Pacing After Cantering

Hi there. I have a question for you. My new horse paces when she comes down from a canter. She never paced before and I can't figure out why she's doing it now. I'm completely stumped because I thought that cantering encourages a horse to be diagonal? I now have to figure out what to do with this pace, too.



Misty

ERIC:



Misty,

Cantering a pacey horse will encourage them to 4beat. My question is, does your horse pace throughout now that you have been cantering him or does he just pace when he is slowing down from a canter? Most any horse will trot, pace, hop or mix up into some type of false gait when they are slowing down from a canter. It really just depends on which foot them are on when they start to slow down, and basically what they are doing is trying their best not to jam up a joint or hurt a tendon as a lot of pressure is put on those areas when they try to stop from a higher speed. The only thing that I can recommend to get him to stop pacing when slowing him down is to make him go from a canter to a complete stop in as few steps as possible.



Thanks,

Eric

Misty,

Congratulations on the purchase of your new mare!

Without seeing you ride, my guess is that your horse's pace following the canter is a matter of balance and collection. It is important that the gaited rider keeps her weight just a bit behind the the horse's center of balance at all times, which is at about the top of the wither. In addition, she must keep the reins short enough to ask the horse not to lean her weight more onto the forehand.
Pay attention when you are riding the canter. Many riders will lean forward and loosen the reins to cue the canter. This is not advised with the gaited horse. If you are leaning forward at all during the downward transition, or allowing her to carry herself with her nose out, it will cause her to pace. You should be sitting deep in the saddle with your shoulders back and your spine vertical continually while riding the gaited horse. This will aid in her balancing more of her weight on her rear end and frees up her front end to help her carry herself with correct balance. If this does not work, I would recommend adding a couple of half halts during the downward transition.
You said she is a new horse. Did you ride her at the canter when you purchased her? If so, did she transition down to a pace then? If she didn't then you can deduce that it's occurring as a result of your riding style. If you don't have a gaited trainer in your area, you could take lessons from a Dressage trainer. They teach true collection and proper balance that will aid the gaited horse and rider. The hunter/jumper teaches forward seat, which is not what we want.
Misty, good luck in your endeavors with your new mare!