Do you remember your first canter?
Most of us can recall the moment: nervous anticipation mixed with euphoria as the horse’s power suddenly becomes apparent!
First canters (or lopes, if you prefer!) are often accidents: stolen strides on trail rides or a strange rocking sensation after jumping a pole.
But if you are an instructor of beginners, at some point, you will need to introduce the canter, and it is not always as easy as teaching the walk and the trot.
Why is teaching the canter so challenging?
- The canter can be intimidating. Even students who are eager to canter can be surprised by the initial attempt. While the trot is bouncy, a slow trot is relatively close to the walk in stride length and speed. The horse covers anywhere from 8’ to 12’ with each canter stride, making the average canter twice as big and twice as fast as the walk and the trot.
- The canter is not symmetrical. The three beats and leading leg create a tilting sensation in both the horse’s body and the rider’s hips. If a rider has a tendency to sit crookedly in the saddle, this imbalance will become very apparent the first time their horse canters around a turn.
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Not all canters are created equal. Ideally, you will be able to teach on a horse that is balanced, quiet, and relatively smooth. Choppy, quick canters and long-strided, downhill canters can both be difficult for a beginner to sit; sensitive horses can react explosively to a bouncy seat or unsteady leg.
If the horse has been a walk/trot horse for a long time, chances are good his cantering muscles will need a tuneup before he can deliver smooth transitions and a steady pace. - The canter is not easy to teach on the leadline. Not many of us can gracefully sprint alongside a full-sized horse, while keeping both eyes on the rider and avoiding arena equipment! This means that students often experience their first canter solo - requiring balance AND control - or at the end of a longe line, which is tricky with group lessons, and centripetal force can be a problem, especially with small children.
Put all these factors together, and you have the makings of a high-risk activity. The early days of cantering can cause students to fall, lose control, or lose confidence… unless they are well prepared.
One of our most important jobs as instructors is to give students the foundation that allows them to learn new skills successfully, without putting them at risk!
So how can we tell if they're ready?
At HorseSense, we don’t allow students to canter in lessons until they have demonstrated some crucial Yellow Level skills. They’ll be okay if they haven’t figured out diagonals yet, but balance and security are must-haves.
Sometimes, this costs us students, but if your motto is safety first, that rule applies to everyone.
You don’t want to be on the witness stand saying, “Well, I knew she couldn’t keep her heels down, but she was just so eager to canter…!”
Three Yellow Level skills we need to see before cantering becomes part of the program:
1
Trotting without stirrups. This is the Big One, with a capital B. A student who is not balanced enough to ride a short trot without stirrups is not likely to remain balanced at the canter.
While sitting trot is more important, since we need the rider to be able to sit the transitions in and out of the canter, the rising trot is also beneficial. It develops strength and security in the lower leg, making that leg less likely to swing and hit the horse in the canter. Position faults such as a grippy knee also become obvious when the student starts to post.
You will have students that tell you that they are physically incapable of posting without stirrups, and at first, you may believe them! But patient, persistent practice has a way of making the impossible possible, and the promise of a canter can be extremely motivational.
2
A secure two-point position at the walk and trot. No matter what position you intend your students to ride in their early canters, you need to know that they have a secure base of support, with a relaxed ankle, low heel, and steady lower leg. Otherwise, they will be falling forward and losing stirrups left and right. Even riders without aspirations of jumping benefit from practicing two-point on the flat – and yes, it can be done in a dressage or Western saddle, too!
In Yellow Level, we test the stability of the two-point position in two different ways. One is by trotting over a grid of poles; a faulty two-point may survive a single pole but will reveal its weaknesses by the end of a grid. The other is by asking the rider to practice balancing in two-point with one or both arms outstretched. This can be practiced at the halt before progressing to the walk and trot.
Of course, the best place to practice riding without hands is often on the longe line, which is why the third requirement is…
3
Ride on the longe line without stirrups or reins at the walk and trot. Don’t let the logistics scare you out of this one. If a student is going to be able to humanely use their reins to support their steering at the canter, they need to have a seat that does NOT depend on their hands.
If you just can’t make a safe longe lesson work, consider other ways you can practice this: leadlining is an option, and you may have more flexibility if you have a small arena or a very steady school horse.
We’re not trying for Spanish Riding School level of perfection here, but the student should demonstrate a consistent ability to sit the horse’s gaits without bouncing.
Signs that tell you they're NOT ready yet
- If they can sit a smooth and steady trot but lose their balance in the transition, they’re not ready yet.
- If they are fine in rising trot but bounce in all directions when asked to sit, they are not ready yet.
- Most importantly, if they are basically secure but admittedly fearful or showing signs of nervous tension… they are not ready yet.
Sometimes a student will tell you they are desperate to canter but their bodies will tell you a different story. Know the difference!
Your mission?
Make acquiring a canter-ready seat both achievable and fun!
