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Canter Cues

2K views 16 replies 10 participants last post by  cbar 
#1 · (Edited)
Canter/Lope Cues

How do you, *personally*, cue for the canter? Some mess with the shoulders or hindquarters. Some tip the head to the inside or outside. Some ask with one leg or both legs. etc...
 
#3 ·
From a walk or from a trot?
From a walk , for a rigjt lead. I watch the right front leg. When it is going forward I cue with my left leg on his left flank , just a bit further back than where
Y leg normal rests You may ask why time it that way? Because at the walk the next leg to move after the right front will be the left rear, so this sets the horse up to strike off on the correct leg
 
#7 ·
I rode with a very opinionated German trainer once who would tear you apart if you leaned forward to ask for the canter. She said it would unbalance the horse by putting them on their forehand, when you really should be asking for the horse to lean back/collect and use their back end to push off into the canter. I tend to believe that way of thinking, but hey, whatever works!
 
#8 ·
Don't tell Bandit I'm unbalancing him. He doesn't know. It amazes me what horses can do if no one tells them they cannot.

More to the point, it isn't like I start lying on his neck. Leaning forward a few inches doesn't change a horse's balance significantly at all. A horse heavy on the forehand is under striding his front legs for the thrust of the hind legs. A horse can rebalance himself by simply taking slightly longer strides with his front legs.

Bandit is an 800-850 lb horse who was ridden in 10-15 mile races while carrying riders who weighed 200-265 lbs. Add a western saddle and he was cantering with as much as 300 lbs on his back. While weighing well under 900 lbs himself! Trust me. My weight shift in leaning forward slightly doesn't bother him at all. Horses actually KNOW what they need to do to affect a change in gaits, unlike humans.
 
#11 ·
your leaning forward is more of a sign of your intent to increase your 'life' (or , energy). For some horses , this is enough to trip them over into a canter. For others, they become irritated, and simplly run faster at a trot becuase they feel the sense of falling forward, or , at best, being 'tipped' forward.


If a person wishes to have a horse step into the canter from the hind end, rather than from 'falling' into the canter from the front end, they need to take a bit more time to ask the horse to set itself up correctly, to pause momentarily, and to strike off with the outside hind FIRST. This produces a canter depart that is uphill in nature, while riding a horse forward in a faster and faster trot, and leaning forward, will often 'tip ' the horse over from a trot into a canter, and it is initiatied with the front feet first, so starts with a downhill orientation.

Both canter departs have their place. But, asking a horse to gather itself, slow for a split second and depart into the canter from a hind end produces a more elevated and collected canter.


It really depends on what you are seeking. If you want to set the horse in a very specific lead, so that you can canter best an upcoming circle toward the left, for example, you want the horse to strike off with his outside RIGHT leg, and you will need to have a very fine control of that.


If you are simply ambling down the trail and you decide to have a faster gait, you can simply increase the 'life ' in your body (transmit the intention to go faster) by leaning forward and perhaps raising your hand, and perhaps kissing . . and your horse will pick whichever lead it naturally falls on . . . and you'll go forward faster and have a lot of fun.
 
#10 ·
As I was taught- bend the neck slightly depending on the horse to the inside, outside leg, and sit deep. Some horses at this barn need to know you're serious. My cue for them is "let's go" -crop- or -kick-. Usually after two times, a lazy horse in the lesson will immediately go after I say "let's go".
 
#13 ·
One more point. My arena is more like a round pen. It is quite small. I've taken to going to the street, turning Bandit around, and telling him to stop and stand there. When I'm ready, I'll shift balance, kiss and squeeze - and the next time his feet hit the ground, he's in a canter. A decent canter, not one heavy on the front end.

A horse can go from a complete standstill, not moving, and be at a canter in one stride. I cannot set him up via body control because we are just sitting there, flatfooted. Yet HE can do it just fine. If he knows what I wants, and is willing, he can make it happen. He always has total control of his own body and he has cantered thousands of times in his life. My job is to let him know the goal and not get in his way while he does it.
 
#17 ·
I am currently working on the canter with my green mare. We do not ask for it until she is in true bend at the trot...and going nice and relaxed. Only then do I ask - and currently only ask by mostly a verbal cue (as this is what she knows from lunging), which is a kiss. I do apply a bit of leg, but I don't want her to rush into it.....I try to use forward impulsion in my seat, but at the same time sitting tall and back. I want her to use the impulsion from her hind quarters to power her forward.

My gelding on the other hand is an Off Track Standardbred. For him to canter, it helps if we are at a slight incline. And I usually have to give him the bit to lean on....so I hold him with the reins and kiss him into it while giving inside & outside leg. I am working on having him go into a nice relaxed canter without leaning on the bit - it is a challenger. But same thing - sitting up tall and back.
 
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