hi it's josie and today i want to talk to you about canter and your canter seat
first of all i want you to realize that a canter seat is a very active seat you don't just
sit there so when horses canter the canter starts with the outside hind leg it comes under and this
my hands your horses back it lifts the horses back up and the front comes up then it is the diagonal
pair so it's the outside front and the inside hind and so the horse gets lifted up then he goes
horizontal and then he's down on his inside front leg and he can be a little bit downhill so it sort
of goes outside hind horizontal for the diagonal pair and down as the leading leg comes down
so within that movement the saddle on the horse's back comes up well sort of
almost back up horizontal down and you need to be following that as the rider
and that all that work happens from the waist down so your shoulders should be up nice and straight
your basically your pelvis should sit so that it can spin around almost as if it was very flexible
with just your two seat bones imagine just my skeletal pelvis sitting on this saddle
and my legs hanging from it and my hip joints the ball and joint socket in here is supposed
to be poor old rebel he doesn't know what to do when i do this stuff is supposed to
be very movable and flexible so the caner starts from here this joint here moving so as the horse
comes up with the outside hind leg underneath the saddle comes up this joint needs to close a little
and then open as he goes horizontal and then down in the front so you need to be very flexible in
your hip in your in your hip joint literally your ball and socket joint and your back does have
something to do with it okay so your back needs to be soft and supple so that the s spine of your
curve can s curve of your spine sorry can just move let's see if we can show you some of that
so as rebel's cantering here my hip joint here is opening and closing as he comes up see if you can
watch the footfalls outside hind horizontal front and see what this joint here is doing if you're
banging in the saddle chances are say sorry rebel is not like this i'm leaning forward now and i i
can't keep my butt in the saddle one of the things my coach did with me was put me on the lunge
and got me to lean back now she actually only got me to go horizontal because i was a terrible lean
forwarder but i honestly see if i can get this horse going felt like i was leaning back like this
don't fall over mate but as you can see as i lean back here all of this really opens up
and it gave me the feeling of what my pelvis should be doing for my butt to stay in the saddle
now i'm not gripping with my legs they are not on i'm balanced here with my core strength
so i was telling you about having an active seat in canter and i want to show you how that looks
from the ground now it's not a hundred percent how it looks because in reality when you're cantering
on a horse you're sitting almost suspended around something that's moving underneath you
whereas the ground is still but it's an active um hip you don't just sit there okay if you're
just going to sit there like this you're going to be bumping and banging all over the place
canter your hips do this so remember i told you this joint opens and closes so it literally is
a roundabout movement and i was saying here i think this part of the movement i think up up
up i bring the horse up underneath me with my seat if you're on the bit your elbow and your upper arm
have to make that same opening and closing of angles as your femur and your hip joint your ball
and socket joint in your arm do otherwise you are i can't actually do it without being on a horse
otherwise you're banging your horse in the mouth but this bit goes it's active so get in the saddle
and play with it don't just sit there stiff if you're sitting stiff and you're banging think oh
lean a bit more forward how does that go i can tell you right now it will be worse
lean a little bit back how does that go oh okay now i can feel how my hips open and close
i was always taught to think about when you're a kid and you're in the swing and you're trying to
push the swing higher and that's a reasonably good analogy except i found that that way i
pushed down into the horse that's when i stopped thinking about pushing and lifting so when the
swing's going through the bottom of the swing you literally allow your hips to go down and then as
it comes up you think about bringing your core up so canter is an active movement in your hips here
you do not just sit there quietly that's the worst piece of advice i think anyone can give somebody
that rides a horse is to sit still because you do not sit still riding a horse rise trot sit trot
and canter you are actively doing things with your body it's just that you are doing them in
time with the horses movement which allows you to have the appearance of sitting still
so another good exercise to help you learn to keep your upper body up nice and tall and not
be um leaning is to pick up canter and if you're comfortable with your horse put both reins in your
outside hand don't worry about what he does with his head take your inside hand and reach up now
it's not like you want to go to the toilet and you're in the classroom it's just nicely tall
stretched and you've just got the tone a dancer would have in their body you can take your legs
away if you can and see if you can stay in the saddle with your horse now it's active i'm going
up up it's a bit like the rising trot video here i think hang on i'll try and time it for you
up up up up up up up so i almost feel like i suck him up with my seat up up up up good boy rebel
good good
if your horse is on the bit you need to have very good soft elbows and hands in canter
because your horse's head moves as he moves through the canter stride
and so your elbows need to be soft and your hands almost sort of do like a little circle
if i keep my hands still there see it bangs sorry mate it bangs him in the mouth
so i hope you're enjoying the videos i'm popping out i'm really having a great time doing them
if you like them hit the like button subscribe to the channel
and i look forward to seeing you all next week bye