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Develop your horse’s extended canter with this simple exercise on a 20m circle

Martha Terry Martha Terry

    • Extended canter is all about energy. Dressage judges want to see an increase in stride length and ground cover, not just more speed, with the horse staying straight and connected.

    The same applies when jumping: you want lift, airtime and adjustability, maintaining your rhythm – not simply a faster canter that’s flat and hollow.

    This very simple flatwork exercise works on boosting the quality of the steps in extended canter – not the quantity.

    Aims

    • Increase stride length and ground cover
    • Develop an uphill, open frame
    • Maintain the rhythm while increasing the reach
    • Stay straight and connected, both into the extended canter and back out again

    The setup

    No setup required – simply the space to ride a 20m circle on the flat.

    Diagram of exercise for horse training, practising extended canter strides

    Short, repeatable efforts help develop the extended strides, rather than a long straight line where your horse may flatten and lose balance

    How to ride the exercise

    Many riders try to practise their extended canter by firing off down the long side of the arena. However, it’s best taught over short, repeatable efforts where the horse can learn to make a distinction in stride length.

    1. Warm up in walk, trot and canter on both reins, including plenty of transitions to make sure your horse is listening and responding to your aids.
    2. Establish an active working canter and go large.
    3. Now go on to a 20m circle in working canter, and make a transition to five or six bigger strides, before collecting back to working canter. Use your inside leg to push the shoulder up without blocking. The circle should encourage your horse to step under with the hindleg, rather than running flat on the forehand.
    4. This short effort discourages the horses from becoming flat and running, because they’ll anticipate the re-collection. It also teaches riders to feel a few good steps as the quality is developing and not chase for more.
    5. Each horse will vary on how much you need to push and how much to hold. By practising, you’ll find your own horse’s sweet spot.
    6. Repeat a few times on each rein.

    Tips and troubleshooting

    1. Running

    Keep the increases short, before collecting back. While the horse is developing the extended canter, he may only be able to manage a few good strides, then unravel, losing balance and energy. It is better to make the transition back before that happens. Prioritise quality over quantity.

    2. Flattening

    To extend properly, your horse needs to lift. Think shoulder-fore going into the circle, so you encourage you horse to keep his inside shoulder up, without establishing a full shoulder-in. The frame needs to be open to be able to extend, not overly flexed.

    3. Too much hand

    Some riders hang on to the reins to try to control the canter, so you need to work on your hands being independent. Work on giving and retaking the rein on a circle. And when you come back to a more collected canter from the increased strides, don’t just pull! Use a half-halt and soften.

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    Martha Terry
    Martha Terry

    H&H features editor
    Martha is an experienced journalist who is mad-keen on horses and dogs. Her reporting CV includes the Paris Olympics, European championships, Aachen World Equestrian Festival and World Cup finals. After growing up with assorted liver and white springer spaniels, she enjoyed 14 years with two rescue dogs. Now, her constant companion is Fidget, an extremely energetic and habitually muddy black and white springer. Martha has written on topics as diverse as a top horse’s clone to the best GPS trackers for dogs, as well as equestrian and rural matters for Country Life, The Field, The Times, The Spectator and The Telegraph alongside Horse & Hound.
    Martha Terry

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