# What are some good exercises to improve balance at the canter?



## ThatNinjaHorse (Jul 26, 2009)

try lunging maybe?
Trail ride too with a fair amount of canter is good i think.
I'd get her checked out by a chiropractor too, just to be safe


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## riccil0ve (Mar 28, 2009)

Make sure she is really balanced at the trot before you try and canter. Also make sure that your canter transitions are smooth. Ask for a canter from a good, steady trot. If she trots faster, bring her back to that nice steady trot and ask her to canter again. My mare has such a big canter, it's been really hard to get it balanced and upright so that I can actually ride it, lol. She also crossfires fairly consistently. I find that when I can "perfect" the trot, she doesn't crossfire. We do lots of circles and serpentines at the trot to get her bending, and I have to make sure that I myself am super balanced, otherwise it throws her off. Good luck!

Oh, PS. I find doing lunge work at the canter only lets me see her crossfire. It's hard to get her to balance on the lunge line, but you can correct the crossfire when she does it. When I lunge my mare and she does it, I give an "Ahh!" and bring her back to a trot and pick up the canter again. I would also rather ride than lunge though, so we don't do it very often. It also helps if, while you're riding, someone watches you so they can tell you when your horse crossfires. Sometimes, my mare actually starts on the two different leads, and it's kind of hard to tell if she is right or not.


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## mom2pride (May 5, 2009)

Do you have an arena, or large round pen you can work in? 

I am doing this with my Appy now, in which I put him in a gait, and don't guide him with the reins, just let him go where ever he wants too...the only time you interfere is if the horse speeds up (into a different gait), or slows down. If she speeds up, do some large circles to get her to slow down, and if she slows down simply cue her to pick it back up. My boy has no sense of 'rating' his speeds, due to his previous rider's lack of experience, so rather than 'hanging' on to him I'm just putting him in a gait and 'forcing' him to figure it out. He is also learning how to balance himself on his own (he's lazy and doesn't like to pick up his feet), which is why it will probably benefit your girl; you're not interfering, you're just there to correct her if she speeds or slows.


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## Valentina (Jul 27, 2009)

Use counter canter to help her balance. First level Dressage has "movements" with counter canter that will help.


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## mayfieldk (Mar 5, 2008)

With the canter being as dynamic as it is, 'cantering more' does not improve the canter. Jean-claude racinet (sp?) said to a horse, there is no 'good' or 'bad' canter--they only give you the ONLY canter they can at the time, given their current state of fitness and balance. Philippe Karl says that you can't really improve the canter, from the canter--the canter is a test of balance for all gaits. If she has bad balance at the canter, chances are, she has bad balance in the other gaits too--they're just naturally more stable so you don't realize it.

Start doing transitions, and build on them. Don't go asking for walk-to-canter transitions, she can't do them yet! Walk-to-trot is good, walk-to-stop. Trot-to-walk, eventually trot-stop. You're not trying to chase her in and out of the gait, you just want the transition to be smooth. Don't hold onto her head when you ask for the transitions, let her find her own balance. Making a pretty big circle, ask for at LEAST two transitions in one rotation. LOTS of transitions build up your horses topline, which she'll need to canter. Start doing leg yields and shoulders in at the walk and trot--by loading all of the weight onto one back leg seperately, it begins to teach the horse to take more weight on both legs when traveling straight.

Remember, the canter is a measure of your horse's progress, not something you just keep doing to improve! If you have any questions on the exercises I suggested, just ask.


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## kevinshorses (Aug 15, 2009)

Mayfield K Excellent advice. I ride western but I wish I had some dressage training as I think everyone should. There is so much going on with a horse that most of us are missing but you can't miss if you want to be any good at dressage. The funny thing is that I rode in a Ray Hunt clinic (Ray was as cowboy as they come) and he said the exact same thing. If it doesn't work at the trot it won't work at the lope.


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## mayfieldk (Mar 5, 2008)

Thank you!  Ray hunt knew a bit of 'cowboy dressage', which is much better then none at all, and he was an incredible horseman. I actually ride western pleasure and APHA Huntseat horses, but I ride them with a LOT of classical dressage principles.


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## RoadRider / Rios Dad (Jul 2, 2009)

riccil0ve said:


> Ask for a canter from a good, steady trot. If she trots faster, bring her back to that nice steady trot and ask her to canter again. .


