Transitions are, by far, the thing Taran struggles most with. I'm not sure if it's his conformation (downhill), his training (good but inconsistent), or lack of strength, but any upward transition of his starts with his head and ends with his hind legs. In other words, he tosses his head in the air, lifts his front feet off the ground into the new gait, and then eventually his hind legs catch up.
The good news is that even in just a month, he's getting soooo much better. Walk-trot transitions are now usually come from behind and are fairly steady, and the right lead trot-canter transition is pretty good too. However, he still struggles a lot with the left lead trot-canter transition, and here's why:
Last trot stride...
Still sort of trotting.
To ensure a bad transition, stick your leg way forward and throw away the reins. Works every time (for what, I'm not sure).
See how the transition has started with his head coming up? It's like he uses his head and neck to lift his front feet off the ground.
Now that his head is out of the way, his front feet can start cantering. Hind feet are still trotting.
Starting to bring the fronts through for a canter stride.
I have no idea.
Like a baby canter stride in front but the footfall pattern behind does not match the canter.
WTF
Ok, wait, it's starting to look canter-ish. Maybe?
Oh the hind end might be doing something canter-like.
There's the outside hind landing first!
Yay! Hind legs match front!
But because I can't only do one crappy canter depart per lesson, I had to try again...
Last full trot stride before the canter
Front end has started doing something but back end is still trotting (and I'm pulling on my inside rein like a PRO. Don't try this at home, folks.)
Maybe we're cantering? Maybe not? I can't tell and I don't think Taran can either.
Oh wait, the LF looks like it might be cantering.
Yep, the front end has just taken an abbreviated canter stride... but I think the back end is STILL trotting.
Front end cantering, back end trotting.
Wait! I think the back end might be catching up!
Maybe we'll do a canter pirouette?
It's starting to look like... could it be???
Finally got legs untangled enough to canter!
To address this issue, we're working on REALLY engaging the left hind before transitions. Leg yields are helping lots, not just with engaging the hind leg but actually getting him straight into both reins and have him carrying his weight evenly. He likes to lean a bit on his left shoulder, which sometimes means he pops into the RIGHT lead when I'm asking for left, and keeping him even prevents that. When I am coordinated enough to have all the pieces together, he really steps up into the canter from behind, and it feels pretty awesome. When he's not, I feel like I'm riding two horses for those moments when he's getting it straightened out.
What do you struggle the most with in your transitions?
In an effort not to pull, I like to throw my hands (and all contact...sigh) completely away when I ask for canter transitions. On the bright side, you look wonderfully color coordinated in the photos :)
ReplyDeleteIt's hard not to be color-coordinated when all you're wearing is black! :)
DeleteHa Ha Ha!! My horse does the same thing with her head and neck. throws it up to get the canter. My trainer has me do a small circle with the hind end on the inside and as we come out of the circle ask for the canter. Also lateral exercises like shoulder fore, and haunches out, strengthen the hind end.
ReplyDeleteAlso, we do a very slow, sitting trot to get the back end in sync with the front end. Best of luck! carol
Getting the back end to work is such a challenge!
DeleteI think I tip forward to help absolutely no one balance for the upward transition *sigh*
ReplyDeleteOne day I'll get all my ducks in a row
Maybe we could combine your tipping forwards and my leaning back to come up with a happy medium?
DeleteDeff worth a try
DeleteThis photo series is really interesting and makes me want to look at Simon's to compare.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I want to get a series of what's correct and compare.
DeleteMoe and Taran are canter transition twins! Canter transitions are a constant struggle, but we're fighting the good fight and *trying* to fix them.
ReplyDeleteTaran is getting better and better as he gets stronger and more coordinated. Let's keep fighting the good fight!
DeleteI like to top forward, take my leg off, and throw my reins away. It's super effective, if the goal is for my horse to run on the forehand and not canter. I'd say it's a defense mechanism, but I've done it since forever. Canter transitions are not my best attribute.
ReplyDeleteOooh, another excellent way to do canter transitions! It's amazing how many options we have as riders lol.
DeleteCanter transitions are an issue for us, but mostly because canter period is such an issue for Nilla. She cannot hold it together at the canter for more than a few strides. Those tried tend to resemble crow hopping more than canter and then it all dissolves into messy trot. She actually puts her head down instead of up to canter. I went back and found some pictures of trot to canter and she actually does start with the hind end, but those were from our last lesson before her injury, and she's regressed terribly since then.
