teaching children to canter and pony! long

[ojoj1869]

has anyone got some good ideas of how to teach children to canter. both my duaghters are riders but used to riding school ponies who either dont canter or when asked to canter just do it and stop at the other end of the ride...
have had loan pony since summer who is great but has been used for predominately leadrein previously... both daughters aged 8 & 10 have been off lead rein for approx last 2 years plus..can manage pony fine in walk and trot halting etc....when i tried to first introduce cantering in the school elder daughter just about manage to get pony to canter though from very fast trot so have been working pony on lunge in canter and pony will now strike off on correct lead when asked without rushing using voice, have lunged eldest on pony which was fine now need to put the two together in canter but not sure whether to do it on the lunge or not....youngest daughter tends to bounce alot and has cantered pony down longside of school but lost confidence when pony spooked shot off round school put 2 bucks in daughter sat those but came off at gate corner...my nerves dont help having seen my daughters both come off this pony....have had someone else ride this pony and she goes like a dream but with the more experienced so not sure if this will work out as i doubt whether my girls will get there to be able to enjoy this pony...they want to do allsorts but on the leadrein but i feel that is going backwards and doesnt really teach them to ride this pony...both daughters will happily jump on 14.2hh on yard and canter 20m circles etc...help not sure what to do....

[Gail&Merlin]

Have you thought about an indipendant instructor? i know kids seem to be less confident when mums watching...lol

[ojoj1869]

yep girls have had an instructor was coming once a week but we ended up going down the jumping route!! which was fine in trot but when pony broke into canter after jump and shot round the corner girls ended up on the floor and hasnt helped confidence so i stopped lessons and the jumping before xmas as to be honest instructor hasnt done anything that i couldnt do with them but she was getting paid for it...really feel daughetsr need to master canter before doing anything further... so thay can establish their seat and then stay on when pony goes round a corner in canter..

[lovelylace]

hrrm, it can be hard sometimes to get it right, I wouldnt worry too much about the pony running a bit into canter at first, at least if you have him cantering the girls can work on their balance, their bounciness and of course the more they do it the more confidence they will manage to build up...However if they are scared to go at it solo it might just tense them and the pony up so it wont really go anywhere...so in that case i would have them on the lunge for a bit, then you can give them the security of having them on a line and they can work independently on their seat and their balance...once they get that and they can start using their aids a bit more independently then you can get the lunge rein off but still have them on a 20 metre circle and take it from there....

[Ryan&Dizzy]

ild go for starting them on the lunge rein if youve got the pony going OK on the lunge. but i wouldnt worry too much about getting them cantering... if there happy just walking and trotting ild leave it at that untill there ballance is better. personally when i was little i rode a little pony that bucked as she went into canter and she got me off soooo many times! after that i didnt canter a pony for yrs! to be fair ive had Otto for 3 yrs and im 18 and have only just started cantering him in the school just because ive been focusing on get both of us properlly ballanced before asking him to.

they can do first ridden class etc without cantering and at local shows if you ask if they can go in other classes and not canter most judges dont mind (thats what i do!!) and if they work more on there ballance in walk and trot, canter wont be a problem.

but then again im only 18 and dont (thank god) have any kids lol!

[ojoj1869]

interesting about the first ridden classes as i thought they had to canter, last summer we did do local shows leadrein which we did very well placed first my youngest rode and my 10 yo did in hand and i had thought that this would be her last season to do leadrein as she is now 10...are you sure they dont have to canter...balance is fine in walk and trot its the canter bit....i,m sure the more they do it the more confident thay will become and they will see the pony sisnt going to do anytihing silly...its just seems one step forward 2 steps back....

[Ryan&Dizzy]

im pretty sure they dont have to...at both shows local to us they dont!

[eskimo]

Your Children will find Cantering on a circle far more difficult if they havent the balance to sit the canter. I normally start by asking for a couple of strides down the long side. Which means that the child has to get every thing in order i.e shorten reins, sitting trot, basically as soon as they a get to the first corner. They then ask for Canter on the way out of the corner and proceed down the long-side & should trot by the next corner. It sounds like you have been doing that.

