Natrlhorse wrote:
I dunno if this will help, I don't use any voice cues when working with horses (I don't drive any of them yet so don't need them). It seems to be the easiest way to get a horse to move out without any worry or hassle is to use another seasoned horse as a helper, or a colt, whatever works. You could just have these horses loose together or you could ride your arab and "chase" the other horse. That gives your horse a fun job to do so she isn't worried about her surroundings or her rider and she will likely carry herself better since she is focused on something. Experiment with whatever works, once she gets the hang of moving out with a buddy it will be a lot easier to ask her to move out by herself.

This seems to go along better with what I was thinking of. The thing is to find someone willing to trail out with me and canter as I ask. xD The horses in a pasture thing, not too good an idea for me.

kinberi wrote:
She may be hollowing because you're bareback. When i ride my boy around the pasture bareback he tends to hollow his back more than undersaddle. In the saddle i can get off of his back easier and get better collection. My appy at one point refused to canter in the ring, he would canter on the trails behind other horses and alone but wouldn't canter in the ring. I at one point got so frustrated that we did a fast trot for a few sessions while urging him to go faster, he eventually figured out that cantering was easier than going around the ring at a fast trot. We perfected the transition later when he understood what i wanted.
I never considered that, but it would make sense. I will see how she goes in a saddle, when I get one that fits properly. xD

myfurrypanda wrote:
I was thinking about it.

You say that when you ask your horse to speed up, you let her get almost to the trot and then collect her to ask for some sort of gait (I know nothing about gaits). So that's probably what she's accustomed to. Maybe she's getting confused about you asking her to move all the way up to the canter... she might be expecting/waiting for the collection, and when it doesn't come she gets confused and doesn't know what you want. Horses that are accustomed to a lot of contact can get upset if they are "thrown away".

One of the greenies I rode had a crazy trot to canter transition. She would balk, and then rush into when I insisted. I would get startled and pull back, and she would break. She was so confused, I didn't know what to do. Now, I was lucky because she was fairly small, she was VERY sensitive on her mouth and had incredible brakes. And I had a saddle, which definitely helped me feel more secure. I started just asking her to canter, and riding out whatever I got. We ended up galloping sometimes... but she learned that forward means good, forward means no correction, forward is fun. Once she realized that, she naturally became more relaxed in the canter. That pony had the smoothest little canter I've ever sat...

I agree with the people who say you should try to get a saddle... although I know it can be quite the investment image they aren't cheap. Even if you're not pulling on her mouth into the canter, when she gets uncomfortable and hollow and scooty, you probably tense up even if you don't realize it... to stay on, and just in case she does something unpredictable. Especially without a saddle, she'll be able to feel everything you're doing... if you feel unrelaxed, she'll probably feel the same way.

Yes, she is collected, at this point she doesn't even try to trot unless I am really, really pushing her. It's a good thing and a bad thing. xD I had her on a very loose rein when I encouraged the canter, so that may be it. I did try today with contact since she was friskier, but it didn't make much difference. =) And yes, I do tense up because her extended trot is VERY bouncy. She probably hates me bouncing on her back even more than I do at that time.

ImproperUsername wrote:
First, teach the horse with groundwork to lope/canter on the 'kiss' cue.
Then hang a couple of flat little RUBBER pans from each side of the saddle (saddle horn if Western). Lope the horse in ground work with those. They're annoying but not terrifying. Good prep for carrying a rider at the lope, altho one hopes that one rides better than a pair of rubber pans. image

Next, ride at the extended trot. Really push for a fast trot and then frequently cue the horse to stop and praise and reward him. The idea, get him used to becoming calm again immediately after becoming excited.

Then push for the lope from the extended trot. As soon as the horse begins to lope, cue for a stop and let him rest. Repeat several times. The idea is that you stop him before he can scare himself or become overexcited. He also learns not to fear the lope. If you got him loping then loped and loped and loped, he might learn to hate it because he'd get so out of breath.

I will try to finger out a way to adapt that, thank you.image

One of the boarders literally just GAVE me her saddle, since she just did not want it. I'm going to see if it closely fits Calypso and my butt, and then bring out a saddle fitter and later send it out for adjustments if it does. =) If not, I can use my saddle and this "new" saddle to sell and save for one that does fit (she said I could sell it myself if it fits, she just doesn't want it, I think it's dusty, but underneath looks like it's in good condition).




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