Straightness and "hopping" into canter when wanting trot!

[Kerri Dixon]

My young andalusian finds lateral work very easy, too easy in fact. He was trained by an advanced rider for 8 months after being broken a year ago. He was performing the half pass in trot quite easily and travers, renvers and leg yield. However, he was worked in draw reins a lot and his back is a bit weak.

I have now taught him to work long and low at the beginning and end of every schooling session and have been working on his extension, we have a few medium trot strides coming.

I need help with the straightness as he will sometimes swing his quarters in when going from a free walk to medium walk. I feel he does it to evade the contact a little, straightening him up can be difficult during this transition.

Any tips?

Also, after cantering him, when trotting round the arena he will sometimes "hop" as though he is picking up the canter. I know what it is I think, I think it is because he is behind my leg and I try to bring him foward a bit and he takes this as a signal to canter. I also need to work on my contact as he is naturally round and soft so I don't have a good connection as I sometimes forget I need to still have a good contact! My trainer rides him and he doesn't do it with her, she has a much stronger contact. Any tips to help me?

Of course everything is checked, teeth done, back is seen by chiro regularly, saddle recently checked. Only issue he has is he is senstivie in the girth region but think I have sorted that with a particular type of girth now.

[Marianne Rabanal]

Riding your transitions in Shoulder In /Shoulder Fore position should help, as will all the work you are doing on forwards, softness and throughness.

If you can get to any of Peter's clinics I can thoroughly recommend him.

[St Piran's - Rachel]

Second that Marianne

- back to your core exercises for the hop to canter, be ready to catch the hop by engaging more of your core the milli-second you feel the hop.