I had the same problem with a 13 year old very badly trained mare I bought a couple of years ago.  All I can say is practice and patience.  It took us about 2 years, but now she has a very beautiful round canter.  Sindy also did a litte buck with her hind end until I found out that I was just making to much pressure to get her to canter.  Now all I have to do is move my outside foot back and she canters on nice and smoothly.

Hey

well since you said he is a young hore then he might have some balance problems. my horse is the same thing for awhile but hes so much better now. If he lunges then you can try lunging him and the walk trot and canter with lots of transtions. and after he gets that down good start bitting him up while lunging. he can learn his balance while on the lungline instead of your arms lol. Also he needs to build up hos muscles. and when you do ride him get him so he trots up. have him supple, and pushing with his butt and not just going along. once he pushes with his butt from the trot. then start with the canter but only for short times and when he does a good stride stop and do something else and come back to it. he just needs to learn balance abd to push from the back end.

what he loved in horses was what he loved in men, the blood and the heat of blood that ran them. All his reverence and all his fondness and all the learnings of his life were for the ardenthearted and they would always be so and never be otherwise.

I agree with Solaris and haven't read thru all the other posts.  And just want to add, improvement may take some time - especially if you don't ride everyday.  I find that work at the trot helps the canter as well.  Get him balanced at the trot and canter will get better.

Sounds VERY similar to my sons problem with his big horse.  He applied to be on a training show and the problem was resolved!  Watch Julie Goodnight "The Horsemaster" episode "Lost in Transition" There is a clip on her website or you can go to www.youtube.com   and look it up - there are 2 clips, the longest one is more of a training video.

Good luck!

Andrea:

   My 7 yo pony mare seems to have the same thing going on.  Except she is a mare and a large-ish pony and anyone who knows ponies know that they have pony attitudes lol. But anyway when I ask Jinx, my mare, for the canter she pins her ears and flicks her tail. As I persist she stretches her head down and will follow up with a buck before finally doing as I ask and picking up her very lovely canter. 

  I have fixed this by (depending on which lead I'm asking for) pulling my outside hand up off her neck, but making sure not to pull on her face ( I do this to keep her head up) and then my inside hand I keep down at her neck, for leverage.  I ask her for the canter, and she picks it up much better. 

Some people fear getting bucked off - but if you push them through the buck and keep them forward they'll be more apt not to.

This is exactly what my horse was doing when I was riding her in a saddle that was pinching her shoulders badly. I took the saddle off, got on bareback and asked for the same movements, and all the obnoxiousness stopped. I now have a saddle for sale!

 More than likely your horse has a pulled muscle in his neck or shoulder. THe horse can trot without pain, but when you ask for the canter he needs to raise his neck and head to balance himself. With a muscular "splint "or pull, it is like someone shoved a knife in his neck, and as a result he wants to buck or get away from the pain by lowering his head and neck. The message therapist will find the location of the pull and fix it.

At any rate, you need to have a massage person come and have him rubbed out. I feel confidant that this is the problem. I have had this situation many times through the years and after a massage or two the horse is fine. It has always worked for me too.

Anyone ever tried Clinton Anderson's "cruising" exercise at the canter?  Seems to me this exercise will help.  I'm going to give it a try.  I have access to 2 arenas, one a roping size and one a smaller indoor...which would be better?

 Let me just say that I went to a Clinton Anderson clinic. He rode a large pony who had not been ridden very much by it's owner in over a year. He is a big man. He cinched up the girth so tight, the pony could barely breath. It was a very hot day. He then rode the the pony doing the cruising exercise for an hour or so never letting the poor pony take a break and rest. When he finally stopped he continued to wrench the pony's neck back and forth pulling it back to his knee again and again and again. I finally had to leave the arena. It was too hard to watch. After 30 MINUTES the pony was still gasping for breath. Even my daughter's boyfriend, who is not a horse person, asked if the pony was alright. Any horse who is in reasonable shape should recover in about 10 minutes. This horse was extremely compromised by what was inflicted on him. No one ever even offered him a sip of water. ON this particular day, I was not impressed.

With all due respect, Clinton Anderson is 28 or so I think. I have extensive experience with horses for over 50 years. I have learned and studied with some of the best in the world. I have also attended many vet clinics and trained countless horses of all shapes and sizes. I have won dozens of championships and my horses have been at the top in the country.