I have an endurance horse. I want a good long trot and I want to be able to ask for trot at times without breaking into a canter.
I also have a really good canter and I want to be able to almost stall the horse in his canter with breaking into a trot.
SO I never ask for a lope from a trot, never. I always go to a lope from a walk or stand still.
I never allow the horse to break his lope into a trot, never. I ask for a walk while cantering and the horse drops in a stride down to the walk.
This way I can really push the trot without breaking or I can really slow the lope down without breaking.
Lots and lots of circles in an arena teaches the horse balance. In the beginning I would ask for the lope and then just hold it around and around, large circles, small circles but constantly circling. First left and then right to work both sides equally.


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## kevinshorses (Aug 15, 2009)

It is evident when you watch a western pleasure class which riders understand dressage principles and which riders just bully thier horses into dragging around at some absurd imitation of a trot or lope. Incidently I was talking horses with this guy that sounded like quite the expert and I mentioned Ray Hunt and he got this blank look on his face and said "who's Ray Hunt". I knew then that he had a lot to learn but I doubt if he ever realized it himself.


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## kevinshorses (Aug 15, 2009)

RiosDad said:


> Lots and lots of circles in an arena teaches the horse balance. In the beginning I would ask for the lope and then just hold it around and around, large circles, small circles but constantly circling. First left and then right to work both sides equally.


 I would disagree with that. Transitions develope balance not circles. Changing direction and speed will help more with balance than endless circles and won't result in a bored horse or rider.


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## mayfieldk (Mar 5, 2008)

I agree, circles do not force balance. Neither does going slow--SLOW does not make a horse collected, but a collected horse CAN be slow. Only goes one way. 

Your horses must have very tense backs if you NEVER ask for a lope from a trot.


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## riccil0ve (Mar 28, 2009)

I think what RiosDad does works for him and his horse, which is great, but I personally wouldn't give out his advice to anyone else. It just seems like it would be such a nuisance to be going along the trails at a good trot, and when you decide you want to canter, you have to walk again. I'd rather just start cantering. 

I really like mayfieldk's post. It was very informative. =] I do think you can improve the canter while at the canter, by doing things like spirraling, and collected, then extended, etc, but I don't think you can improve much without first having a great walk and trot. I also think circles can improve balance, but not endless circles. When my horse gets goofy in the trot, I can throw her in a 10m circle and by the last half, she's underneath herself again, and not running around like a giraffe on crack.


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## kevinshorses (Aug 15, 2009)

A giraffe on crack would be AWESOME!!


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## RoadRider / Rios Dad (Jul 2, 2009)

riccil0ve said:


> I think what RiosDad does works for him and his horse, which is great, but I personally wouldn't give out his advice to anyone else. It just seems like it would be such a nuisance to be going along the trails at a good trot, and when you decide you want to canter, you have to walk again. I'd rather just start cantering.


I have a good sense of pace. Also if you ride with anyone else nothing is more annoying then a leader that speeds up , slows down. It makes for a bad ride for those following you. If you have a horse that breaks his trot while going down hill the next horse breaks too etc etc until the last guy finds himself either flying along or running into the back of the horse in front. A horse that holds pace, doesn't slow up going up hill, doesn't speed up going down makes a good leader.
Horses bouncing back and forth are annoying.
I will pick a nice lope and hold it for 45 minutes or a hour. I dont' bounce back and forth between the trot and lope.. I take corners, go through ditches, cross paved highways all without breaking the lope. My horse has this sense of pace built into him too. If we are trotting he will hold that trot until told to walk and not before. If loping he again holds without any reminders. His sense of pace.


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## riccil0ve (Mar 28, 2009)

That's really isn't the same thing though. I can keep my horse at whatever speed of trot I want her at, and if I want her to canter, we just start cantering. Nor do I feel the need to let her trot super fast, because it just isn't as comfortable to ride to. It's easier to canter. And I say that because you've said before you wanted to push your horse in the trot without breaking into canter.

Like I said, your system works for you and it's great, I don't mean to bash on it. It just doesn't make sense to me, or my style of riding I guess. I don't mean to get all in your face about. =|


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## CloudsMystique (Mar 3, 2009)

Woah, thanks for all the replies. I left for vacation after my post had been up for a few days with NO replies. I didn't check on it for a week and when I came back there were 15. So sorry for not responding until now.

I have some great ideas now. Thanks everyone!


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