19/10/2024
Why do some horses panic, bolt, kick out, or buck in the canter transition or in the canter itself?
There is a mental, an emotional and a physical side to this issue.
Lets start with the mental and emotional side: when and why do horses canter in nature? Horses move almost 22 hours a day, grazing slowly forward in a walk. When they spook or play there is short bursts of trots and canters. Often they also trot or canter to their water sources and back to the grazing site again.
When they canter because of a spook, there is tension throughout the whole horse- stiff neck, head held high, back hollowed, tail tucked in. Not the kind of canter you wish for when you ride! However, most horses I meet have been working in a 'Fight or flight' mindset their whole lives. Especially if dominance based training methods come into play- the horses do not trust the rider, they do not relax and changing into a canter stride must be the signal to flee then!
Horses cantering when they play with each other is already a much more pleasant sight. They often want to impress each other and therefore move big and beautiful. They arch their necks and move proudly. Their brains are in an open frame. This is the kind of mentality and emotion I would desire for the canter with me on top. We just need to make sure it does not get too excited by staying calm, breathing slowly and having no wild images in our head...
Lastly there is a huge physical aspect to issues in the canter transition: Horses naturally move in rather straight lines. In the case of going on a half circle in a canter, they would naturally shift their weight onto the inside shoulder, and bend their neck towards the outside. The head would also be tilted to the outside. This all aids the purpose of fast and safe flight. All opposite of what we desire when we ride! We have to teach horses how to use their bodies differently. We need to mobilise their shoulders, back and hips. We need to straighten their natural crookedness. We need to build strength and shift weight onto the hindquarters and bending the haunches. First, all of this needs to happen without the riders weight. Only if the horse can balance itself perfectly at liberty, it will be able to accomodate the rider too.
So overall we need to take two major steps in the training for a great canter transition and a collected calm canter itself- we need to establish a trustful relationship, in which canter is play and not flight, as well as establishing the physical requirements necessary to meet our demands.