Explosive canter

[Laks0007]

Looking for a bit of advice or exercises to try.

I am riding a friends horse at the moment. He isn't ridden by anyone else and I have been working on his schooling. This horse is an ex-racer, he is very excitable/perhaps anxious, but he is very sweet. He isn't a bad horse, just green. I have been working mostly at walk and trot doing lots of bending and transitions and he is doing very well. However I find the canter work very difficult. The first issue is the transition - it's so explosive. He doesn't run into canter, but just explodes into a very fast canter. Even if I canter around the school 7 times I just can't seem to slow it down! ( small circles don't work as he can't sustain the canter) He finds it difficult to canter around corners and tries to come down to a fast trot.

Any tips for exercises to improve this ?

I also have another issue with him - he is very bad at hacking alone. Where he is kept, in order to get to off-road hacking I have to ride down a quiet country road. He is quite nappy, jogging calling to his friends and feels like he is about to explode. Stops and tries to turn back, but with reassurance he will move forward and really seems to enjoy being out. It's more anxious excitement. Anyway, while he is having a paddy he is totally unaware of the traffic and moves into the middle of the road even if I stop on a grass verge. At the moment I always ask someone to walk on foot to control the traffic, but I'd like to be at the point where I can go out alone. I absolutely don't mind him having his paddy in the forest or on a quiet bridleway. On the road though it's just so unsafe.

I can only get up to the stables 3 times a week due to work and nobody else will ride him atm.

Any ideas ?

I'd work on improving his balance in walk and trot before asking him to be balanced in canter, lots of suppling exercises,circles, serpentines, half halts, transitions etc. Also worth checking saddle fit, back and hocks are okay.

Before you ask for canter, always ask on a bend and half halt before asking quietly. I would work more on the trot to improve your canter though. Some horses work better with a light contact, if you're holding him back all the time he will pull against you, ask and release is usually the way forwards.
As for the traffic issue, I know it can be difficult, but I'd only take him out on the roads with a traffic proof companion for now,
build his confidence in small steps, leading or long lining rather than riding for a while might improve his confidence, and try to make hacking a bit boring, if its a plod out he's less likely to get wound up.

@bodgeitandscarper

Thanks, already doing all of these exercises and poles on a corner and he is going very well. Engaging well in an outline. Halt to trot transitions. I always ask on a bend. He is super responsive with a light mouth, so maybe I could give him a little more rein. I think because I know the explosion is coming I probably subconsciously tighten the rains.

Guess I'll just have to keep doing what I'm doing!

Unfortunately, I don't have a bomb proof companion at the moment, but when I did not a foot was put wrong! Maybe I can go 10 metres up the road and back after schooling and just increase it.

First things first, have you/his owner had him checked out recently and ensured he isn't hurting anywhere? Always advisable to get physio and saddler to check them regularly when being brought back into work as they can change shape quite quickly, and canter, particularly the transition into canter is a classic point when they will go 'ow!' as they have to lift their back and push from the hocks to make the transition, TBs in particular can be prone to spine issues so with what you describe as an 'explosion' my first thought might be some low level pain making it harder for him leading to the overreaction.

If not, then I would probably have some lessons on him to get an experienced person to help you out, as he is green and hasn't been worked much correctly there may be lots of things going on to do with his balance, self-carriage, straightness, flexibility, impulsion, rhythm (or lack of same) and the 'fix' may be different for different horses and riders, its hard to say without seeing him. Lots of people will say 'work on his balance/strength/flexibility in walk and trot and the canter will come', and I don't think that's wrong per se, but in my experience with my mare who massively struggled with the canter when I first had her, you actually have to do lots of canter work to improve the canter. Mine is a cobby/native type not a TB but her tendency is to motorbike around dangerously unbalanced before falling into a horrible rushy trot/tranter with legs everywhere, and is also a very anxious/stressy type so sounds not dissimilar to your boy.

By 'do lots of canter' I don't mean laps and laps of the school, quite the opposite. I don't think I cantered more than a single 20m circle on my mare for over a year. I mean lots of short bursts of canter (sorry I know the transition sounds like the worst part, it was on my mare too so heart sunk when I realised I had to do lots of them over and over again!), always always trying to ask for a proper downwards transition before she fell out of canter by herself or rushed off in a panic, even if that meant doing only a few strides of canter at first. Then slowing/containing the mad rushy trot back to a normal/balanced situation, getting her to relax a bit again, then asking her to go back up into canter. Gradually I worked towards longer and longer periods of canter, with her being able to bend and let go of the tension, rather than fixing her neck and stressing, and being able to carry herself rather than leaning on my hands. Lots of praise for even a tiny bit of improvement. I'd repeat the process as many times as I could over maybe a 15-20 minute session, but stop as soon as I could feel her tiring or getting over anxious, as then I knew we wouldn't get any further progress.

