The Skinny on Canter Transitions

One of my students asked me recently what the aids are for a good canter transition.  Of course, the "simple" answer is inside leg at the girth, supple the inside rein, small steady squeeze on the outside rein, outside leg about one hand behind the girth, lift the inside seat bone, and give a squeeze with the lower legs.  But really, this rider already knows all that, and that's what makes her question such a great one.  She's really asking for the next layer of understanding.  She doesn't just want the horse to canter, she wants the horse to canter off in balance, through, and on the aids.

This is the fun part in a rider's education when she starts to focus on transitions as a measure of the real togetherness she can create with her horse.  It is a journey into understanding not just the aids, but the timing of the aids and how they relate to the horse's motion.  In order to become a more helpful partner during the dicey moments of transitions, the rider needs a more thorough understanding of the way a horse moves at those moments.

For a good canter depart we need an understanding of the footfalls of the canter.  The canter begins with the outside hind leg stepping down and lifting the horse and rider into the canter stride.  Then follows the diagonal pair of the inside hind leg and the outside foreleg together. The third beat of the canter is the inside, or leading, foreleg touching down.  These footfalls are then followed by a moment of suspension in which the horse is airborne with no feet on the ground.  Then the outside hind leg swings forward and lands to start the stride all over again.

Because the outside hind leg must initiate the transition by lifting and carrying the combined mass of the horse and rider, it is important that the leg be brought well under his body and that the joints of the leg flex, or engage.  This well engaged hind leg is in a much better position to lift and carry the load into canter than a hind leg that is stiff and/or out behind.

One of the reasons why canter transitions are difficult is that on a curved line horses tend to carry more with the inside hind leg and push more with the outside hind leg.  Also, horses generally have a stronger hind leg that they prefer to carry with and a weaker hind leg they prefer to push with.  That is one of the reasons why they favor one lead over the other.  In order to create good canter departs, the rider needs the horse to have an outside hind leg that steps under and carries.

There are many ways to improve the horse's ability and understanding of engaging his outside hind leg to carry more instead of pushing so much.  Shoulder-in, travers, renvers, and half pass are designed to help balance the strength of the hind legs for carrying as well as pushing.  But a simple exercise that I like can help horses and riders find the feel of bringing the outside hind leg more underneath the center of gravity in preparation for the canter depart.  

On a 20-meter circle line, in the walk or the trot, ride a few steps of leg yield into the circle.  Keep the horse fairly straight for those few strides of leg yield.   Use your outside (the circle) leg to pulse energy through the horse's body at the moment the outside hind is coming off the ground.  Concentrate on feeling the outside hind leg sweep forward and under the horse's body towards the inside (of the circle) shoulder and bit ring. Then flex your horse true again and move back out to your circle line.  After you ride the leg yield a few times, ask for a canter depart when the outside hind leg is stepping forward (and under--think a little leg yield here).  Canter on a few strides and then make a down transition and try it again.  Keep focusing on timing your aids with the outside hind leg until you feel you have your aids coordinated with your horse's step.  Don't worry too much about what his head and neck are doing while you work on this part.  Just consider his head and neck movements as information.  The better you get at timing your aids to help him, the more relaxed he will stay in his neck and contact.  Be sure to keep your seat centered over your horse's center.  If you get pushed to the outside (as is common in the canter), you won't be able to feel or create balance.  If you are having trouble staying centered, think of dismounting on the inside stirrup and pick up your seat and move it a couple of inches to the inside.

When you are riding, spend time working on your ability to feel your horse's footfalls.  As you ride the walk, can you feel all four steps?  Right hind, right fore, left hind left fore.  First concentrate on just feeling the hind legs step.  Your hip will get pushed up when his hind leg on that side is on the ground.  Your hip will slide down from that push-up as his hind hoof comes off the ground.  That is the moment, when his hind hoof comes off the ground, that you can influence that leg to swing more forward and under his center of gravity.  

In the trot, the horse's legs move in diagonal pairs with a moment of suspension between each step.  When you post on the outside foreleg, you stand as the outside foreleg goes forward and up.  That is the moment when the outside foreleg and the inside hind leg are in the air; the inside foreleg and outside hind are on the ground.  To make a good canter depart from the trot, you will need to feel the moment when the outside hind leg is coming off the ground and swinging forward.  If you send that leg well under the horse's body and ask for the canter as it lands, you will be well on your way to a beautiful transition.

In the canter, see if you can identify the four phases of the stride.  Perhaps the easiest to feel is when the leading foreleg lands and the horse's head goes down slightly.  See if you can begin to feel his outside hind swinging forward and stepping down--phase 1.  Then the diagonal pair, phase 2.  Then the leading foreleg, phase 3.  Then that moment of suspension, phase 4.

