches out. It is a *guard*, not a canter request. At the top level the rider's leg doesn't even touch the horse.
> 
> However most lower level horse are trained to canter with an outside leg back as a cue. These horses have to be RETRAINED when they are asked to do more advanced movement such as the trot half pass which IS the outside leg back.


First of all, we are obviously NOT talking about a top level horse or rider, so yes, she is going to need to touch the horse with her outside leg. In fact, she's going to need to do more than touch the horse, she's going to have to *gasp* squeeze! You can go on and on about how FEI level riders do it all you want, but that is going to be absolutely useless to the OP. She is not trying to execute one tempis, for heaven's sake.

I also disagree with your statement that the horse has to be "retrained" from the "incorrect" canter aid. As horses progress through their training, we are constantly refining the aids and their responses to them. As the horse's training progresses, it becomes more attuned to more subtle aids, such as the seat bones. The outside leg back has been used by riders across disciplines for ages, not because anyone has any burning desire to screw a horse up for its future PSG career, but because it is a clear aid that is easy for the horse to understand that achieves the desired response from a green horse. We are not talking about going from "wrong" aids to "right" aids; we are talking about going from relatively unrefined aids to something subtle and more precise.


----------



## Spyder

DraftXDressage said:


> I also disagree with your statement that the horse has to be "retrained" from the "incorrect" canter aid.


It will have to be retrained if the rider constantly uses the outside leg to push the horse over in an effort to attain the canter.

If the rider develops some smarts and realizes that this not only is a very crude canter aid and becomes a softer more refined rider before they hit the more complicated aids then no their horse will do just fine.


----------



## Skyseternalangel

ItzKayley said:


> I have no advice but I also get told to grip with my knees. :-S
> _Posted via Mobile Device_





LetAGrlShowU said:


> Gripping with your knees will close in your hip angle, push you forward, and mess up your lower leg position. I have never heard of gripping with your knees.
> Let us know when you speak with your regular instructor.



^^^^ please keep that in mind. I am a green rider who has had some very bad past experiences and I am now doing much better with my trainer (but I am moving in 20 days so urgh) eitherway... I get terrified of the canter because I got bucked off and landed square on my head FROM PINCHING WITH MY KNEES AND THIGHS..

