Hi Terri.
This was on our list quite some time ago and posted by Brandon
Carpenter, who is a trainer - among other things and he was answering my
questions about cantering my TWH mare. There are a couple of other ones
I will forward to the list for you if I can find them.
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Hi Elva,

I'm back. It has been a long couple of days. I have a total of 6
different projects going on these horses. Plus the farrier didn't
call to shoe a client horse in training, so I ended up doing it myself.
I have been too exhausted at night to reply. So...here goes.

You didn't say if your horse has been ridden at the lope (canter)
much. It is common for horses relatively early in packing a rider at
that gait to hurry to a fast lope or gallop.

Your mental and emotional support and knowing exactly what you want of
the horse is the most important thing you can do for execution of any
task. Know what you want and your body will follow. Sustain that
support throughout all contact with the horse from start to finish.
Remember to stay relaxed, and confident. Breathe...Breeeeaaatthhe.

Your Mental / emotional state: Prepare yourself for what you want the
horse to do. Make sure you are "lifting" yourself mentally. In your
mind, see your body and the horses body work together to get the exact
feeling and execution of the gait you want. I think you already know
what I mean by mental preparedness. This will help to support your
horse for correct movement. Know it will happen.
Your Physical state: Be aware of how your body affects the horses
movement. If the horse needs more relaxation, give it to them by
relaxing yourself. Don't make it hard for you or your horse to
achieve the movement you want. If your horse has physical
characteristics that make it difficult to do something, help them
out. You already know how to affect body posture like raising or
lowering the back etc.

The Horse:
Three possibles here: (I wish I were there to see you both work
together).

1. This exercise will help both with impulsion and stopping:
I like to teach going from the dogwalk to the lope, bypassing all the
intermediate gaits. Be forward and upward in your thinking and
knowing state of mind. This will help your body to follow allowing
your horse's body to follow in movement. Give good clear direction to
energetically jump to the lope from the dogwalk. As soon as you get 2
or 3 good striding footfall sequences, ask your horse to stop
decisively with hind quarters under the body. Back immediately.
Strive to make the whole movement one movement. This will help in two
ways giving impulsion to go to the lope from a walk and mentally
preparing the horse to stop when you ask (which can be at any time).
As you get more and more control with this exercise, increase the
number of footfalls under control. Rating the speed will be done
through stopping and backing.
You are really teaching the transition to the lope with this exercise.
The transition can also be done from intermediate gait when this is
mastered.

2. When at the lope and the horse continues to speed up:
Allow the faster speed. Don't encourage it, but ride with it until
your horse settles mentally. Once that happens and you feel your
horse begin to relax and slow, encourage the slower pace and reward.
Now cue for a slower and slower lope until you achieve the gait you
want. Work at your chosen speed for a time encouraging and praising
all the while. Stop on a good note of controlled speed and mental
stability (yours and the horses).
The benefits to this technique is that the horse (especially
inexperienced) is allowed to find itself in this gait so to speak.
Any crossfiring that can occur can be worked through to obtain better
balance and footfall comfort. Just going at the lope or gallop will
become routine and more comfortable mentally and emotionally for the
horse. This will help balance the horse with repetitiveness of task
and it will accept the different speeds of this gait as it becomes
more familiar with them.
It isn't as mentally boring for you. The sights go by a little
faster. :)


3. When at the lope and speed continues:
This is more hard work for you and the horse.
Start out in time with the horses movement as you normally would. If
no progress is being made to slow, begin to make the horse come to
your timing of movement. Retard the forward movement by slowing your
body as the horse moves forward. You should feel yourself pushing
back on the rear of the saddle to slow forward movement. Feel your
body getting heavier each stride forward. (the heaviness should be
directed backward instead of downward). The heaviness should not be
on the horses back, but on the forward movement. Push backward
against the forward movement, to control the speed of the movement.
As the horse slows to the speed you want, it should begin to mirror
the speed you have chosen with your body and come into time with you.
The reward for the horse is that it is much easier to move with you
instead of into you. Praise and reward for positive behavior.
I hope this makes sense to you. If not, I will try to clarify any
points of mud.

You should notice that all three of the above techniques involve you
and the horse working as one. Even the hardest technique starts out
as separate bodies moving separately but together. The end goal is
for you to move as one, but the horse comes to you in movement by
making it harder not to.

Just as a side note, a lope or canter with correct leads working
together is a gait working on the lateral.

Hope this helps,

Brandon Carpenter
http://www.hashknifehorses.com