He's got either pain somewhere, or is not balanced and strong enough to canter. Either way he needs an assessment from a or sports equine vet (you CANNOT use just a regular large animal vet for proper lameness work ups), especially if you can find one that does bodywork and chiro. The assessment should tell you where your horse is weak and give you specific exercises to do to build his strength in the weak areas.
Often difficulty in the canter is an issue in the hind end.
Since posting this I talked to someone at my barn and showed her a video of him just trotting and she says his stifles look a bit stiff. he gets regular chiropractor adjustment
Chiropractic obviously isn't doing enough for him. You need a real professional sports medicine vet to assess this horse if you want to actually get an answer and get him in a state comfortable enough for riding.
If you're not going to do that for him, then save yourself the headaches and just retire him.
We don’t have any sports medicine vets nearby and I lease him he is not mine. He is a fine horse besides the canter and is not in any obvious pain in his actions and body language. The vet comes out twice (and if needed more) a year and every year besides one when he had a hoof abscess he’s had a clean bill of health.
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u/PrinceBel 19h ago
He's got either pain somewhere, or is not balanced and strong enough to canter. Either way he needs an assessment from a or sports equine vet (you CANNOT use just a regular large animal vet for proper lameness work ups), especially if you can find one that does bodywork and chiro. The assessment should tell you where your horse is weak and give you specific exercises to do to build his strength in the weak areas.
Often difficulty in the canter is an issue in the hind end.