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I have been doing a variety of work with my mare - always keeping in mind that she is only 4 in April. I notice that she is one-sided and also has difficulty cantering. I think it might be a balance issue as well. And her saddle is not the best fit, so I am going to test an RP. With all that said, I'm wondering what else I can do to help her along.

On the longe, she has learned the voice commands well, but she is significantly better on one side than the other. I longe because I want her to know how to do it, as well as a warm up and get her focusing on me. She will go quite well counter clockwise and will rarely fuss (except to pick up the canter). In the clockwise direction (i.e. with me on her right side), I can get only get one or two circles out of her at the trot before she will try to slam on the brakes and switch directions. I have been trying to change her directions often so that I switch her before she tries to do it herself, but I still can only get her to go one or two times around before she will try to switch.

In both directions, she always hesitates to canter. She pins her ears and then canters. She sometimes canters on the wrong lead or will give a little buck and switch her back feet.

Under saddle, I have been doing circles and figures eights at the walk and trot - on her stiff side, she will always try to cut her circles. She will pin her ears if I ask her to canter, but she will canter for a short distance. I try to do this on a straight away rather than a circle, because I have been taught that it is easier for young horses to do straight lines than it is to do circles. She is very heavy on the forehand which I expect at her age, but she seems to have trouble getting the right lead or feeling comfortable cantering. She will occassionally do a little buck which is what she does when she needs to switch her legs around. I am trying to be as easy on her as possible and not interfere too much because she is obviously not too sure of herself. I will ask her to canter a few strides and then bring her back to a trot.

I'm wondering how long it takes for a young horse to develop that ability to canter under saddle, or to canter on a circle (a large circle)...She has been under saddle for a few months now, but I am only now beginning to ask her to canter a little bit. I want to make sure I am not pushing her too much.

 

Lysane

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