ReplyDeleteStarting with the hind end is DEFINITELY the right place to start. Does she canter better out in the field? Cantering out in the wide open may help her get more comfortable with it.
DeleteNothing like a photo burst to really emphasize how terrible you are at something LOL <3
ReplyDeleteRight? Nothing like a little check-your-ego-at-the-door moment. Sigh.
DeleteThat is a really interesting series of photos. I found myself playing a video of one of my transitions in slo-mo and pausing constantly to compare. The trouble is, I'm not sure I've ever seen a series of photos with as nice as quality as yours that show what it's supposed to look like!
ReplyDeleteOh gosh no, these pics are how it's NOT supposed to be! Please don't compare to these!
DeleteAs for photo quality... haha. Those are actually just screenies taken from a video, so the quality's not too great. But it works well enough for these purposes!
I'm hoping that perhaps in a week or so I'll be able to do a comparison between correct and these stills. It's a pretty big difference!
Sorry, I must have worded my reply badly. I realize that your series is not correct, I just haven't seen a series of photos for the moment of transition that does show the correct form. I was only comparing my own video for funsies. Your screenshots are MUCH better quality than mine, though the fact that mine were taken in a dark indoor arena probably doesn't help =-P
DeleteI envy you your dark indoor, I really do!
DeleteI'm pretty sure I allow my girl to make at least one of these transitions every lesson (while I just kind of sit there, and do nothing but hang on the inside rein, of course ;) Cool series of photos!
ReplyDeleteOh, hanging on the inside rein is the best for completely blocking the inside hind. Ask me how i know.
DeleteAll I can say is THREE YEARS. Yep, that is how long it took. We have now done approximately a bazillion canter transitions. I can now finally canter a circle. We had a serious case of bred to trot...look how I can trot......oh canter, alright canter disunited, oops change, onto the incorrect lead. Gah....trot again, rearrange try again. Now we have trot, pip to canter. 90% of the time on the correct lead and we have some adjustability. Unfortunately the downward transition. Is seeming to take another three years.
ReplyDelete*pop
DeleteOh yes, that's how Haffie canter is. Those trotting breeds are great at, well, trotting. Who thought that was a good idea, huh???
DeleteYou just don't get it. It takes a lot of talent to trot and canter at the same time! lol My poor boy-o. I love him but he definitely isn't built to handle dressage well. Luckily you're doing a fabulous job working through his many foibles.
ReplyDeleteTalent, yes, he is definitely talented! And getting moreso by the day. ;)
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ReplyDeleteI have felt this recently. Like what is going on?!
ReplyDeleteIt's what happens when the front and the hind end are doing different things. So weird!
Deleteha i feel like if you did a frame-by-frame analysis of our trot-canter transitions, every single one would look exactly like this.... le sigh...
ReplyDeleteYou should try it... I bet Isabel is better than you think!
Deletechallenge accepted ha. we've got some doozies in the archives
DeleteIt took years for Harley to balance in the canter to trot transitions. If he is not warmed up enough he will put one hind leg down suddenly between the cane and trot footfall. I call it pogostick-leg. Leg yielding and shoulder-in before cantering help a great deal.
ReplyDeleteHe has always loved the upward transitions to canter though. His favorite!
Oh, the downwards are good. Anything not to have to expend energy! It's funny how things that are easy for one horse are so hard for another!
DeleteAh, the good old tranter. Yup. My Standie knows a lot about this special gait. He thinks it's loads of fun to pull out when real cantering is just "too hard"... :D
ReplyDeletebonita of A Riding Habit
Fortunately we only do that for like two steps, but I've ridden that weirdo gait before on other horses. It's just so... weird!
DeleteHAHAHA! Funny post, jenj. :0)
ReplyDeleteI am working on the caner with Izzy, but he has very different issues (way too much power). One thing Chemaine likes to do is leg yield into the canter because it gets the inside hind very engaged. Something to think about anyway. :0)
We are doing that too! My problem is that it's suuuuper hard to keep him straight in the leg yield. Which is probably why it's also suuuuper hard to get him to canter left. I hate it when things are related like that.
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