Welcome to Gaia! ::

from what i can see, you probably need a little bit more work at the trot before you'll feel more comfortable at the canter. at the trot, bring your hands forward, they shouldn't be in your lap, also, put less foot in your stirrup and sink dowwwn in those heels even more, and tighten your lower leg. (also bring it back a bit) the last thing i'd say is put an arch in your back, bring your shoulders up.

i had a trainer that used to say "ride like a snob" so stick your shoulders up, boobs out, and butt out haha.

for the canter, remember to do everything up there ^ plus, do not post into the canter. for most horses (i don't know how yours is trained, but this should be the case) posting into the canter really confuses them, and can also get them even more excited and will cause them to go faster and get fussy. so just sit, and use those legs (and sit up!).

hopefully i've helped a little? its hard to explain alot without really being able to show someone...haha i'm a show by example teacher alot of the time.... smile

good luck!

nono i agree with that. don't want to look like a jelly bean or something...just don't slouch or anything, as in..umm....no couch potatoes? i think is what i'm trying to say. i've just noticed that sitting up and straight helps with horses who like to go faster, or who like to pull on your hands and jerk the reins out of your hands.

wow i am so confusing. i think what i'm trying to say is sit up nice a straight and tall?

I agree with the trotting work as well. If you can believe it, that was probably the slowest Ruby has been in months! She used to be an endurance racer, and honestly I think it might have ruined her a bit.
Okay, I know what you're saying with the lower leg bit, but really, it is impossible for me to tighten that part even slightly. Ruby responds majorly to pressure, and even the slightest tap freaks her out into a galloping frenzy.
That's why my transitions are so bad, because I can't apply more than the minimum level of pressure to her.

I hadn't really thought of not posting before the canter. It does make sense, so that might be one of the main problems with her speed. Thank you!

Okay, a little update::

When I had an instructor, she had me ride her horses for a little while. She said that my posture was almost perfect when I rode her horses, but not usually when I was riding Ruby.

I think my posture is usually weird when I ride her, because she is so fast.
I find it really hard to slow her down with my posting, simply because she is so fast in the first place. She works against me for a long time, and then finally slows down and then tries to stop. As soon as I apply any pressure or "cluck" at her, she goes straight back to her normally fast self.

That's a great idea.
Thank you!
I'll try that!

I'll try to do that as well, but my problem is that I can't slow her down once she starts going. If I try, she either stops on a dime and nearly throws me over, or she yanks on the reins until I can't hold her anymore. (Or she bucks, but that doesn't happen often. She used to buck as soon as she started cantering, but she doesn't do it anymore.)
But I'll try. Thanks.

Throwing the reins might actually work..... Just drop her on her face a couple times. We do it with dressage horses who lean on our hands too much. I do it to my horse a lot. It teaches them to back off and listen.

I'll have to watch the video again tomorrow when I can concentrate on it, my friends are trying to distract me at the moment razz

Does she know the one-rein-stop? Honestly, the biggest thing that I'm getting from this video and the other ones that you've posted is that she scares you. And I'm not saying that to be mean or to say that you shouldn't ride her. That's the last thing I mean. The reason I'm the rider that I am today is because I rode horses that scared the crap out of me when I was younger and learned how to get past that, to be able to control my nerves and use the energy that created for my own purposes instead of letting it inhibit my riding. You'll get better at that as you go, it just takes time and practice. smile
Anyway, back to the one-rein stop. You're biggest fear issue seems to stem from not being able to stop her.

Start at the halt, and make sure that you can isolate her flexing her neck either side. Don't do anything with your legs, just pull one rein back to your hip while leaving the other rein slack. She'll probably turn in circles at first, but just hold the tension on that rein until she stops moving and gives to the pressure. As soon as she does, drop the rein, and rub her on the neck. Practice both ways until she can easily give to pressure both directions without spinning in circles. Once you have her doing at the halt, move to trying it from the walk. It should get to where pull her head to the side and she immediately gives to the pressure and halts. Once you have it mastered at the walk, move to doing it at the trot. I wouldn't practice it at the canter, because it' a lot harder on her and will likely throw her off balance, but practice it often at the walk and trot as an "emergency brake" so that she will know to associate it with stopping.

Okay, back to the video.

Don't let her stop to itch like that. It's rude. I know that being itchy is annoying, but to slam on the brakes like that while your riding to itch is completely rude and unacceptable. She can scratch when you stop for a break. When she does that, send her forward.
Stargazer had some really good suggestions to about desensitizing her sides a little, which will help you. You need to be able to have a solid leg, or you can't affect her movement. She needs to know that pressure does not always mean GO.
As for the canter transitions, Pianoangel is exactly right about not posting into the canter. You seem to have kind of a circular problem between the two of you in the canter, however. Because she is tense, she goes faster, which causes you to tense and not be able to follow her movement as well, which causes her back to hollow, her head to come up, and her to run on her forehand. You pull back on the reins in an attempt to slow her, which just pulls her head farther up, hollowing her back more and making it impossible to sit on, which leads to you bouncing, which makes her more tense... I think you get my point.
So I'm going to suggest something that goes against my dressage world. Don't sit the canter. I used to be a huge advocate for always sitting, but after more research into biomechanics and learning more about how your seat affects your horse's movement, and training a few more horses, I'm becoming a bigger fan of getting off of your horse's back in the canter, especially if they're tense or green. Now, I'm not talking a full two-point or galloping position, I'm thinking just raise your weight slightly out of the saddle so you're staying balanced over the saddle, but not bouncing on her back. Some horses, this is all that they need to be able to stretch over their back. Not always, but if you're not bouncing on her, she'll have more opportunity to relax her back and start properly cantering rather than doing what is known by many trainers as the "pony gallop" canter.
Another thing that can be very useful for controlling a canter that accelerates like hers does is "posting" the canter. Now, this does not mean posting into the canter. What you do is you move in and out of two-point with every stride. So you sit for one stride, then "rise" into a sort-of two-point for a stride, then sink back into your seat the next stride, so it's not really a proper post, but it's a rising action. I used to use this with my thoroughbred on cross country, and the rhythm of my posting was able to help regulate his stride and we might have a prayer of coming in within time. You can also use your posting to help slow the stride. If you slow your posting by being almost a little sluggish to rise again, most horses will regulate their stride to match what you're doing to make it more comfortable for her. It feels awkward at first, but once you get the feel of it, it's almost easier than the posting trot. It was also the only way to regulate my thoroughbred's pace. He was off the track, so whenever I got up into two-point, he would accelerate, no matter how carefully I rode my half-halts.

I still think that you need to spend a lot more time in the trot perfecting your transitions and getting her bending and supple over her topline and throughout her body. I think I've given you exercises for that before? I can also give you some more, but not tonight, because I'm really distracted. I'll have to come back tomorrow.

Looking back through that, I realize that I might be being a little harsher than I normally am. I hope you don't get discouraged by that. As I've said before, you've got some good things going for you, and since you're showing a real hunger to learn, I'm going to try to help as much as I can. Ask lots of questions and keep working on it, you're improving more and more every time!