Common problems –
the horse
In canter the rider is aiming to maintain a
good rhythm ensuring it maintains the
three beat pattern and engages the hind
quarters by moving the centre of gravity
backwards (see diagram, below left).
In some cases riders may ask the horse to
perform movements within the canter, such
as a flying change; or lead variations such as
counter canter which test the horse’s
balance and limb co-ordination.
A poor canter can be caused by:
● Lack of balance/suppleness
● Loss of rhythm
● Incorrect strike off
● Disunited stride
● Incorrect bend
● Stiffness
● Muscle asymmetry
● Skeletal maturity
Common problems –
the rider
The rider plays a large part in determining a
horse’s way of going. Problems may include:
● Leaning forward – this encourages the
horse to go on to his forehand and increases
weight distribution on to the forelimb,
which then prevents hind limb engagement.
● Leaning back – causing the rider to be
behind the movement. This can affect the
athleticism of the horse by preventing
elastic use of the back.
● Sitting to one side – this will also affect
the canter as the weight distribution is
uneven. This not only affects the canter but
can also affect muscle development.
www.yourhorse.co.uk
Leaning back is
a common
problem in
canter.
In all cases, the addition of a rider alters
the movement of the horse (kinematics)
and the ground reaction forces (GRF) with
changes being more pronounced in the
forelimb. This happens during all gaits, so
can affect the canter.
All of these rider faults can be identified
with the use of rider analysis (see page 108).
Improving your canter –
gait and rider analysis
To help maintain the balance of the horse in
canter the rider should aim to sit upright so
his/her centre of gravity is directly above
that of the horse, encouraging engagement
of the hindquarters.
Many changes to the canter gait (caused
by horse or rider) are extremely subtle and
cannot always be seen, so they can’t always
be assessed accurately. The human eye can
capture only 15 frames per second; but the
cameras used in gait analysis can capture
50-1500 frames per second, providing a
greater amount of information at any one
time. As well as the limitations of the
human eye, visual assessment of the gait
is also plagued with the inherent risk
of subjectivity.
Case study
Riding advice
Henry Boswell is a
young dressage rider
who’s used
biomechanics and
Equianalyis…
“I found out about Centaur
Biomechanics and Equianalysis
through World Class Start and
Potential, which I’m on. It plays
a big part in our training and any
discipline can benefit from it.
“If I hadn’t done it through
Start and Potential I’d definitely
do it anyway as it’s opened my
eyes – nothing quite highlights
how you ride better than seeing
it played back to you afterwards
on a big screen. You can pick up
on something you may have felt
and see it straight away.
“The rider screening has really
helped my test riding, especially
how I prepare for movements.
It’s shown me that if I don’t
prepare for movements then the
first four strides can suffer.
“I also use the horse screening.
One of my young rider horses
had soundness issues, no one
knew what it was, not even the
vets. Then we had the screening
done and it threw up a slight
problem with the coffin joint.
“The rider analysis is a great
tool to help you see how you
ride and pinpoint where issues
are coming from. I do it about
three-four times a year and it’s
really helpful to have your
trainer with you.”
➜
Your Horse 107
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