# First trail ride coming up -- cantering?



## ACinATX (Sep 12, 2018)

I went to the park where we're going to go for a trail ride on Monday and walked a good path that I think should take us about 1.5 - 2 hours to ride. In the middle of the walk, there's a nice, long, flat, wide, straight, crushed limestone trail that's surrounded by grass with a few trees here and there. It would be a GREAT place for a canter! However, this will be our first time taking the horses to ride off property, so I'm not sure that's wise. Pony gets "up" when he canters, and he can get a bit jumpy when I canter him out in the pasture. And there's deer out there; I saw quite a few today. He calms down quickly, though. Moonshine gets really "up" just from being in nice wide open spaces, and my daughter struggles to keep her in a slow canter (as opposed to a getting-faster-and-faster-and-turning-into-a-gallop) when we ride in the pasture.

If things are going well at that point, I'm going to be really tempted. But, this being our first time taking them out, should we just not? Even if it seems like a good idea at the time?

ETA: at the old place we'd ride them out in the back pastures all the time, and it was quite cut off from everything else, and they were fine. The place where we got them, they were both being used for trail rides. So it's not like they've never been out on a trail; this is just our first time trailering them to a trail, if you will, and their first time to be on a trail ride some place where they don't live.


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## SteadyOn (Mar 5, 2017)

I wouldn't. Probably. But I'm a wimp.  

You could try some walk-trot-walk-trot transitions and see how they do coming up and down from that, and then decide.


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## Liko (Sep 28, 2021)

ACinATX said:


> I went to the park where we're going to go for a trail ride on Monday and walked a good path that I think should take us about 1.5 - 2 hours to ride. In the middle of the walk, there's a nice, long, flat, wide, straight, crushed limestone trail that's surrounded by grass with a few trees here and there. It would be a GREAT place for a canter! However, this will be our first time taking the horses to ride off property, so I'm not sure that's wise. Pony gets "up" when he canters, and he can get a bit jumpy when I canter him out in the pasture. And there's deer out there; I saw quite a few today. He calms down quickly, though. Moonshine gets really "up" just from being in nice wide open spaces, and my daughter struggles to keep her in a slow canter (as opposed to a getting-faster-and-faster-and-turning-into-a-gallop) when we ride in the pasture.
> 
> If things are going well at that point, I'm going to be really tempted. But, this being our first time taking them out, should we just not? Even if it seems like a good idea at the time?
> 
> ETA: at the old place we'd ride them out in the back pastures all the time, and it was quite cut off from everything else, and they were fine. The place where we got them, they were both being used for trail rides. So it's not like they've never been out on a trail; this is just our first time trailering them to a trail, if you will, and their first time to be on a trail ride some place where they don't live.


If it were me, I'd say no, for two reasons:


It's your first time out there. Horse will be nervous, you only barely know the terrain, it's a recipe for getting hurt.
Crushed limestone path. Personally, even shod, I say no way to telling my horse to slam their hooves down on that stuff. I pick enough pebbles out from between hoof wall and sole as it is. Yes, their hooves are tougher than my feet, so this may be overprotective, but I generally don't ask for a canter on anything I wouldn't walk over barefoot.


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## horselovinguy (Oct 1, 2013)

I'm in the no camp,_ no cantering._
Not this trip...
You have not been here with the horses before so all is going to be a new page of adventure to them and you.
You are also going to be a bit nervous, uptight and anxious and both your horses are going to sense that and given opportunity....
Yea, just don't.
Don't over-face your daughter who has difficulty with Moonshine in a pasture field and you say Pony gets up and that often means a handful soon follows.
Remember there are no pasture fences to catch you at this park if you have a problem.
Make this maiden voyage be a great one and just go easy with walk and a bit of trot...

Crushed limestone is road base in Florida.
In fact the county just redid the edge of our driveway and paved road with crushed limestone...
Stuff is packed solid like it was steam-rolled.... 
I would _not_ be looking to canter on that as it can be slick, slipping easily and hard on the legs.

Once you are veterans of this park, your horses are a bit more acclimated to trailering out and going for a ride in a unfamiliar location with wildlife of deer and such... then find a nice grassy area and go for a small gentle canter.
This time, just a easy hack for the two of you...start on a good note and finish on a great one.
🐴...


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## Woodhaven (Jan 21, 2014)

I would also stick to walk trot on this ride. Horses can get very forward when out on a new exciting place and best to keep the first few rides low key so they are not thinking canter (could become race) when you come to an open place.
We have had horses that are going nicely on trails and you come out of the woods to an open field or a clear space on a trail and the horse gets all excited and start dancing around, previous riders have taught these horses a clear open space means run.
You don't want to even start the horses thinking like this until you have a lot more exposure on trails. It's easy for them to learn and very difficult to get them over it.
Take things slowly and have a pleasant relaxed ride.


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## pasomountain (Dec 19, 2018)

Yes it is best to just walk/trot for now, especially in an unfamiliar area. 

I finally went on my first trailride of the year last Monday--yay! It was just my sisters and I and the horses were so mellow. They only wanted to walk and gait a little bit--they didn't ask to go more and we didn't push them. I know it's fun to canter/gallop and all that but as I get older I'm finding that slowing down is a lot more pleasant.


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