You are in control of your horses tempo. But sometimes you may be unaware how you are changing it. Heres a few tips:
Post....your posting gives the horse direction. Find the tempo you want with your posting and keep it in your mind. If your horse speeds up try not to speed your posting up with him. Or if he slows the tempo you keep the energy in your posting as you ask him gently to catch up to your tempo. A lot of people make the simple mistake of sitting to speed the horse up or worse hovering to slow the horse down...This will have the total opposite effect. Post through everything and always come back to that tempo you want with your post....your horse will follow.
Breathe....I know I say it all the time but nice even and slow breathing allows your horse to focus on your aids better. Especially with a horse that holds tension and tends to be too fast....relax and breathe....so will he.
Half halt.....half halt and re balance....usually with your outside hand (unless your horse is hanging and leaning on the inside hand...but thats a different issue) redirect that energy back to the hind end and off of the front end to keep the tempo. If your horse tends to slow the tempo down keep that outside hand SOLID and add outside leg....always finding the tempo with your posting first.
At the Canter.....sit still and allow the horse to move you...not the other way around. Find the tempo in your head and keep it there. Its like a heart beat. bum bum.....bum bum.....bum bum... not a heart beat after running a marathon :) Same thing applies...breath and recycle the energy with your outside hand. Everyone please remember to feel free to post questions on any blog!!!!!
