My advice for you is to get him into the canter then stop him before he even thinks about stopping. Work in short, brief sets of a couple of strides. When he picks up the canter when you ask him, let him go a couple of strides then bring him down. LET HIM KNOW that YOU are bringing him down, not that he gets to do it when he wants. Do lots of transitions and possibly work on half-halts to get him lighter in the front end. A lighter, more balanced horse will pick up the canter MUCH easier. From my experience in training youngsters, you can't push for too much. Ask for a little and reward a lot when you get it!

image