Have you ever wondered how to teach your horse collected canter but don’t know where to start? Well, in this week’s Dressage with Georgia episode, i’ll be showing you exactly how to start introducing collection in the canter!
I talk you through all of the key points which will help you successfully achieve collection… from the essential “building blocks” which we need to establish, all the way through to the riders aids when asking the horse to collect.
Here are a few general hints and tips from the video:
- The horse needs to gain strength and confidence during the collection work (it’s not going to happen over night!), so the best way to introduce, train and improve collection is little and often. i.e collect, refresh, reward, collect, refresh, reward.
- Always feel like you can ride the canter out and forwards to avoid the horse getting “stuck” in his/hers body.
- Make sure the horse is even into both reins to avoid the horse becoming too “curled” to the inside.
- It’s totally normal for horses to find one rein harder than the other so although it would be tempting to just do the “easy” way, ensure you practice the exercise evenly on both reins.
- Don’t grip too much with your knees as this will potentially confuse the horse as they might be thinking you are asking for a canter to trot transition. The collection needs to come from your half halt on the outside rein, your bottom (seat), and also the lower leg.
Hope you enjoy and learn from this video!
Georgia