Megz2000
New User
I've just bought a new pony, he is a 14.2 gelding and he is 10 years old. He hasn't been trained properly and only knows how to walk and trot with some one on his back. I need to teach him to canter. Any tips?
Breaking in my new horse
- Thread starter Megz2000
- Start date
Cortez
Tough but Fair
Get an instructor/trainer/experienced person to help you. If you are riding him, then he is broken in, perhaps not terribly well, but broken at any rate. Can you lunge him? Does he canter on his own when he is out in the field? You can't teach a horse to canter; he already knows how to do this, but you need to learn the proper aids to tell him you want him to canter. Get an instructor.
Morgan123
Well-Known Member
Are you sure he doesn't know? It is quite surprising for a ten year old not to know, was he broken only recently (And if so then why?)?? I absolutely agree with the above that you should get an instructor to help you. When breaking in young ponies I usually canter with another (quiet) horse the first few times as they find it fun, automatically go into canter, and don't then focus on how weird it feels to have you on their back. But I wouldn't recommend doing that unless you're quite experienced - do you have someone to help you/teach you?
ruth83
Well-Known Member
Echo the above suggestions to get an experienced helper on the ground, preferably an instructor.
Does he not canter when ridden AT ALL? Or just not in the school? It can be very difficult for an unbalanced horse (often one who has only hacked out or hunted) to canter in the school due to the balance needed to maintain it around the corners - if you watch horses canter loose they will often bend in the opposite direction to travel. If he won't canter even when out hacking, has he been driven before? Often horses who have driven are discouraged from cantering and so they need to learn that they are allowed to canter as much as anything.
Does he not canter when ridden AT ALL? Or just not in the school? It can be very difficult for an unbalanced horse (often one who has only hacked out or hunted) to canter in the school due to the balance needed to maintain it around the corners - if you watch horses canter loose they will often bend in the opposite direction to travel. If he won't canter even when out hacking, has he been driven before? Often horses who have driven are discouraged from cantering and so they need to learn that they are allowed to canter as much as anything.