Your horses won't canter help

Answer 1

I know three ways:

1.Sometimes using poles will help.

2.you could also try to get your horse into a working trot and make him work hard. trot small circles, figure eights, anything to get him working, and then do whatever you have to to get him to canter, whether its a whip, spurs, ect.(im not saying be violent, but sometimes you just gotta get your point across) and let him rest at the canter. just drop the reins an let him canter where ever he wants. once he drops into a trot, work him again for a while and get the canter again.

3. get into an open place, out of the arena or in a bigger pen and see if the open space frees up his feet a little.

you also might want to look and see if the saddle hurts him. if a saddle is pinching a horse, the canter is where it becomes the most obvious, so if cantering is hurting your horse, then no wonder he doesnt want to.

Answer 2

It could be sore; either it has a messed up back or something or the saddle does not fit correctly.

If you ride in a small arena or round pen he may feel as if the place he is in is too small for him to canter. try getting him outside the pen in a pasture or something.

And maybe the horse doesnt understand what you are saying. Try to help him by setting everything up so that the easiest thing to do would be canter. Try to get him going up-hill or use poles spaced out about the legnth of a normal canter stride. You'll have to experiment to see what legnth works best for you horse though.

Maybe your horse is lazy and just doesnt want to. In this case, get him working at the trot. circles, figure eights, extended trots, ect. just get him WORKING at the trot. Then ask for the canter. If you get it, praise him and drop the reins, letting him relax at the canter. If he drops into a trot again, repeat. If you didnt get the canter the first time, keep working him and maybe give a stronger signal the next time.

You could also just keep asking for the canter until he gives it to you. one trainer I know of has 3 signal to get a horse to go faster. squeeze with your legs first, then kiss/cluck to him, then whip him with a mekate (rope with a leather peice at the end) or a whip or whatever else you use. Then repeat it over and over until the horse canters.

When you get you horse cantering, don't worry about the leads. just praise him and let him relax. And make sure to check for physical problems before trying the third and fourth options. If the option 2 doesnt work, then it probably is a physical problem.