The more you concentrate on feeling the horse's footfalls, the more precise the timing of your aids will become.  And the better your timing becomes the more balanced, through, and beautiful your transitions will become.  Have a wonderful ride!

Riding Shoulder-In

One of my students recently asked me to explain the aids for shoulder-in. She especially was concerned about where she should keep her weight to help her horse balance.  

The shoulder-in is one of the most useful and important exercises in classical training. It helps the rider teach the horse how to bend the joints in his inside hind leg and step under his center of gravity.  It is an indispensable exercise in teaching the horse to carry more weight on his haunches.

When I am thinking about shoulder-in for a horse, I like to make sure the horse has the preliminary understandings in place for performing shoulder-in:  the forward-down stretch that ensures the horse will reach to the bit and raise his back when asked by the rider, the lateral flexion in the poll and release in the jaw that is preliminary to proper bending, and the ability to displace the rib cage slightly to the outside and create a steady bend to the inside when cued by the rider.  Then, I want to be sure I can leg yield my horse's hind leg toward my outside rein while maintaining a stretch to the bit and enough bend to feel the connection between the inside hind leg and the outside rein.  The last piece you need is a decent half-halt.  Your horse should understand how to come back a bit in response to your upper body stretching up and holding for a split second while your hands stabilize.  Once you have these pieces in place, you are ready for the shoulder-in.

When performing the shoulder-in, the inside hind leg and the outside foreleg align on one track.  This alignment is established by placing the forehand of the horse to the inside of the track.  One good way to teach this is to use a ten-meter circle.  The bend and balance on the ten meter circle is what you need for the shoulder-in, so it is a good check to ride your horse in walk or trot around the arena and ride a ten meter circle at R, S, V, and P.  Make sure you can keep a consistent bend all the way around each circle and maintain a good balance. 

When you are sure you have the balance in your ten meter circles well established, try a few steps of shoulder-in as you return to the track from one of your circles.  Allow your horse to take a step onto the ten meter circle line as if you were going to ride the circle again.  Then look down the track, use your inside leg to swing the horse in rhythm with his gait, and go straight down the track but with his forehand one step to the inside of the track and maintaining the bend of your ten meter circle.  Sit in the middle of your horse in order to help maintain the bend and also to support his movement down the track.   In the French school one sits in the direction of movement, and in the German school one sits over the inside seat bone to establish the bend.  Thank goodness Arthur Kottas of the Spanish Riding School strikes a happy medium by advising us to sit in the middle of the horse's back in the shoulder-in.  I have found this to be an efficient place from which to influence the horse's movement, bend, and balance.

What you would like to feel is that you have your horse connected from your swinging inside leg to your outside elastic elbow and hand.  Help your horse balance and find the right amount of bend with your elastic outside connection back into your soft, heavy elbow.  Orient your sternum in the direction you want the shoulders of your horse to turn (to the inside of the line you are riding on).  Allow your hips to stay straight to the line of travel (straight down the track).  Keep your inside leg close to the girth to help your horse bend, and pulse energy through your horse's rib cage in the direction of the outside bit ring in time with his swinging inside hind leg. Your outside leg will be more or less passive depending on whether your horse needs support to keep his haunches from swinging to the outside.  If he wants to lose his bend by pushing his haunches out, you will need to use your outside leg behind the girth to remind him to stay curved around your inside seat bone and leg.

A horse must "sit" a bit in his hind leg joints in order to perform shoulder-in.  This is a lot of strain on a horse that is new to this type of movement, so be judicious in your requests early on.  Refresh your horse by riding out of the shoulder-in into a forward trot on a straight line or stretch on a circle line.  The engagement required for a line of shoulder-in will develop best when done a few steps at a time.  

The shoulder-in is the classical exercise for teaching a horse to bend his hind legs in preparation for collection.  Remember to use your half halt by closing your thighs, flexing your collar bone up and steadying your hands momentarily, then releasing to allow your horse to find his balance in a more upright posture in which he carries more weight on his haunches. By bending the joints of one leg at a time (the inside hind), the shoulder-in prepares the horse's musculature for the work of collection and helps the rider establish the aids for creating engagement  or carrying power (the flexion of the hind leg joints that is the prerequisite for impulsion).  Each horse is different in what he requires to learn this skill, but in general, make sure you keep sufficient energy so that the horse's back can swing, and keep the poll at or near the highest point.

Happy riding, and enjoy training this wonderful exercise.