[maria5113]

I have a 5 year old gelding... he is comfortable trotting long distance but it gets sickening after awhile. And every time I try to gethim to pick up the pace to a canter he refuses and tries to buck me off... what should I do?

[Wondergirl]

Have you ever gotten him into a canter or gallop? If you haven't, has anyone?

Do you adjust how you sit when you (gently) kick him into a canter?

Have you talked to the vet about this?

[Schoolmarm97]

You definitely need to have the vet--preferably a chiropractor--check him out. He could just be green and not sure how to go about getting into the canter successfully while balancing a rider. You didn't say how long he's been under saddle. I bought a horse who, at the ripe age of 16, still didn't know how to get into a canter, and what he did looked like rearing to his former owner, so she quit trying. It took a while to teach him how to strike out with one front foot instead of two! Odd, but there ya' go. And I had a horse who we foaled and broke ourselves who, at about the age of 3, decided any request for a canter was an invitation to a rodeo. It took a really strong, confident rider (not me!) to get on him and ride him through that phase.

My advice: Vet first, then a professional trainer if the vet says there's nothing wrong with his back or the fit of your saddle.