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Pasha
Platinum Member
 England
3622 Posts |
 Posted - 25 May 2012 : 4:22:10 PM
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I keep hearing about this Sleepy Canter but how do you teach it?
On our own Shesky has a nice and controlled, but very active canter! In company he is like an Exocet missile! Much better at the back (buckaroos if in front)!
In the school I can lengthen and collect very easily - he is currently schooling Medium, however, I can't canter for too long as he then starts looking for entertainment 
We have only done one ride so far - Ashdown Forest last year where he spent the first mile I reckon Deer Leaping and then every canter after that was hair-raising including multiple bucks at speed! At 16 you would think he should know better!
Hoping to do Ashdown and Windsor this year but would like to be more in control! Walk and Trot are fine btw  Thanks
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Zawadi
Junior Member
Wales
32 Posts |
Posted - 26 May 2012 : 06:10:18 AM
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This is best (so far as I have seen) described in pages 180 - 185 of Leonard Liesens' book.
There are several preparations, cautions, and tips - so you really must read it first - but the essence is to get the horse used to cantering (initially) for an hour at a time without slowing to trot, getting them to relax into a slow steady rhythm, and taking it in stages up to 3 hour canters with only occasional stops to drink.
This is really intended for horses fit enough to compete at this speed over longer ERs, so may not quite fit with your intentions....
Chris. |
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Pasha
Platinum Member
England
3622 Posts |
Posted - 26 May 2012 : 09:23:30 AM
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| Thanks Chris! No I'm not sure we could canter for an hour lol! |
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Liz100
Silver Member
United Kingdom
370 Posts |
Posted - 26 May 2012 : 3:54:02 PM
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| Stupid question, but it does concern me - do you have to change legs frequently when cantering for long periods? I would have thought that if a horse favours a particular leg they would get to be very one sided. |
East Yorkshire |
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Sue J
Gold Member
Wales
914 Posts |
Posted - 26 May 2012 : 5:47:48 PM
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Unfortunately most of us don't have anywhere to just canter for mile after mile in this country and so it can be difficult to train your horse do just lope along. My mare is very buzzy and takes some time to settle in the canter  , she tends to go up of the ground rather than forward. I found it useful last year to go to Wolverhampton race course where they have a circuit 1 mile long. This taught her to lengthen her stride and relax more into the canter.
Liz it is not a stupid question at all and the answer is that in my experience and from what I have learned from other more experienced riders, it is best to come back to trot for at least a few strides every so often (we do it at one particular point on the track) before going back into canter. This helps to re-balance the canter and stops them getting heavy in front. We also try to go in the opposite direction so that they are not just using the one leading leg.
Sue |
Welshpool
Welsh/Shrops border
   
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shah
Gold Member
England
1356 Posts |
Posted - 30 May 2012 : 08:31:12 AM
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It takes 2-3 rides for them to start settle down They tend to find it very exciting in the beginning and then once they know what it's all about and start to realise that they are going much further than a normal hack they tend to start pace themselves (doesn't apply to all horses mind you but most learn eventually, some just take longer).
You don't really need the sleepy canter (I call it a lope) until you start doing longer distances and faster rides so I would focus on developing your trot. Much better to get into a good trotting rhythm that you can keep up for miles than doing short spurts of exciting canter. You shouldn't be doing much walking at all, only really if there are restricted sections (Windsor used to have a walk-only stretch) or if you need to catch your breath.
On Shah's second ride he was absolutely adamant that he wanted to gallop up a hill in the beginning of the ride. I said ok but you will regret it and I could tell that he really did regret it towards the end of the ride as he started to realise how far we were going. He never asked to gallop or take off in an over excited canter again on a ride (he did when hacking but that's different) because he knew it would burn him too soon. Arabs are very clever if you let them learn  Once we were training for 65k rides we then added the longer canter stretches and I found that he settled into those quite comfortably, in fact would offer a lope himself as it is easier than trotting for them.
With my new lad I'm considering doing some western lessons. We're already doing NH sessions (this is the 'follow a lead' and flexing as a foundation style NH, not the Parelli/Monty school) and will be learning lots of western style stuff, which is another route to the same goal. |
West Sussex |
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Arachnid
Platinum Member
England
1872 Posts |
Posted - 31 May 2012 : 08:45:07 AM
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| Sarah - clearly way too much energy and needs to go out for longer! Spider also jet propelled on short rides, like hes got to expend the same amount of energy in an hour as he would in two. |
   
West Sussex |
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Pasha
Platinum Member
England
3622 Posts |
Posted - 31 May 2012 : 11:35:49 AM
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Yes I agree but it's finding the time! I am trying to do hour rides in the week, but with the amount of road work we have to do to get off-road in the first place, it is slowing us down! Although, I did trot along the road last night and his legs didn't fall off, so we will carry on trotting that bit!
I am only planning to do the 23km and 25km training rides this year, but he gets so fit just training for those, even leading him out to the field is like leading a Llama on speed! He is a monkey
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Edited by - Pasha on 31 May 2012 11:36:33 AM |
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Arachnid
Platinum Member
England
1872 Posts |
Posted - 03 Jun 2012 : 12:04:59 PM
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| Love to see you down here for a hack, good hill training and plenty of long canters! |
West Sussex |
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Sleepy Canter
