Tips for cantering

[P0ny Lover]

Hi! I've recently started cantering and I'm looking for tips to get better. I only have one group leason a month. This time last year I had my first ever fall, which pretty much completely recked my confidence. I didnt canter for a whole year and I was even scared to trot. My instructors offered me the chance to canter, but I never did because I was to scared. But now I have started cantering and I want to get better. I feel like when I ask for canter I keep bouncing around in the saddle and my position is really bad. And once I finally manage to canter I bounce up and down alot and my steering is really bad. I ride different horses every leason so some are more slow/faster than others. Dose anyone have some tips?

 

[Skib]

One ride a month in a group lesson is not going to teach you to canter.
In UK people who have a group lesson and are able to walk and trot off the lunge, are usually given a solo lesson to show them how to canter before being promoted to the lesson group that includes canter.
Canter is harder to learn in a school because of the corners. Some people learn canter on the lunge but that too can be hard as one is circling.
It is easier to learn how to canter out hacking .
I learned to ride by relaxing, breathing deep and counting the beat of each gait. Try feeling the movement of the horses legs under you in walk 1, 2, 3, 4. Trot is two time and canter is three time.
Breathe deep and feel the count of three.
But dont feel pushed to canter. My OH rode for a year before he cantered. It is important to start by learning balance on the horse - riding without stirrups.

 

[Jambarissa]

Your instructor will be able to tell you what needs to change in your position to help but presumably you just need practice, canter is easy to sit to once you get the rhythm right.

Are you fit and strong generally? Strong abs and flexibility will help.

My husband struggled with canter because it was hard to keep his horse going, the best thing we did was get him a lunge lesson on a horse which would just canter steadily around so all he had to do was think about his position and get the hang of it. If there's a mechanical horse near you that might help too.

 

[sarcasm_queen]

Just to check, is that “I only have 1 group lesson a month, but the rest of the time I have private lessons” or “I only have 1 lesson a month and it is in a group”. You’ll get different responses and recommendations based on how often you ride.

 

[maya2008]

Relax. Practise at home deliberately relaxing your muscles. The more you tense, the more you will bounce.

 

[Widgeon]

It is easier to learn how to canter out hacking .

Yes, this. I would try to get some hacking on a really steady horse, that will just lollop along in canter behind another horse, while you figure out how to sit still and stay with the movement. Cantering in an arena is actually quite hard - there's much more to think about than cantering out hacking.

 

[Skib]

Are you fit and strong generally? Strong abs and flexibility will help.

I was oldish and un athletic when I started to ride properly. Dont let that deter you. The benefit to me has been mostly mental. I had happy pony rides as a child so being on a horse didnt frighten me and is still a treat.

 

[whirlwind]

I agree it’s probably easier to canter out hacking but your riding school probably won’t offer this- for insurance purposes we have to see riders be reasonably competent in the pace before we can allow it out on the common. Otherwise ideally you need to be riding more regularly, I find even once a week isn’t really enough to progress quickly. A lot of my riders will have a 45 min private in addition to their group 2 hour (stable management and riding) session. Although obviously this does add up!

 

[Exasperated]

Yes, this. I would try to get some hacking on a really steady horse, that will just lollop along in canter behind another horse, while you figure out how to sit still and stay with the movement. Cantering in an arena is actually quite hard - there's much more to think about than cantering out hacking.

Definitely, and try to do this as regularly as you can to consolidate the rhythm and your confidence - enjoy!

 

[Skib]

I posted about my learning to canter by learning canter out out hacking but this is complicated because in many UK riding schools one is not allowed to hack until one passes a school test in walk, trot and canter. Schools want to be sure that a novice rider will not fall off if their horse is spooked out hacking and they need to sit an involuntary canter.
This actually happened to me on a ride from a highy rated BHS RS. A dog ran towards our horses with a large branch in its mouth, large enough to block our way. My horse span in a spook. I did not fall off but I could have done.

I solved the canter problem on the advice of my RI who was leaving her job and knew I loved hacking. I went to an RS where there was no school and which offered only hacking, even for complete beginners. Being a puritan and wanting to learn, I continued to have weekly school lessons as well.