Tips for creating a softer contact?

[kt with Hanni]

Hi,

Cody my new horse seems to have quite a sensitive mouth. I'm using a hanging cheek snaffle. However when I go into canter sometimes I tense and therefore fix my contact on the reins this is what I believe led to me falling off the other day. We were cantering uphill and I was trying to keep a distance from pony in front and probably fixed my hands and then he didn't like it causing him to basically put in a half stop and me going out the side door as I still had the momentum of cantering - well this is what my friend said that happened.

I am a little nervous cAntering in open fields And have a bad tendency to fix my hands as if almost to make sure I stay on if he spooks. He doesn't like this at all. How can I make sure I relax and give with my contact?

Thanks

[portiabuzz]

Neckstrap to hold?

Sent from my GT-I8160

[alonerawnut]

If you're cantering in a forward / 2-point seat, you could try bridging your reins, so that you have that contact against his neck to make you feel secure and can use just little squeezes of your fingers to steer or slow down.

I also have the 'eek-we're-going-a-bit-fast' tension thing. I've been having lessons on some quite forward-going horses, just to get used to the feeling that we're not really going that fast and using my breath and body to slow down, avoiding any tension in the reins, trying to stop myself automatically pulling at them.

[janwilky]

I do sympathise, I used to do that too and it made my old pony buck. Lessons helped me, as did having a very sensitive horse - Lucas was far too explosive to be able to get away with pulling on the reins and I did learn to stop doing it, though stopping myself from tensing up at faster paces was harder. Bridging the reins and holding a neck strap at the same time helped as I could pull on that without pulling on the reins. Ultimately, having a pony who is very sensible in canter (dear Bambi) is what really allowed me to let go and enjoy a proper razz without being half terrified, though I do still grab a handful of mane now and again out of instinct.

Can you avoid cantering in open fields until you're feeling a bit more confident? I felt less vulnerable cantering on uphill tracks when I was a bit nervous, and later on found that open fields had become less scary because my confidence was greater and I trusted my horse more. It takes time with a new horse, especially when you've had a bit of a scare or a tricky one previously. This is my second summer with Bambi and I'm far, far more at ease with her in trickier situations and at faster paces than I was last year. Last year I was very careful where I cantered as I didn't want to scare myself. This year I'm pretty much up for anything she's up for, but taking my time getting there was important, as was having hacking buddies who understood and accepted that.

Good luck

[portiabuzz]

Good luck KT

Sent from my GT-I8160

[ruthp]

Sounds like a lot if us have been here! For me the first thing was becoming aware of my tension - initially I didn't even know I was doing it. And having become aware, I then practiced relaxing my shoulders in walk and trot, to get my muscles used to what I wanted them to do in canter. I also do the same when riding my bike and scooter, keep softening those shoulders. And the final breakthrough was just to keep pushing myself to ask for canter, even though I was a bit nervous. Bali tended to take off a bit in canter, and I think that was partly because I was so tense, and partly because it was a rare treat.

Now I often ask for canter, but I never pick up the reins first, to avoid giving an inadvertent signal. This means that if I do suddenly tense, I'm not hanging on to her, but if I do want to shorten the reins my hands are busy, so less likely to immediately go into that rigid tense position.

Oh, and I also have a balance strap on the saddle to use if I really can't resist the hanging on to something! Another trick is to practice riding with the reins in one hand (you can hang on with the other if you want to!). - it's much more difficult to tense up for some reason.

[janwilky]

I was riding Bambi up the top fields this morning and we'd just started cantering up the wide field margin where we usually have a bit of a blast, when a crow flew out in front of us and spooked her a bit. She bounced sideways a couple of times and I lost a stirrup. I pulled her up, got myself organised and asked for canter again all without tensing up or either of us losing our composure - I just wanted to write that by way of saying it can change, you can find your confidence and learn not to tense up, that would have scared me a couple of years ago but I took it in my stride today. Though I shall shorten my stirrups a hole next time we go for a razz

[ruthp]

I went for a hack this afternoon, and I was thinking about this question. So, a few more ideas.... Practice your sitting trot - this how your back wants to feel when you're sitting to canter.

Don't pick up your reins or lean forward when you ask for canter. Just ask with your legs, and stay sitting up with a nice soft back. Gather the reins once you're in canter if you want to. When you want to slow down, stop cantering! I know this sounds mad, but if you stop with your bum, your horse will stop too.

This time last year, I was in exactly the same place you are, so stick with it, you can enjoy that relaxed canter again!

