A common problem I hear over and over again is of the horse that canters wildly around the arena, either with a rider or on a lunge line, seemingly without any ability to control this breakneck pace. When riding this kind of horse, it seems as if it’s a constant battle of pulling pressure to slow the canter down. When lunging this kind of horse, there is a constant drag on the lunge line, it’s chaotic and out of control and the end result is often some nasty rope burns across the hands (key point: wear gloves!). Many aren’t sure what to do or how to work on getting this horse to slow down.
This is typical of a horse that hasn’t learned to shift his weight onto his hind end while being ridden or one that hasn’t been taught correctly before working on a lunge line. I usually will tackle this problem in one of two ways. First I determine if the horse is doing this because he’s underdeveloped in his back and hind end muscles and hasn’t learned to carry himself, especially with a rider, or if he’s doing this because he’s being naughty and disrespectful to the rider/handler. Usually what I find is that it’s a combination of both these, especially in the older horse. With a young horse it’s often the case that he just hasn’t learned to carry himself. There is a lot that can be done to help develop his back muscles and his mentality so that he can shift his weight back and develop that slow, collected canter we all love to ride.
For the older, broke horse that looks to be physically developed along his top line and hind end, I’ll usually do my work while riding. I’ll start off riding at the walk then lots of trotting on a loose rein while keeping my seat light on the horse’s back. I want to warm up his back and get it loose and swinging. I’ll do circles and serpentines to help with bending; I’ll do some shoulder-in and two-tracking to help with lateral flexion and to break any stiffness in the neck. After some time at the trot with these exercises, I will then ask the horse for the canter. This is where the real work comes in. Make sure your horse is in a full-cheek snaffle with a looped rein – this prevents the bit from being pulled out of the mouth from the side, it’s mild enough you won’t hurt his mouth and the looped reins give quicker and greater control without the risk of dropping one.
The moment the horse accelerates into a gallop (that fast canter we don’t want or didn’t ask for), whether it’s in the first stride or the tenth stride after I’ve asked him to canter, I will take up the inside rein and spin him in a circle. You have to be careful with this and timing is important. If you let the horse accelerate too much before you try to spin him you run the risk of offsetting his balance and having him fall down – gauge the size of your circle according to the horse’s development and balance but make it tight and small enough to create WORK effort! The idea is to catch the horse at the moment of acceleration and spin him in circles. While pulling him in this circle, use your outside leg to apply pressure and to encourage the shoulder to move around the hind end. Do a couple of tight circle spins then get right back on the arena track and push the horse immediately into the canter. And repeat, over and over again. Your horse will sweat a lot and you’ll get pretty worn out too BUT, in a fairly short time, this horse will begin to understand that accelerating faster and faster when all you started with was a simple cue to canter is a lot of work! Make sure after you ask him to canter you take the cue away so as not to encourage faster and faster speed!
You are in essence teaching your horse a couple of things with this exercise: when he chooses to do it HIS way, it’s a lot more work and, he needs to pay attention to your cues – when they stop, no more is needed! Usually you work this exercise in one direction one day and the other direction another day. After a few sessions of this, your horse will realize it’s a lot less work to just stay in that slow canter and WAIT for a cue for more!
With a young horse, one that is weak and underdeveloped in the back and hind end, or one that is especially naughty and disrespectful of people, I’ll start with work in the round pen, move to the lunge line then get to riding. If the work is done correctly and some time and consistency are spent in the round pen and on the lunge line, there usually won’t be any issues once the horse is being ridden.
In the round pen it’s a good idea to start a horse off without his being attached to a lunge line. This allows one to control the horse’s forward motion by turning him and prevents a tug of war happening on the lunge line. So with a youngster, or a horse that tends to bolt around the round pen, I will make him change his direction often and have him canter a little beyond the point when he wants to stop (please read other sources on how to work your horse in a round pen as it is too long to discuss here). The basic philosophy is that if he ISN’T going to listen to you and give you the response you’re asking for with the cue you’re using, then his way is going to be a lot more work! In this way the horse will decide that it is much easier and less work to WAIT for you to give the cues and then to give the response required for that cue. By doing this in the round pen you start to teach your horse to pay attention to you, your verbal cues and your body cues. After you’ve established the “rules” of the game, so to speak, you can usually put your horse on a lunge line without having too many problems. Keep in mind that at this point you have already taught your horse the move his feet cue (usually a cluck), the “whoa” command and the basics of pressure and release which is established in the round pen by using body position and proximity when working without a lunge line.
When first putting the horse on a lunge line, keep the circle small and work again on the move your feet cue, the “whoa” command and the pressure and release concept but this time using both body position / language and the physical pressure of the halter /lunge line. In a small circle working at the walk and trot only, make sure your horse is respectful and paying attention to your cues. If he isn’t, go back to free lunging him until you have his focus. After you have the walk and trot coordinated and smooth in a small circle on the lunge, expand that circle. When you can work the horse at the walk and trot on a 20 meter diameter circle (about 65 feet) with control – the horse is listening to you, respectful, waiting for your cues, giving to pressure on the lunge line and stopping when asked – then you can ask him to canter. He should transition into a smooth canter that doesn’t yank your arm out of the socket or increase to breakneck speed. Once you actually start riding this horse at the canter, it should be a pleasant experience after you’ve translated the cues he’s learned on the ground to cues you use in the saddle.
In the case where the horse does bolt when you ask for that canter on the big lunging circle, try using some pressure and release on his head with some soothing vocals. Usually this will be enough to slow him down considering all the work done prior to this point. If this doesn’t work, bring the horse to a stop and make the circle smaller. Try again. If the horse still bolts, misbehaves and doesn’t listen it’s time to head back to the round pen and review concepts again as some step hasn’t been worked on enough in the earlier stages.
Most problems with our horses can be attributed to one of three things:
- You’re asking and the horse isn’t listening
- You’re asking and the horse doesn’t understand
- You’re forcing and the horse is scared, panicked, frustrated, fighting back (This usually starts with #2)
We can help our horses “listen” to us by doing exercises with them that focus their attention and by giving them choices with consequences that have to do with work effort. We can help our horses understand us by becoming better riders and taking the time to learn about horse behavior. And of course if you have a horse that listens and understands what you ask, then you’ll rarely have a horse that is scared, panicked, frustrated or fights back and you’ll end up with a good riding companion!