How much sitting trot & work without stirrups have you done with the children?? This helps to lengthen the leg and create a deeper seat & help with balance especially helpful to those who find they can't sit canter well. I would teach sitting trot on the lunge, i would also take away there stirrups on the lunge doing some fun exercises. It really does help get an effective balanced seat, good enough for cantering!!

[tammy68]

Been there! I would strongly recommend (if you haven't already done so) using a neck strap for your children. A stirrup leather done up round the neck will do, just make sure it is long enough for them to get their hand under and sit up. If you try to get canter on the lunge then, because it is on a strict circle it is more difficult for the rider as they will feel they are being thrown outwards, also, if you have to check the pony at all then it tends to make the pony turn in more and throw the rider off balance to the outside, unless the pony is really well schooled on the lunge and is both steady and responsive. I found a good way was to start off with just a few strides of canter on a straight line, so if in menage get the child to ask the pony to canter as she comes off the corner of one short side and with you standing at the next corner which gives her something to aim for and the confidence that she is heading for you and so you can stop her if she feels she can't.

I did this with a girl who had lost her confidence big time. She had been dragged across concrete when she came off a pony at a riding school. She was still desperate to ride but didn't feel she could trust and let go. Her confidence was rock bottom. I started by getting her to ride to me and then return to walk. She now has her own pony and does a bit of everything with her. Her confidence is totally restored. It is a year since she first came to me for help.

Just thought too, my son, who is not madly horsey learned to canter in the summer last year by popping over a little jump and then if the pony cantered on it was in a straight line in the fields. He has good natural balance but is a little loose in the saddle so it looked rather hairy at times to say the least. He has been riding on and off for the last 3 years and found learning the basics too boring. He decided to try some small jumps in the field and has never looked back. He is not keen on riding in the manage as he finds it boring, but will now hack out and ride in the fields and loves cantering and jumping.

[KoLaTo]

Echo Eskimo's comments, i am the meanest toughest mummy around as far as my daughter is concerned due to the excessive work without stirrups that i ask her to do. However she has got one of the strongest and balanced seats at 8 yrs old that i have seen for a long long time. Our orange lad is also one of the shoot off and bounce all over the place variety (have posted loads of stories about him before!) but to be honest, i really don't think she would have got this far with her skills if we hadn't had him for the last two yrs. She still has at least 2 lessons a mth with my instructor friend plus summertime when we can use the arena i give her lessons myself. The lingering problem that we have left is that orange knows damn well that he is stronger than smallish and despite her best efforts, he still has a penchance to shoot off in a school to the nearest corner and nothing will stop him, even tried the head round to the knee and he still carries on........ daughter is now used to it and can sit it out so the emphasis this yr is to get them working together properly in a school or arena without his strange panic attacks...... lots of confidence building exercises between them as he still considers me the leader instead of smallish.........

After all that, yes keep to cantering little and often on the lunge or a few strides down the straight sides, if nothing else, it will instill confidence in your daughters knowing that you have hold of the pony if he/she does decide to speed up and whizz a corner.

Good luck, i know just how frustrating it is when a small wilful pony takes advantage just because they know the passenger isn't quite as up to speed as the ground person !

[KoLaTo]

Ooh yes tammy, definitely a neck strap, best investment i ever made for a bit of security !

[KoLaTo]

Just had another thought, have you a safe sensible pony to hack out ride and lead? This also helped my daughter immensely when learning to canter as i had hold of her at all times. But the lead pony does have to be of the non-racing variety otherwise you have a good battle of wills on your hands - LOL

[ojoj1869]

with my previous loan horse who didnt bat an eyelid at anything aged 24yrs i had eldest daughter on pony on the leadrein and we cantered up a stubble great feeling, the second time was a bit more hairy as pony knew what was coming but definately makes mums feel better when they know they,ve got hold of the pony too!!!!!thanks for all replies certainly seems as though i have been doing the right things just to perservere.....my daughters are so eager to do things that together with the pony they arent quite there yet....have pong day at local venue this sunday with jumping and games have just emailed to see if able to games on leadrein and think pony will be off if not....not looking forward to all the running though!!!! good fun....