Learn how to help your horse’s movement in his hindquarters from AQHA Professional Horsewoman Lynn Palm.

Question:

I’ve ridden English Thoroughbreds all my life, so when I started schooling a Quarter Horse, it was a completely new experience for me. He’s a real sweetie, nicely balanced in spite of doing very little school work most of his life.

I am, however, battling with his canter. I asked someone else to ride him at the canter so I could watch his action. He seems to have very restricted hindquarter movement. His fetlocks do not seem to move past his hocks at any point – i.e., his hindlegs remain beneath his body at the canter, which leads to a short, choppy stride.Is this natural for a Quarter Horse, or is it just that he’s not using his hindquarters correctly? At the trot, the flexion is correct, so I’m assuming it’s not a conformation issue.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

– Claire McGovern

Answer:

Dear Claire,

Thanks for your letter. Anyone who is seeking answers is obviously passionate about his or her horses and wants to bring out their best, which I always appreciate. It’s what all of us horse owners should be doing!

What you are describing about your horse’s canter is not something normal for a Quarter Horse, nor any horse.

It is very hard to share confident and exact answers without seeing the horse or rider. However, I can suggest a few things that I know will help your horse or any horse.

First, don’t assume that conformation could not be a part of movement, as conformation does dictate function. Movement is part of function. An equine veterinarian could help you assess the correctness of the hind-limb conformation and watch your horse moving on the ground and under saddle to evaluate movement. You vet could suggest training that is needed to keep your horse sound and work toward conditioning and strengthening the hind-limb joints.

Second, here are some conditioning exercises that I do with all our horses in training that would also help your horse:

1. Hill training — Going up and down hills will strengthen the hindquarters and hind-limb joints. The progression of hill training is walk up, walk down; trot up, walk down; trot up, trot down; canter up, trot down; and — the hardest for the horse — canter up and canter down. It will take about a year for a horse to be able to easily canter up and down hills while staying straight and balanced.
2. Longeing or working at liberty over small jumps also strengthens the hind-limb joints. Start with logs on the ground, cross poles, verticals and then progress to a small oxer. The jumps do not need to be high for conditioning, and I would not jump higher than 2 feet.
3. Transitions under saddle increase the flexibility of the hind-leg joints. At the green stage — which it sounds like your horse canter’s is at — do short segments of canter strides, not more than 10 to 15 strides, and then trot for 20 strides and go back to canter.

Third, assess tack fit. A poor-fitting saddle could affect correct movement from behind.

Fourth, assess the rider’s position and balance. A poor rider’s position can influence a horse’s movement and attitude.

Remember, training can improve a horse’s education, movement and performance but can not change a horse if he is weak with a function (such as cantering).

I would also suggest adding these things to your daily training:

1. Correct longeing to improve your horse’s natural self carriage and balance in all gaits.
2. Working at liberty – I prefer an oval ring over a round pen. I like my horses to go straight as well as do a curving line; however a large round pen will help. Training on the ground, you get to see your horse’s conditioning, coordination, athleticism, movement and balance. This will help your training progression. Take your time to develop your horse’s canter to be the best he can be. Only canter longer when you see your horse’s movement improve with flexion of the hind-leg joints.  The image you are seeing of your horse on the ground is what you can expect – with time — to develop as he strengthens to carry the rider and canter his best.

I have training DVDs that will help you with this, “Longevity Training” parts 4 and 5 and “Dressage Principles, Volume 1″, parts 1, 2 and 3. You can get this information on my website; visit www.lynnpalm.com and click on “Shop.” Hope you can come train with me someday!

Follow Your Dreams!
– AQHA Professional Horsewoman Lynn Palm