Training Tip: Partner With the Right Horse When Learning How to Canter

If you’re learning how to canter, the best thing you can do for yourself is learn to canter on a horse that canters well. Find a horse that will build your confidence, not wreck it. The ideal horse picks up the canter as soon as he’s cued to, he falls into a steady, rhythmic cadence, he travels a straight line and is easy to steer, and he stops as soon as he’s asked to.

Too often, I see people trying to learn how to canter on horses that are barely broke to ride or have very little experience cantering. If you’re learning to canter and your horse is as well, I can guarantee you’re in for a difficult time that will frustrate you and wreck your confidence.

How do you learn to ride a bike? You ride it, and ride it, and ride it. But you don’t just hop on and ride—your parents give you training wheels at first. Finding a horse that already knows how to canter well gives you those cantering training wheels.