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[RC] Canter Leads/Trot - k s swigartBeverly Kane said: Please see Truman's message of 6:39 AM today. He really says it all, especially the part about getting your communication down in the arena. I didn't see Truman's message; however, I cannot agree that this is something to "get down" in the arena. The trail is the ideal place for a horse to learn this. On the trail, you ask for canter departs, lead changes, shifts in diagonal, or whatever, when the trail/terrain requires it, then, if the horse doesn't listen to you (or doesn't understand because it hasn't learned it yet), the TRAIL will correct the horse for you and explain to the horse why it should have changed leads or whatever. In an arena setting, if the horse ignores you, it has the entire sand pit to play around in and do what it likes. Unless you are using the rail to force your horse to do whatever, there is nothing in an arena to correct the horse for not listening. Some of the ways in which the trail/terrain can be used for teaching assorted things. The canter depart on the __________ (fill in the blank) lead: Find a straight flat trail that has a turn to go up a hill. Trot your horse along the flat posting on the outside diagonal and just as you round the corner to go up the hill sit down and ask for the canter (on the correct lead for making the turn). Horses have a tendency to canter up hills whether you ask them to or not...just ask them for it before they are going to do it anyway. Flying lead changes: Find a switchback trail (perferably with decent footing and a not to steep upgrade and atleast 50 yards between switchbacks; however the sharper and steeper the turns, the better. Ask the horse to canter up the trail (doesn't matter which lead you start on). As you approach the first turn, if you are already on the correct lead for going through the turn, fine, just ride from your inside leg behind the girth to the outside rein to hold the shoulder from falling out as you drive the horse's inside hind leg up underneath it and do something close to what is called a "roll back" through the turn, setting your weight to the outside. Continue to hold the horse on this same lead (with what is now the outside leg and inside rein because you have changed directions). This will put the horse on the wrong lead for the next turn. As you go into the turn, straight the horse up, but hold that outside lead, and then just as you get to the turn, switch your aids to the inside leg/outside rein and shifting your weight to the outside just as you did in the last turn. I guarantee you, unless your horse is absolutely stiff as a board to that side and refuses to take that lead no matter what, the horse WILL come out of the turn on the other lead. If you start out on the wrong lead for the first turn, you can just skip the first part and go straight to the second part. As the horse becomes more familiar with the exercise, you can apply the inside leg/outside rein/weight shift before you get to the turn so the horse changes leads before it gets to the turn instead of at the turn. The horse will have learned to listen to you, since you are telling it that it would be better off on the other lead. As the horse becomes even more familiar with this, you can ask for the lead change long before you get to the turn, and the horse is now in the habit of listening to you; however, it takes quite a while to get to this step, since you have to develop the habit. Multiple flying lead changes in quick succession: (After you have done the previous exercise) find a curvy (not too sharp of turns) trail that changes directions every 10-40 ft (preferably one with obvious "sides" to it like trees, but not a ledge). Canter the horse into the trail and ask it to hold the same lead through out the entire movement back and forth (so yes, you are going to ask the horse to switch back and forth between the true canter and the counter canter FIRST). You will discover that you have to use your aids quite a bit to "hold" the horse in the counter canter (and in the counter canter you bend the horse in the direction of the lead NOT the direction of the turn). The reason you will have to hold the horse in the counter canter, is that if you don't the horse may start cross cantering instead. After you have done this a couple of times on either lead, THEN ask for the lead change at every direction change in the trail. Then switch back and forth between asking for the lead changes or asking the horse to counter canter. If the horse doesn't listen to you (either when in the counter canter, or when asked for a lead change) it will be about as uncomfortable of an experience for both horse and rider that you can come up with. The horse will PREFER to do what you ask, especially when you start asking for the lead changes. Teaching collection and extension: This exercise can be done at both the trot and the canter. Find a trail that undulates (i.e. goes up and down with slight grades), if it has some flat bits as well, so much the better, and it is easier if there aren't too many or too sharp of turns. Starting in the trot, ask the horse to extend going up hill by opening your hand and your thigh and pushing with your calf behind the girth; then collect just before going down hill (using the half halt). The horse will be only too pleased to extend going up hill, and if the horse doesn't listen to you when you ask it to collect before going downhill, it will slam onto its front end on the first step of the downgrade, and will think to itself "Oh, that's why you asked me to do that." After the horse understands the aids at the trot, you can repeat the exercise at the canter. ALL of these exercises and aids are far easier for the horse to understand on the trail than in an arena; and they are much more fun for both horse and rider, so they are more likely to actually be done :). After you have coopted the trail as a training assistant and your horse has learned what you mean, THEN you can go into an arena and ask for the same things and maybe even get them even if the arena won't correct your horse for you if the horse doesn't listen. If anybody is interested in additional trail training exercises where you can use the terrain to teach your horse, let me know....although it may take me a while to get around to answering them. These are the basic ones. kat Orange County, Calif. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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