Question # 187: I'm working with a horse that insists on coming above the bit in the transition into the canter. She has a solid canter, a balanced counter canter, and can do the 1* canter work pretty darn well...
...but can't seem to get it in her head that she is balanced enough to stay on the bit in the transition. She will have a good transition maybe 1/3 or 1/4 times and it's rarely the same, but the most success I've had is with a bit of outside bend and posting into the canter. Any exercises, tips, help? (Catherine)
Hi Catherine!
Transitions are a very clear test of the quality of your connection. So when your horse comes above the bit in the transition to canter, she is telling you that her hind legs were not sufficiently up underneath her body, or she was not 100% through in her back at the time of the transition. Read this article on throughness for a full description on that quality, and read this article for an exercise to help increase your level of throughness. You will likely and hopefully find that after working on this exercise in the trot until you feel like it is going well, your transitions to canter are improved.
Also read this article on improving canter departs, where you will find some exercises and advice for achieving more fluent and quality canter departs. Many times it helps to focus on exercises which... (Click on Question Title above (in blue) to read full answer)
Sorry this page is available to subscribers only. If you're not a subscriber why not join today?