[kt with Hanni]

Thank you all for your advice. I am having lessons twice a week so working progress. The only cantering we have really done is on hacks as we don't have a school and the fields a bit uneven so my instructor wants to borrow a school and practice my cantering.

I like the rein bridging idea and Ruth that's makes complete sense it's just have the nerve not to gather the reins although I know he'll go much better if I'm relaxed... My sitting trot is work in progress and I'm very bouncey- never understood how your supposed to relax!? So I'm guessing my current sitting trot I probably don't want to use in canter.

How on earth do you relax and sit deep in sitting trot!?! So frustrated at my riding

[janwilky]

Whereabouts in the country are you KT? If you're anywhere within reach of Cheshire I'd highly, highly recommend a simulator lesson with LisaP.

Years ago, before she had Rocky the simulator, I went up to have a lesson with Lisa on her lovely old pony Badger, who's sadly no longer with us. My reason for wanting the lesson was so similar to your current situation, I felt tense and unbalanced in canter and needed some help to relax and feel more balanced. To my utter horror Lisa had me cantering round the school with no stirrups within 5 minutes , though she did let me do a bit of sitting trot first just because I was so terrified! I can quite honestly say it was the best riding lesson I've ever had, bar none, it made a huge difference to my confidence in canter and my riding generally and I've never forgotten Lisa saying "what problem with canter?" as I zoomed round the school quite happily within a few minutes. When I lost a stirrup this morning in canter I realised I had a choice whether to pull Bambi up or just carry on, I didn't need to panic because I knew it was perfectly possible for me to canter without stirrups because Lisa had proved it to me. I pulled up more to check I could than because I felt particularly unbalanced. 

I've had a lesson on Rocky too and that was also very helpful, especially as straight afterwards I had a lesson on a real horse at New Barn. If Lisa isn't within striking distance for you though, hopefully your own instructor can help if you can borrow a school.

[nich]

oo I really NEED a lesson with Lisa. i have lost my nerve cantering on a circle/in a school, after years of 95% hacking, when all cantering has been done in a forward seat on an uphill track. Brio is rather lively and opinionated, my instructor asked me to canter in the flattest field we have and I just didnt dare. cantered back up the (steep) hill to proove I would canter, and she just commented that there's my problem - so used to a half seat, where you dont have to use your seat.

[lizpurlo]

I'm with Nich on this one. When cantering outside, you need a shorter stirrup so that you can close up all the angles - ankle, knee, hip - and have your feet well home in the stirrups. I've often demonstrated how much more secure you are when teaching the jumping position at Pony Club. First of all stand up straight and lean slightly forward with a straight knee and outstretched hands - then get someone to hold your hands and suddenly give them a sharp jerk. Then do the same with all your angles closed, and fold forward from your hips, bum out behind, as if folding over a jump - and get the other person to pull your hands sharply again. And you'll feel how much more secure the second position is, if your horse suddenly stumbles or puts his head down.

I would always recommend a shorter stirrup and half seat when cantering out on a hack. Long stirrups and a dressage seat make you much wobblier!

[ruthp]

Whilst I agree in principle about the forward seat when cantering on a hack (and that's what I've always done in the past) I've found that sitting to the canter can be really helpful when trying to overcome tension caused by anxiety. Firstly you don't significantly change your position to ask for canter, so your horse doesn't get an early cue and leap into canter before you want him to. Secondly it's much easier to keep a relaxed rein when you are sitting - if you're tense and in a forward position then you are almost inevitably going to cling on to the rein, which in turn is likely to make your horse fight against you, thereby increasing your anxiety. Also, when you're forward, if you want to ask the horse to slow down it's easy to make the mistake of leaning further forward, rather than leaning back - and this can give mixed messages to your horse. It's much easier to sit down and lean back to change down a gear if you're already in the saddle.

So, while trying to overcome this particular issue, I would personally recommend that you try and stay sitting - it really helped me. And the fact that you find sitting trot difficult says a huge amount! And don't get me wrong, I'm in no position to criticise, I too was being bounced out of the saddle in sitting trot! But if you can sort that out (think soft, flexible spine, absorbing the movement) then it will really help in canter, which is much easier to sit to anyway.

[portiabuzz]

i was always told to sit deep in canter when the horse rushes off in my BHS lessons. I naturally went forward but she said encourages them to race off. Im a speed freak though lol

[lizpurlo]

Yes, pb, that's very true in the school. But outside, when cantering on a hack, you are more secure with a shorter stirrup and a half seat, and a feeling of your thighs being like iron bars which act as buffers. If you see what I mean. And when you feel secure like this, it's much easier to control your horse's speed, and you're far less likely to wobble off!