What you have described with your horse I have corrected with massage many times. He is not evading you to be naughty. The only way he can tell you he is in pain is by evading. What he is telling you is that when you ask him to canter is... something hurts him. If after a massage, which is about 60 dollars, he still has a problem, then try another route. Always rule out injury first, otherwise you will inflict unwarrented pain and suffering on the animal you care for, and probably cause a worse problem. He will have to compensate in some way and thus you then have to fix that.

mybuddy:

When he finally stopped he continued to wrench the pony's neck back and forth pulling it back to his knee again and again and again. I finally had to leave the arena.

What clinic did you go to? Did you ride in it or were you spectating? Do you understand what he was doing here? (I really don't mean that in a confronting way....I'm just asking) "Flexing" the horse from a standstill is one way of getting the horse soft and a way to teach him to be respectful of the bit, halter or whatever you have on his head. You hold the pressure and when the horse gives in the way you're asking, then you instantly release. Of course that take and release is the basis for all horse training. A finished horse is just refining the basics into cool manuevers and such. With an inexperienced horse, you start flexing at a standstill then introduce bending at a walk, trot etc. Lateral flexing (side to side) is the stepping stone for vertical flexion (tucking the horse's nose). This is needed of course for collection which we would teach later during the horse's training. There are other ways of course....how do you teach your horses to be soft? (Once again I'm not being confrontational, I'm just curious).

As for the cruising lesson for the original poster of this topic, it would be a great way to get comfy with the canter. Of course after you eliminate pain issues. However....remember to take it SLOW. If you're not balanced, then your horse probably isn't in this case either so take it a few minutes each day and BUILD ON THAT and always END ON A GOOD NOTE. Like I mentioned earlier, you don't want to make your sound horse sore by overdoing it. Clinton's program is a good start for a new (or returning rider. It focuses on confidence on the rider while slowly training the horse.

Good luck!

Oh my gosh!  I would have left the arena too.  That sickens me.  I think many of these "magic horse whisperers" are highly overrated anyway.  Horses are horses and people are people.  I cannot believe what you describe will not leave an unpleasant memory on that pony.  This is something we are supposed to avoid doing to our horses.  If I had paid to go to that I would demand a refund! 

arabian girl:

That sickens me. 

Yeah great horsemen sicken me too!

Another idea to try is a "neck stretcher". It is a very inexpensive tool, basically a large bungee cord that slips over the head, through the bit rings, between the front legs, then onto either a surcingle or the girth. Depending on horse size, you can increase the tension with tying a not in the cord. When the horse realizes that all he has to do is relax, there is no pressure and he will start to use his hind end more fully. Start with just the walk in both directions in the round pen, your horse may walk backward at first if he is not used to having his head on the vertical, encourage your horse to move forward. He will start to use more vertical flexion which will encourage him to use his hind end for impulsion. After he is comfortable at the walk, start the trot, then the canter. It might take a couple of weeks with about 15 minutes of work a day, but you will see and feel the results when you ride. It's not something you have to do forever, you can use it for tune ups whenever you round pen or lunge. You can even use the "neck stretcher" when you ride, just don't do any jumping with it!

Some of the other posts have commented on Natural Horsemanship, lateral flexion is very good for a horse. But anything in excess is not necessary.

Something else I will add that has helped me is to read a book by Jane Savoie.  It is called Cross Training Your Horse (there is a follow-up book called More Cross Training).  She applies dressage techniques to all kinds of riding and driving.  There are suppling exercises in there that have worked wonders on my relatively nervous, not to mention young, Appendix QH.  She really drives the balancing exercises home and is quite fun to read in the process.  Mind you, I'm working with a Centered Riding instructor and this ties in beautifully with it.  You can find the book on Amazon for about $12. 

The suppling exercises look horrid but they really are not.  When the horse gives his head you release immediately. The horse figures out that all you want is his head and he doesn't have to move, that is what you want. It gets to the point where all you have to do is pick up the rein and the horse flexes to your hand and stops.  That is also the basis for the emergency one rein stop.  You can't use the emergency stop if your horse doesn't flex to your hand and stop moving his feet.  I have seen horses run (and I've heard stories) with their head flexed and still running.  Someone somewhere forgot to teach them to stop while flexing.   I am teaching my 23 year old to flex (although I think it might be a little harder for him because of his age and possible stiffness in his neck) but I put the halter on and shorten the lead rope, pull it back to his withers, hold and as soon as his head comes around, I release.  Yeah, we move around but he does get released when he gives and stands still.   I owned a runaway years ago and I long ago made a promise to myself that any horse I owned would have to have a good WHOA on them.  Cease and desist.....don't move.

Good luck with your cantering issues..  It does take work but will be worth it when it all works out.