Cantering is really simple to do but if this is your first time, you may find it a little awkward and difficult. You will need to learn to get comfortable and position yourself to where your body can move with your horse’s motion and with his rhythm. Sitting the canter means that you need to learn to keep your legs and hips relaxed and loose so your body can follow your horse’s movement. If this is a struggle for you, make sure that the length of your stirrup is not too long. Learning how to get a horse to canter can be tricky but once you learn, it becomes a “fun riding gait” that is the next (and faster!) stride from a trot.
How to signal your horse to canter
1. Start by trotting
The first thing you need to do when learning how to get a horse to canter is to get your horse into a trot. A trot is a little faster than walking with a bounce to his step. You should be able to just tighten your grip with your legs to send your horse into a trot. Do not try to get the horse to canter immediately. Let him trot around the arena for a few minutes to get him warmed up.
2. Sit slightly back
Make sure that you are sitting back just slightly before attempting the canter. When you are ready to signal your horse, slide your weight just a bit farther back but not a lot. Shifting your weight too much will make you lose control. Basically, you just move your weight from your pelvis to your backside without leaning forward. Your backside should be able to rest against the back of the saddle and your horse’s back. If you don’t feel the back of the saddle then you have moved back too far.
3. Signal your horse at the right time
The best time for you to give your horse the signal to canter is when you are rounding a corner or just before reaching the corner. This will make the transition easier for you and your horse as they will automatically lead with their inside leg, making it a much less bumpy transition for you.
4. The signal to canter
Tighten the reins slightly. Now apply pressure with your leg that faces in the inside of the arena (your ‘inside’ leg). Moving the other leg just a little behind the horse’s girth then you need to apply pressure to signal the horse.
Following your horse’s movement in the canter
Keep your body in an even position
During cantering, you need to make sure to hold yourself in an even, neutral position. This helps in following your horse’s motion. The neutral position that you hold during halting should be the exact same position that you need to use during cantering.
Sit up straight to where your shoulder, your hip, and your heel are aligned and form an upright line that is at a ninety-degree angle to the ground.
Don’t arch your back, keep it straight. Shoulders need to be lined up with your ear.
Keep your hips moving with the horse’s rhythm
When you are learning how to get a horse to canter you need to remember to always move with your horse. A canter will be a three-beat gait that you need to allow your hips to follow the motion of the horse’s back.
Your horse’s hips will be moving up and down quickly. His hind feet push up off of the ground which causes his hips to rise up.
Let yourself shift with your horse’s hips. It will cause you to shift, tilt, and cause your hips to raise up a little but make sure that you keep your buttocks in your saddle.
Remember, you can’t learn this overnight. It takes plenty of practice to learn how to get a horse to canter. You have to get used to the horse’s motion and rhythm before you can do this without struggling.
As you learn how to get a horse to canter, it will build up your “core muscles”. Having strong muscles will help you to keep a neutral position which will let your hips move a lot more freely.
Let the reins follow the horse’s head
Do not try to move the reins. Instead, relax your shoulders, let your arms move with the horse’s head, and remember to loosen your grip a little on the reins before cantering. This will give the horse enough room to be able to move his head without any tension from the reins and jerking on the bit.
Keep your legs relaxed and loose
You need to remind yourself to not allow your legs to grip during the canter. Doing so will make it harder for you to keep your balance. Get in the habit of allowing your legs to hang loose, barely having them wrapped around the horse. Gripping the horse will also confuse your horse and this can lead to a lot more difficulty during cantering.
To help keep your legs from swinging too much, make sure that you do not arch your back and keep your weight in your heels.
Correcting mistakes in your cantering technique
Don’t grip too hard
Gripping too hard can cause you to bounce way too much in your saddle. Normally a younger rider will have this problem because they feel the need to grip with their knees thinking this will give them better balance, but in reality, it makes it harder to keep their balance.
During the canter, you want to leg your legs hang downward by your horse’s side. Stretch out your calves and move your weight to your heels. The result of this is that it causes less of a “lock” on your knees which lets you sit correctly to canter.
Adjust the stirrups
Check to make sure that your stirrups are adjusted correctly. While stopped, take your feet out of your stirrups, if they bump against your ankles, they are at the right length if you have English stirrups.
If you are using Western stirrups then make sure that you can move your toes forward and easily get your foot into the stirrup with a slight bend to your leg.
Walk or trot
Until you get enough practice in, there are sure to be times where you are gripping the horse’s reins too tight, a sure sign of some tension. You cannot canter this way. Before attempting the canter, start over. Bring your horse back to a walk or trot and start again. Trying to canter while having the reins gripped too tight will make it much harder for the horse to control his head motions which will not allow him to canter correctly.
If you are having problems with gripping the reins too tightly, then stop, wait a week or two, practice more in walk and trot, then try again.
Practice cantering with your feet out of the stirrups
If you have problems with constantly trying to grip your horse with your legs then take your feet out of the stirrups. Wrap them across the saddle in front of you or take them off the saddle so they don’t hit your horse. Then ride around in a walk or in a trot stirrup-free to help you get your balance under control. If you have never ridden your horse this way, then make sure you have an instructor nearby – it will definitely help you build some good riding muscles!
Conclusion
The best way to learn how to get a horse to canter is to work with your instructor or coach the first time you canter. This will help you make sure you have the correct technique from the start. As always, practice makes perfect and I think you’ll soon find cantering to be a favourite stride to ride.