My horse won't lope

So my now four year old gelding that I have had since he was just a yearling and has been extremely easy to train has now decided that he just doesn't want to lope. I have lunged him with a saddle and he will lope but when I am
On him he will either buck or he will completely refuse to canter and just do an extended trot. He is easy to ride at a walk and trot he is a bit on the lazy side but he has always been willing to please. I have loped on him a few times but it is always short lived . All of his tack fits fine and he is not bucking because of an ill fitting saddle because I have ridden him bare back with the same results. I have had his back looked at and he is in great health. What steps should I take to get him to canter without it being such a battle because my back can't take much more of this getting bucked off.

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Comment by Jackie Cochran on July 28, 2013 at 5:09pm: Easily trained horses who suddenly start acting up usually "misbehave" because of PAIN. The best thing is to call out the vet or a chiropractor, especially if you can get a horse specialist. Your horse may have twisted something "out" in his back.

Are you treating him for ulcers?

Do not rule out saddle problems. Horse's backs can change quite a bit when growing and being trained. The weight of the rider can make uncomfortable saddles painful.

Be sure to move your saddle far enough back so that the top of the shoulder blade does not run into the end of the saddle tree. If you lunge before you ride the saddle can creep up towards the withers causing pain (and fistulous withers.)

Good luck in figuring it out! After the pain is fixed you should be able to discourage bucking at the canter since the horse won't be wanting to try to get rid of pretty bad pain. Luckily most of the solutions are simple, fix the source of the pain whether from medical issues, tack, or rider. Since he was easy before its probably not you.