# Conformation that leads to a very smooth/comfy cantor and trot?



## Clava (Nov 9, 2010)

Conformation isn't the whole issue though as balance and stride length is also dictated by how well the horse is schooled. My haflinger has a lovely canter now but in the early days it was flat and very unbalanced. Ponies tend to have shorter choppy trots than bigger horses, my haffies have lovely comfy trots, my pony doesn't and my TB has a long flat trot. I also had an arab who did not do the floaty big trot as her mother used to so really the only way of knowing is to try them and see but allow for improvement on balance with schooling if possible.


----------



## Palomine (Oct 30, 2010)

Canter. No o in the word. Cantor is the one singing at Jewish services.

Sloping shoulders matched with pastern angles helps with smooth/comfortable.

Rider can mess up a smooth one though.


----------



## ponyboy (Jul 24, 2008)

Clava said:


> Conformation isn't the whole issue though as balance and stride length is also dictated by how well the horse is schooled. My haflinger has a lovely canter now but in the early days it was flat and very unbalanced. Ponies tend to have shorter choppy trots than bigger horses,


No they don't. Plenty of ponies have long, flowing strides. Except for Connemaras, they usually have good shoulder angles too. Connemaras are bouncy because of the Arab in them, lol.

OP, unfortunately Arabs and most draft breeds tend to have bad shoulder angles.


----------



## ecasey (Oct 18, 2013)

The dream-strider I rode was a pony. A Newforest I'm now calling The Couch.


----------



## frlsgirl (Aug 6, 2013)

It depends on what you are looking for. I ride this big Hanno on occasion he has a big swinging canter. It's nice but you really have to open your hips and swing with him. If you can do that, then he would be comfortable for you.

Then there is my little horse. She is smooth as glass, takes shorter strides and doesn't have as much swing to it. I can read a newspaper and drink a cup of tea while cantering or trotting her  but it's a very different canter from the big Hanno. 

So to answer your question, there is no simple recipe to determine how comfortable a horse's canter is by just looking at it. You'll have to try out several horses before you buy your next one


----------



## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

Like Clava mentioned, the balance and training on a horse can influence it's gaits a lot. A horse that is strung out and heavy on the forehand is going to be rougher than if they were level and somewhat collected.

That being said, there are some traits that do _usually_ indicate a smoother riding horse. A well angled shoulder with pasterns that match. Pasterns that aren't too short. A croup that is well angled above a well set and well angled hock. 

This horse was one of the smoothest I've ever ridden (sorry for the crappy pix, they're all I've got that somewhat show his conformation)


















And this horse is like driving over speed bumps....at _every_ gait


















But that doesn't always ring true. Just to look at the confo on this horse, I would have said he would likely ride rough, but he is by far the smoothest I've ever ridden


----------



## ecasey (Oct 18, 2013)

Thanks, everyone! I feel somewhat more educated about the subject now, so when I do go horse shopping again, I'll at least have a starting point for test rides.


----------



## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

my guess is one reason this beautiful horse has a rough canter is his shoulders, and how wide set his front legs are and flat the line of the humerus bone is. it might make his reach in front be short, and his body rock side to side quiet a lot due to the wide set of the front legs, though this is usually more apparent at the trot.

and old saying is that you can improve the trot, but his canter is his canter.

I think you can improve the canter, but it's much more limited, whereas a horse's trot can be improved a lot by good riding. thing is, if you improve the trot, the canter will improve too. 
maybe the cantor, too.


----------



## ecasey (Oct 18, 2013)

I would say my girl's trot has improved a lot since we started working together in January. But that canter ... ugh. It's bad.


----------



## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

You are limited to a pretty small arena, aren't you? If you could get her out and really let her canter out, like a hand gallop, she might feel better.


----------



## ecasey (Oct 18, 2013)

No, we have a big arena too, but when given that space, she tends to get a little too wild for me to handle. I've done it a few times, but we're working our way up to that on a more regular basis.


----------



## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

I started a 12 year old mare a couple years ago that had never been ridden. Of all the horses I've ridden in my life, her canter was by far the very worst. At first, even when I was in good shape, I couldn't lope her for more than about 5 minutes at a time without having to stop and take a break so I could breathe. She loped about like a deer, all four feet left the ground at the same time and landed at the same time and it was all I could do just to keep my butt somewhere in the vicinity of the saddle.

Sorry for the crappy video, but this is her at a lope about 20 days into training
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4uJ6vq7-50

With lots and lots of miles across country at a lope and about a million circles at a lope, she improved a lot. Her lope went from what it was to something tolerable. It would never be _pleasant _to ride, but by the end, she was balanced and relaxed enough that I could lope her indefinitely without stopping.


----------



## ecasey (Oct 18, 2013)

So there's hope! Thanks so much for the video. I can see you've done a lot of work with her. I look forward to the day that I can ride the canter for that long looking so comfortable.


----------