Don't do it, love! Be soft and flowing and just go for it! I don't have the confidence to be a relaxed being yet.. my horse is slowly helping me as I am slowly helping him. But NO PINCHING!!!!!!!!!! Your sitting trot will improve much better... and also keep on your seat bones else you will be thrown forward, your legs back, and your crotch will hurt like no other as WELL as your horse's back!!!

~~~

As for the other posters, please make a new thread to discuss how you ride your horse and all of that.. it's not really helping her out.. there are billions of people, there are bound to be multiple ways of doing things... that's the beauty of it. Correct or not, it's about helping the horse..not scoring extra points or whatever.  I respect both of you, but keep in mind your discussion isn't reaaally helping the girl with her sitting trot.


----------



## Spyder

To Sky there is a thread already up on this and discussion on Draft's disagreement with what was posted ( canter aids) has always been there for her to to post her disagreement on so I must apologize for her disruption of this thread.


----------



## LetAGrlShowU

Where is a mod? There was a recent post that got very off track, as this one is and someone stepped in and deleted the non-neccesary posts between different users arguing. Agree to disagree and leave room for someone with consutructive words FOR THE OP.


----------



## Shasta1981

OP I would work on your seat to help you with your balance and the "bouncy" feeling at the sitting trot. Can one of your instructors lunge you without stirrups? You will be able to relax and work on you which will really help a lot! I don't agree with your instructors advice to grip with your knees. That will defeat the purpose of being relaxed and actually more likely make you tense up. As for the canter cue, I use inside hip and leg if need be. I was taught to use outside leg for years and it didn't help me any as I progressed. In fact, I have to take extra time now to really get it done the right way. I personally refuse to use the outside leg. Why learn how to do something incorrectly? Best of luck, you will get there!


----------



## MHFoundation Quarters

I cleaned up some of the disagreement posts. Let's keep it civil and agree to disagree.


----------



## vergo97

Thanks for all the reply's, some of them have been really helpful and I will use some of the advice given in my next lesson. I understand that there are different ways to get a canter, but I am on a lesson horse, who has lots of people riding him every week, and he is probably been taught to go into canter by me moving my outside leg back and giving a small kick. If i gave a small squeeze then I doubt he would do anything and my instructor would be wandering what I was doing. If I owned the horse, then I might be able to train him to go into canter using subtler aids, but as I don't and I am not very experienced (my first 9 months of lessons were at a different stables and they rushed through everything so I didn't learn much) I can't do anything other than what my instructor tells me. she knows the horses best so I trust her to know what will get the horse to canter. 

Sorry that this thread has caused friction between two members, I appreciate what you are saying but the horse I am on probably hasn't been taught the other ways to go into canter if everyone who rides him are doing what I am doing (just kicking or moving your outside leg back and kicking). 

Practice makes perfect, so the more I canter the easier it will probably get. I just worry that I will be made to jump to early because I might look ok going into canter, but it doesn't feel it. I also want to get my sitting trot better, but at my last lesson my instructor said it looked fine so she is still getting me to canter even though I feel insecure sitting the trot.

I'm not sure if they do lunge people as I have never been lunged before and my instructor seems to think that my sitting trot is fine and my cantering is almost fine.


----------



## MHFoundation Quarters

vergo97 - was your lesson mount possibly trained western first? That could explain a cue from the outside leg for a canter.


----------



## vergo97

I don't know, he could have been trained western. I don't know much about western, do they have different ways of asking for things?


----------



## MHFoundation Quarters

Yes. Most western horses are cued with outside leg for a canter. Don't know if that's the case but just a thought. 

I'm clueless about dressage!


----------



## vergo97

I have no idea if he has done western! I didn't think western is that common where I am, but he could be!


----------



## mumiinek

vergo97 said:


> I appreciate what you are saying but the horse I am on probably hasn't been taught the other ways to go into canter if everyone who rides him are doing what I am doing (just kicking or moving your outside leg back and kicking).


That's ok, of course you can't just retrain the horse. What we have been trying to point out was that although some people still teach this way of cueing for canter, it is not correct and if you will ever want to improve and start doing more advanced movements you will have to start using different cues (for example the "outside leg behind the girth" is a cue for half pass, so if you'll ever be attempting to do that with the horse you're riding, guess what he will do instead... but Spyder already mentioned that before). We just want you to be aware of what's correct and what's not so that one day, when you get very serious with riding and you get a professional trainer and he asks you to canter, you won't make him scream "nononono!" like he did at me  (I was also taught ouside leg back when I was young and spent quite some time readapting).

Good luck!


----------



## wild_spot

> That's ok, of course you can't just retrain the horse. What we have been trying to point out was that although some people still teach this way of cueing for canter, *it is not correct* and if you will ever want to improve and start doing more advanced movements you will have to start using different cues (for example the "outside leg behind the girth" is a cue for half pass, so if you'll ever be attempting to do that with the horse you're riding, guess what he will do instead... but Spyder already mentioned that before). We just want you to be aware of what's correct and what's not so that one day, when you get very serious with riding and you get a professional trainer and he asks you to canter, you won't make him scream "nononono!" like he did at me (I was also taught ouside leg back when I was young and spent quite some time readapting).


It is not correct *for dressage*.

There are plenty of other disciplines out there - And in many outside leg is the accepted, universal and successful method of cueing the canter.

For example when campdrafting, the cue for canter you have detailed is remarkably similar to the cue to ask your horse to counter-arc while tracking your cow in the yard before blocking and turning it.

Different is not wrong - Just different. 

Really, when it comes to cueing your horse, there IS no wrong as long as what you decide on works for you and your horse, isn't cruel, and isn't detrimental to your own of your horses health. 

There are hundreds and thousands of horses and riders out there that will never have need of, nor want, to do a half pass - And that is ok! 

OP - Listen to your trainer. They know how the horse has been trained - You need to ride the horse as it has been trained. One day, when you know what discipline you want to move into, you will find a specialised coach who will teach you the correct cues *for that discipline*. I am sure if you went into a lesson with a high level western coach and didn't use your outside leg to cue for canter you would get 'nonononono!'

There is huge variation across the vast world of horse riding, and I for one am thankful for that. Live and let live, I say!


----------



## mumiinek

wild_spot said:


> It is not correct *for dressage*.


Yes, that is what I meant. I'd been repeating that in my previous posts over and over again, but I should have probably repeated it once more.


----------



## kitten_Val

vergo97 said:


> Can you do rising trot into canter?


I personally always do at the moment. I don't practice too much of sitting trot as of yet (on my level), so yes, I just ask my horses for canter on posting trot. Frankly I don't see a big difference.


----------



## Allison Finch

mumiinek said:


> Yes, that is what I meant. I'd been repeating that in my previous posts over and over again, but I should have probably repeated it once more.


It has been heard. It does not need to be repeated every time someone disagrees. 

I think we can agree that there is not just ONE correct way to do many things. It is more discipline specific, and even there variations can exist. There is no winner here and a person's opinion is just that....their opinion, in the long run.


----------

