Canterwork.  Not the easiest task for a horse recently off the racetrack.  While racehorses spend most of their time cantering or galloping for a living throughout their racing careers, it's not the ideal canterwork needed for a competition career, and most find maintaining a balanced and rhythmical pace near impossible.

I didn't really know what to expect of Moose's canter when he first arrived.  He had trialled (not raced) but throughout those trials spent most most of his time dislodging the jockey than actually taking part in the race.  The trainer had said Moose had undergone some jump schooling at home, so you would think the canter had been developed. 

When schooling began my questions were quickly answered, and I discovered we had a fair bit of work ahead of us.

I always start the young ones on the lunge, in a safe round yard.  Our yard is around 20m in diameter, so a nice big area for a younger horse to find his feet without coming to much harm.  If you're lucky, the racehorse would have already been taught to lunge.

Moose picked up on the lunging very quickly, but did struggle to keep to keep the canter on the circle.  At 17hh and with legs that stretch on forever it's a fair complaint, but I was happy to take things slowly and work through any issues.  

At first he launched into a leap and a bound, and his quarters swung in.  He proceeded around the yard at three quarter pace.  'This will be interesting' I thought to myself.  

Soon enough Moose picked up the voice aids and was cantering on the 20m circle at a near respectable speed.  Once the steam had been let off and the novelty of the neighbours' kids playing in the garden had worn off, he began to relax and his frame started to drop.  This is when you need to keep up with the encouraging voice commands, and remind him he's doing the right thing.  While he was still very much on the forehand at this stage, he's given me something to work with for next time.  

I make sure to stay away from 'gadgets' and aids when developing the canter.  This means Moose is allowed to find his own rhythm and balance without being jammed or restricted in any way.  

In the next part, I'll discuss further training on the lunge and developing the canter under saddle.