Correcting a Horse not rating his speed at the trot

Marilyn wrote asking about her horse not rating at the trot. "When I put my horse, who is about 12 years old, into a trot he wants to keep increasing speed and if I don't stop him he'll eventually go on his own into a canter. One of my friends told me that when he starts to increase his speed to immediately pull him back to a stop and back him, then ask for a trot again. This doesn't seem to be working. Do you have any ideas other than to stop and back him, or turn in him in a circle?"

How to correct a horse that keeps increasing his speed on his own really depends on why the horse is speeding up. The problem with pulling a horse to a stop then a back is that if the horse thinks you are asking for increase in speed then you abruptly stop him and back him it will be confusing for him and could led to a duller horse. If your horse is real anxious and you go to pulling on him forcibly to stop him, you are going to be creating a brace in him. He doesn't deserve that and it makes stopping with his rear head and with his head down, as well as backing more difficult.

Even if your horse stops with softness and backs well (head breaks at the poll, he pulls with his back end rather than pushes with his front end) you can frustrate and confuse him.

If he is a fairly soft horse it just may be that he is reading your body language, tense seat and legs, and, maybe being too much in contact with him mouth via the bit.

What I would try, and this make take a few days to see much improvement, if to try to be relaxed with your seat and ride with a loose rein. Even if you are relaxed but leaning forward just a bit in the saddle, he can feel this and make think you want him to increase his speed. As you are riding relaxed, concentrate on sitting upright with minimum tension in your legs, and a loose rein, he will likely increase his speed. Then using as minimum contact as possible with the bit, bring his speed back down then go back to a loose rein. You'll have to do this many times but it is worth it, for him and you. In the picture below, I am riding a Palomino at the sitting trot and am asking him to rate his speed just a bit slower by being in contact with him via the snaffle.  From the beginning this only took a stride or two before he would relax and slow. Once I feel him slow just a bit, I'll go back to a loose rein. Now when I ride him all I have to do to get him soft and rate his speed is to put the lightest tension on one loose rein and he finds that comfortable spot again.     

 

If you are posting at the trot, as we know to increase our rhythm to get the horse to match it and increase his speed, we can slow our rhythm to get the horse to slow to our rhythm. The trick is do so without bumping him with our legs and riding too much forward.

I would be happy the first time I tried with him to get a stride or two, soft and relaxed. Then you can build on that. In the picture above, I am riding a Bay horse. You can see his feet and tell he is in a trot (two beat gait with the diagonals). I am in semi (light) contact with him via the bit, the reins are fairly loose. It wouldn't take much to apply just a bit of pressure to the reins to rate him down a bit then go back to a loose rein. I am posting and beginning to raise my butt out of the saddle as that front left foot is coming off the ground. 

You may want to try this at a walk first. The idea is that when he is rating correctly he is comfortable as you have created a moment, increasing in duration, where there is minimum pressure on him.