SLOWING DOWN THE TOO SPEEDY CANTER

Lunging sessions work wonders for helping horses understand that cantering is a balancing act, not a rush job. But you can’t just send a speedy horse out on the lunge line and expect him to get it. You have to mix things up quite a bit to get the horse to think about slowing down and carrying himself in a balanced manner. This exercise is a good example. So, if your horse's canter is more like a gallop to the finish line, you might want to give it a try. 

Set Up: On a lunge circle, set up a jump with the pole about 1 1/2 to 2 feet high on the outside and resting on the ground on the inside. Note: in the first step of this exercise, you will be only be using the three-quarters of the lunge circle that does not include the jump.

Step One: Trot your horse toward the jump, but rather than sending him over it, ask him to halt, turn toward you, back up 3 steps, and then change direction. (Hopefully, you have already taught your horse to back up when you jiggle the lunge line. If not, now is a good time to start.) 

Keep up this part of the exercise until your horse is performing it calmly and rhythmically. If he gets excited and breaks into his normal speedy canter, spiral him down to you as quickly as possible to encourage him to stay at the trot.

Step Two: Begin asking for the change of direction as your horse is backing up. This will get him sitting down a bit on his hind end and lifting his shoulders up and away from you as he turns around. It’s like getting your horse to do a little rollback on the lunge line, and it effectively gets him re-balancing himself each time he changes directions.

Here Kelly is asking Milo to simply change directions.

Here Kelly asks Milo to change directions while backing up. Note how
he must lift his shoulders up and away from her to make the change. 

Once you get the little rollback during the changes of direction, and your horse is handling everything calmly, proceed to the next step.

Step Three: Start trotting your horse over the jump, but continue asking for a change of direction (with the little rollback) after each crossing. Ideally, you want your horse to trot three-quarters of the way back to the jump before you ask for the change of direction, but calmness is top priority. If needed, prevent excess excitement after jumps by bringing him down to walk for a minute. Remember, the whole point of this exercise is to help your horse slo-o-o-o-ow down.

At some point within the first several crossings your horse might, on his own accord, begin cantering out of the jump... in a noticeably slower, more rhythmic and balanced canter. He will probably be able to maintain it for only three or four strides, and that's okay.

Those few steady strides are worth a thousand of the speedy, unbalanced ones. So allow him to return to trot on his own several times before pushing for more. 

Now, if your horse does not begin cantering out of the jump on his own, you can encourage him to by: a) driving the trot slightly faster a couple of steps before the jump; b) raising the high end of the pole a little higher; or c) raising the low end of the pole off the ground (just make sure you set it on a block so you won't have to wrestle the lunge line over a jump standard.) 

Once your horse is consistently cantering calmly out of the jump, start encouraging him to maintain his new canter for one or two more strides and return to trot only when you ask. Work toward getting him to maintain that steady canter for half the circle. 

Stay patient and reward often. Your horse is learning to carry himself in a whole new way and these things take time to develop.

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