Cantering Corners
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QUESTION:
My 5yr old part trotter mare struggles to canter corners. She either just turns her head and 'drifts' with her body, falls back to running trot or goes dis-united.
however on hacks she canters corners fine, what am i doing wrong?
ANSWER:
It sounds like your mare is struggling to keep her balance when cantering corners. I assume you are working her in an arena, as you mention that she is all right when out on a hack.
The most likely problem is that you are pulling the inside rein when asking her to canter around a corner in the arena. When there are fences (or boards) on the edge of a school we tend to feel that we must pull the horse round or otherwise it may not turn and therefore run into the barrier. This action will twist the neck of the horse but not turn its body, the horse’s weight falls into the inside shoulder, the outside shoulder drifts out and the hind quarters swing to the outside. The horse becomes very unbalanced as it is no longer travelling in alignment and it will almost certainly change legs or become disunited. Out for a hack you probably feel less inhibited as there is more space and you keep a more even feel on both reins. She may also be very stiff laterally which will make your corners more difficult.
Try cantering a 20 metre circle in the school paying particular attention to your body position and your rein contact. Your inside leg should be straight down (the “pillar” around which the horse turns), your outside leg back from the knee to help hold the hind quarters of the horse on the line of the circle and your shoulders and hips should be on the axis of the turn or circle. Never twist your body and always sit centered and light. You should maintain a contact on the outside rein to determine the size of your turn or circle and to connect the outside hind leg of the horse to your hand. Your inside hand should be soft, just enough to place the horse’s nose on the line of the turn – never pull! Always look on the line of the circle between the horse’s ears.
When you can canter a 20 metre circle comfortably in both directions then you can try going large. Don’t ride too deeply into your corners to start with and sit still and centered. As the mare becomes more balanced and supple you can try to ride deeper into the corners. Some basic exercises in walk and trot would help to supple her laterally as would transitions which would improve strength and engagement.
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