I know it sounds a bit mad but my instructor had us doing shoulder fore in canter down the long side - I thought she'd lost her mind asking me to do a medium-level test move on a horse that couldn't canter a circle , but gaining control of her shoulders helped me contain the rhythm and got her off her forehand and carrying herself a bit more - not saying it looked like Valegro and Charlotte or anything but it helped me! I guess what I am saying is sometimes asking for something a bit harder can help with the easier stuff in a bizarre way. But it was certainly a long process requiring lots of patience and sometimes it was a bit one step forward two steps back and I did need lots of help from my instructor.

I think also any work you can do to build up his strength and fitness out hacking will really help you, ideally lots of hill work, cantering up a hill with you in a light seat will encourage him to use his back end and lift his back and also should help give you some brakes . Lots of horses just don't ever hack out brilliantly alone I'm afraid so if you are able to find some hacking buddies somehow that would really help. Otherwise I think again patience and persistence with the napping/anxiety when he's alone is the only way, keep sending him forwards when he does it and massively praise forward movement even if it's more/faster than you wanted, sit quietly through the paddies is the best I can suggest?

Although thinking about it, do check with his owner how he is cantering in open spaces before you go for your blast up a hill, the teenage ex racehorse at our yard (retired for over 15 years!) still persists in believing he's on the gallops the second his owner goes into light seat and he would be certain to tank off with her if he was asked to canter behind others, luckily if she sits up he tends to stop pretty quickly but I can see that would alarming if you weren't expecting it !

I’m a huge fan of ex racers but they have quirks.
Is it out of control fast the canter? They are bred to cover ground with speed and efficiency. Ive ridden lovely horses that feel quick but it’s just a powerful horse with a whacking great stride. I wouldn’t be cantering laps and laps, I’d literally be working on a few strides on a circle and bringing it back. Don’t just let him bomb down the long sides and motorbike the corners it really reinforces the behaviour.
Also especially if he’s from a flat yard and never been over sticks he’s probably never cantered in a school before. I’d really try and work on a few strides nicely than a long canter.

Have a look at Kelly Jewel on YouTube for some exercises specific to ex racers

Hacking alone is something very very very few horses would ever do in racing so it’s really scary to them. Can you long rein him or is that going to be an ordeal?
Is he ok in company?

After ruling out pain checks it sounds like a classic green horse that has no balance in canter. He will never slow down even on a circle as u say he then drops out, that's because he is balanced or strong enough to slow it down

Time and strengthening is the only answer. Do some lunging in canter. I'm a great believer that if a horse can't balance on a circle without a rider it will never balance with one!

Then when you are riding don't do lap after lap! He will fall more on the forehand and it will just get worse. Short and sweet and lots of transitions

Have an ask round and try and find an instructor in your area that's working

Agree with pp about all the physical checks etc. Then I think you have to bear in mind that explosive canters are what race horses are trained to do. He's only doing what has been asked of him.

I spent a couple of years retraining an ex racehorse I had on loan. IME the best way to establish a canter transition was on the lunge. I worked on getting the signal more and more subtle until I only had to make a slight movement through my core for her to go into canter. This also meant I wasn't on board to wind her up! Then once I started riding the transition again I would make the same slight movement. It calmed everything down for both of us.

I made sure she could comfortably canter a 20m circle on the lunge before trying with my weight on her. She needed to develop the musculature and balance without my interference. Once I started riding the canter I would then just ask for a half 20m circle. If you trot a 20m circle starting at A or C, ask for the transition as you're leaving the track. Canter across the middle of the school and ask to come down into trot as you're heading back towards A or C - where he wants to break anyway.

Watch how much they anticipate a transition as that will be both a blessing and a curse!

For hacking alone, I made sure I did lots of groundwork. Once I had her following me with just a headcollar on, no lead rope or lunge line, and making changes of direction and walk/halt/ trot transitions using my body language and voice I felt much more confident of control out hacking. She looked to me more for cues. And then if hacking alone I would trot everywhere except down the steeper hills and the last half mile home. Once she settled to that, I reduced the amount of trotting and she actually came to hacking out on her own like a 'normal' happy horse. To start with though she needed to see it as a job, and to keep moving forward.

I had a horse that would burst into canter and was very unbalanced. I found that if I let the rein go a bit, and got out of the saddle (so not really interfering with him) he would settle after a couple of circuits of the school. This may not work with an ex racer.

Also, on the advice of a very decent instructor, we started going round a small course of jumps. This really gave him something to think about and his canter improved immeasurably after this. Again, not the generally accepted way if doing things.

Canter poles were bloody awful, he never did get the hang of those!

I would firstly get him an all over MOT for pain / teeth etc.

He needs to be balanced in the walk and trot to help the canter. There’s a fab exercise I use in trot and canter- on a 20m circle, play with circling with inside bend and outside bend. At some point, when the trot is balanced and you’re in outside bend, flick to inside bend, and whilst in the process, ask for the canter transitions when the neck is straight. One motion, two actions - flick the bend and ask for canter. Really stops them running off immediately. Get a good instructor too!

And ask for the hacking.... well I’m old school and I’ll tell you there’s not many bad hackers that can’t be fixed by going hunting. Cured my mare from dangerous, napping, dropping shoulder and spinning mare in one meet. Now she is bombproof and will hack anywhere alone. She’s just a twat in company and won’t stand