[magic_rider]

I have trouble getting my horse to canter with impultion, we just seem to get faster and faster and often going down hill he feels very unbalanced. How do I ask for impultion?

[kellidahorsegirl]

It'll be hard for me to explain, but what I do is basically sit tall, squeeze my thighs in and down. I put on a decent calf pressure asking my horse to lift her back and hold my hands steady to prevent forward motion.

You have to really get a mental visual for keeping the front end quiet while driving the back end forward. You also want the front end to lift a bit which will really make your horse round up after driving him 'into the bridle'

I'm not sure if this made any sense at all! HAHA but impulsion is just to me the power...not the speed. You don't wnat to go fast, you want more of a passive agressive strength coming from your horse's hind end.

[horseguy]

The following definition is from the German Training Scale which a dressage method: http://www.classicaldressage.co.uk/T...ng_scales.html

Impulsion (Schwung) Written by Sue Morris
"A horse is said to have impulsion when the energy created by the hind legs is being transmitted into the gait and into every aspect of the forward movement. A horse can be said to be working with impulsion when it pushes off energetically from the ground and swings its feet well forward. Impulsion is created by training. The rider makes use of the horse's natural paces, but "adds" to them looseness, forward thrust (originating in the hindquarters) and suppleness (Durchlässigkeit)."

The line of impulsion in a gorse is somewhat upward as shown by the red line.


Image from: http://www.horsemanpro.com/articles/impulsion_line.htm
(this site has a reputation for being somewhat offensive by some reader’s accounts. While the style is not warm and fuzzy, the content is very often quite good. It is written by a fellow who has strong views and is, I think, unusual in many ways and perceptive.)

It would seem by your description of your horse that he is falling onto his forehand. That would make his energy line downward from the hind, not upward like the red line. The green line is level or balanced moving forward without impulsion. Falling forward onto the forehand is unbalanced without impulsion.

I’d start by not so much trying to achieve impulsion (red line), but by trying to get him more balanced (green line). To do this basic flat work with bends, serpentines, circles and transitions up and down, will help by causing him to use his body more effectively. When he is using himself well, then try some gymnastics to lighten him.

[JBandRio]

magic, I have a strong feeling that your problems are starting long before the canter. I have a feeling your horse isn't trotting balanced and with impulsion. Probably isn't walking with impulsion either

I don't know what you do and don't know. The best thing is to go back to a lot of walking and trotting, with a lot of w/t and t/w transitions. If you can't get those transitions without the horse feeling like he's falling on his forehand, then the canter won't be there.

Do a search here for "impulsion" and you'll find lots of folks describing lots of ways to get impulsion. The jist of it is that you ask for energy from behind but you contain some of it up front. It's not about pulling his face, it's not about running around. Check out SweetSavanah's thread on how often to use spurs on a young horse - I think it is fairly relevant to the issues I suspect you are having, which likely include *you* being unbalanced