"My horse wouldn't canter at first. Now he is cantering, but it's more like a gallop than a canter. I would like to do show jumping as he is very good at it, but I am not sure how to collect his canter. You have to lean right back to make him go into canter otherwise he does this really fast trot. Usually the only way he will canter is over cantering poles and if I try to canter him over a jump, he goes crazy and rears up and refuses. Thank you, Tamara."

H&C blogger and Olympic three day eventer Sharon Hunt replies: "Hi Tamara. Well, I would firstly make sure that he is cantering off your leg and not by leaning back. Leaning back will just make him rush and hence he now gallops instead of canters. So you must work on giving him an aid from the leg. Once he does a smaller transition to canter rather than running, then he will have a more balanced canter. You could also try telling him to 'canter' with your voice also. If he keeps running, you need to half halt at the same time to stop this. I am a little confused as to how you know he's good at showjumping if he stops at fences and rears up? It sounds as though he is either very confused or a little disobedient. I think you really should seek professional help and have lessons as without seeing him it is too hard to suggest a solution and it sounds as though there are a few things going on. The fact that you say he is good at jumping suggests to me you need the tuition to be able to communicate to him what you would like."