Q: My pony brings his hindquarter into the inside in the canter, and I was marked down for it in my last dressage test. How do I fix this?
A: Ponies usually canter in this way when they are not strong enough to hold themselves straight. Building strength is, therefore, the best thing you can do to help your pony to straighten up. However, it is also worth noting that if a pony gets ‘used to’ cantering in this way, it can become a habit. This means that even when strength is improved, and the pony can canter more correctly, he may still choose to canter with his quarters in simply because he’s always cantered like that. The good news is that schooling can fix this. The bad news is that this takes time.
To work on strength, you need to do lots of cross-training with your pony. You’ll need to do hill work, pole work, lots of transitions, and possibly even a few gymnastics.
Then, in terms of the reschooling, you will need to work on riding from the outside rein. You do not want to be pulling on the inside rein, as this will make the quarters come in even more! You need to feel as though you can move the pony’s shoulders as you canter using the outside rein. You want to be able to move the shoulders off the track to the outside to try and rebalance your pony and cause him to work more correctly from the hindquarter. Similarly, you can help him undo the old movement patterns by using the outside rein to help him canter in shoulder-fore. This can help to reset his old habits in canter, and engage the hindquarter properly.
Then, in terms of specific strength work for the quarters, you can try and teach your pony the counter-canter. At first, you will need to help him by keeping him flexed over his leading leg until he gets used to this. Then, over time, you need to see if you can flex his neck to the inside (away from the leading leg). This is difficult for the pony, so you need to practice it in short yet frequent bursts.
Once you easily have control of the shoulders with the outside rein, and you know that your pony is strong behind, you should find that the problem improves a lot, if not goes away completely.
