The Canter Explained

Your questions about the canter answered, part 2 of 2

by Jane Savoie

Last month’s Q&A covered questions like “How do I use my hands and seat in the canter depart? What rein aids, if any, should be used?” If you missed this column last month, find part one online at www.nwhorsesource.com. This month, the answers continue...

Question

What aid do I use to go from canter to trot?

Answer

The primary aid for any downward transition is a "stilled" seat.

• Sit with equal weight on both seat bones and stretch up tall so you have a gentle curve in the small of your back. I call this posture a "ready" back.

• Brace your lower back in a stopping, non-following, or retarding way by tightening your stomach muscles like you're doing a sit-up.

• When you brace your back, your hips stop following the motion of your horse. Your non-following hips signal him to drop down to the next slower gait.

• To learn the feeling of stopping your hips, simply sit on your horse at the halt. Focus on the immobility of your seat.

• When you ask for a downward transition, mimic the way your seat feels in the halt.

• To practice your stilled seat, pick a point in the ring or on the trail. As you pass this spot, make your body immobile.

Question

How do I keep my horse on the bit during the transition back down from canter to trot?

Answer

Let's say you want to do a downward transition from canter to trot on the bit. Remember, if you want to do a transition on the bit, you need to give two sets of aids at once:

• Ask your horse to stay on the bit during the transition by giving the connecting half halt before, during, and after the transition.

• While you're in the canter, start your connecting half halt.

• After giving the half halt for a couple of seconds, add the aid for the downward transition by tightening your tummy muscles.

In the beginning, it may take a few seconds for your horse to respond to your seat. No matter how long it takes, keep giving the connecting half halt until he listens to your seat and drops into the trot. Maintain the connecting half halt until you're trotting for at least two strides.

Note: If your horse does the downward transition from the half halt itself, you're either using too much hand and not enough leg or he's behind your leg. He should wait to do the downward transition until you actually still your seat. The connecting half halt is just for keeping him on the bit. It's not the aid for the downward transition.

Question

When we're cantering, my lower leg and knee creep up and my stirrups dangle on my feet (both left and right). What can I do while I'm working alone, which is most of the time, to improve my leg position at the canter? I realize lunge line lessons would improve my position, but that's not an option right now.

Answer

It sounds like you're gripping with your knees and thighs for balance. Think about relaxing your knees and thighs and letting your legs hang loose so that you feel your feet supported by the stirrups. Sally Swift has a great image for this: she says to imagine your legs are so long that your bare feet are dangling on the ground and you can feel mud squishing between your toes.

Question

I was initially taught to ask for the canter with the outside leg, as are most people. However, as I progressed in dressage, I was taught that although my outside leg was behind the girth in the canter transition (to tell the horse which lead I wanted), I actually asked for the canter with my inside leg, at the girth. Is this right?

Answer

Absolutely. The outside leg tells the outside hind to strike off. (The outside hind leg needs to strike off first for your horse to end up on the correct lead.) Your inside leg at the girth tells your horse to go forward into the canter.

So, you do end up using both legs, although the emphasis changes from your outside leg to your inside leg as you and your horse become more advanced.

Question

I unconsciously lean forward as I ask for the canter. Should I stay upright? Should I lean back?

Answer

Stay upright, but push your inside seat bone toward your horse's inside ear during the depart. As Kyra Kyrklund says: pretend there are arrows extending down from your seat bones. You'll push your horse's hind legs in whatever direction your seat bones are pointed. So when you lean forward, your seat bones point backward, and that's the direction you'll send the hind legs. By pushing your inside seat bone forward, you bring the hind legs with you and underneath your horse's body.