# Your first canter?



## EquineBella (Aug 12, 2015)

Hey guys, first ever post. 
So, I am a rider just starting out and for most of my lessons I have been just walking and trotting.
I wanted to ask you guys, how long did it take you until you did your first canter? I don't want to rush or push my limits, because I definitely know I am not ready to canter, but I just want to get an idea. c:
Thanks for reading,

~Bella :runninghorse2:


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## blue eyed pony (Jun 20, 2011)

I wasn't really ready when my first instructor had me canter for the first time. I bounced around all over the place and almost fell off, and my back was so sore I couldn't move for days afterwards so I don't want to know how the poor pony felt!

I'd been taking one lesson a week for I think 6 weeks? So was very much a raw beginner. I took to trot very easily but canter was a different story.

When I'm teaching I don't let my students canter until they have shown me they're balanced and have control of the horse in trot. If they're patient enough I like to develop the sitting trot before I let them canter. If they're impatient I teach the canter in two-point because that, at least, keeps the unbalanced student off the horse's back.


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## boots (Jan 16, 2012)

I think it at about 6 weeks into lessons, too. 

I was so excited! Then, I was so sure I was going to be catapulted to the moon! And right after I wanted to try again.


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## SirComet (Feb 21, 2014)

I think mine was a little past 6 weeks...but she pushed me into a horse show after riding for only 6 weeks (just walk-trot), so the focus was obviously skewed. The first time it happened was an accident, and I thought I broke the horse. It felt like he was limping, to me. Turns out he was just cantering. A week or so later she put me on a lunge line and I learned. It's hard at first...but after you get used to it a lot of people find it easier than trotting!


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## BlueSpark (Feb 22, 2012)

Mine was accidental when a lesson horse bolted. Shortly there after we could no longer afford lessons. A couple years later I begged and pleaded to be allowed bareback on my cousins half broke 17hh draft cross gelding, who promptly took off and cantered a mile back to his mares. 

I think ideally a rider will be comfortable in a trot sitting and posting with good control. This is more for for comfort of the horse than anything else, as bouncing around and accidentally yanking the horses mouth is not nice. I had zero control the first few times I cantered, which is typically a bad idea.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Reiningcatsanddogs (Oct 9, 2014)

My first lope/canter was when I was about 7 and I don't remember how long it was into lessons but I do remember thinking it was waaaay easier than trotting (western) and that it was my favorite (still is). If memory serves me, my instructor used getting to lope as a reward, to get me to do other things correctly after that.


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## karliejaye (Nov 19, 2011)

I started riding when I was 5, just plodding along on mules. When I was 8 or 9 I started taking weekly lessons in the summer. I was the quietest, shiest, least confident kid around, and while I loved horses I was also scared to death of them in many ways. The first summer was almost entirely on the lunge line, getting to walk and trot off of it after probably 6 or 7 lessons. It wasn't until the end of the next summer I felt confident enough to canter on the lunge. Though once I got a taste of it, I quickly progressed, but it was a MAJOR hurdle for young me for some reason. By the time I was 13 (so really only 3 years after cantering) my trainer had me jumping about 3'9" and helping retrain ottbs. 

Moral of my anecdote: you do things in your time! When you're ready, you will know it, and it's amazing how sometimes one new skill clicks and opens up so many new paths.


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## lostastirrup (Jan 6, 2015)

Mine was like bluespark's I had been taking sporadic lessons- I was about six I think. Anyhow I was on a trail ride and there was a big log and my horse popped over it then off we went. I was riding in a big western saddle and my feet didn't reach the stirrups but once we were off I'm told I laughed like a hooligan and refused to make the horse stop. apparently someone yelled after me to 'rein in' and I screamed back "NO!" ...pretty much sums up the trend of my riding career.


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## karensc (Jul 5, 2015)

I just started taking lessons in February, and I think the first time my instructor had me canter was in June. She seems to judge when to start cantering based on how well you are doing up to that point. So i don't know if I'm progressing slowly or what haha, but I don't mind.


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## Skyseternalangel (Jul 23, 2011)

First time was a lope, and I had been riding for 5 years (since I was 8) on a very well broke ex barrel racer. His lope was very smooth

My first english canter was on the lunge line, a year after I got my horse who needed major re-training. His canter was like a rocket ship blasting off. This was 7 years later!

My first gallop was on a trail ride string. My friend was visiting in town and had ridden more than me. I was 14, just 2 years after my first lope and she kicked her horse into a dead hand gallop, and of course mine followed. I yelled at her afterwards because I could have fell off easily.


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## KRcowgirl (Aug 19, 2014)

My first canter was during my first lesson on a lunge line. I had been riding sporadically on my grandparent's horses for years, though, before I began my 'real' riding career. 

My instructor made sure that I had a solid seat and good control before she even let me lope, so that's obviously a must.


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## Woodhaven (Jan 21, 2014)

My first canter was the day I bought my first horse. I had done a little riding and when we brought him home, all the neighbours came out to see him (we lived on the edge of a city). I took him into his pasture and was riding up the hill to where everyone was, I thought I would canter up the hill to show off a little and I found out this horse had a bucking problem and we sure did show off for the crowd. I was over one side then another, behind and in front of the saddle, the only good thing was that the horse was somewhere underneath me every time I came down. He finally stopped bucking and cantered the last few steps for me.
When we went out for rides, I found out that he also had a running away habit. As we were going for many miles I just sat there and let him go. He got over this habit quickly as I never tried to stop him and after that he became a very good saddle horse.

Disclaimer:I would never advise anyone to learn to ride this way.


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## saddlebred99 (Feb 19, 2015)

My first canter was on my first horse, Deacon. We were out along the trail and I had two friends riding with me as well. This horse was very lazy and didn't really like to work so, needless to say, I was really shocked when we were crossing a creek and my horse cat leaped across the whole darn creek! Keep in mind, I was just starting out back then. He hit the ground and took off trotting then gradually sped up to a canter. I immediately checked him back to the walk. My friends were all like "Oh my gosh you just cantered!" and I was like "Oh my gosh I know!" lol I've been cantering ever since.


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## cheyennemymare (Oct 8, 2014)

I had been riding every day for like a week. I used to be pretty reckless, and just kicked Cheyenne into a lope going up a hill... Bareback. She started bucking, I did a summersault, got back on, did it again! If you don't think you're ready, no worries. It'll come.


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## DreaMy (Jul 1, 2014)

My first canter was maybe just short of 2 months into weekly lessons (I know I had a saddle and the first 5 lessons or so were all bareback). I'm not 100% sure because I was only just 5.

But I do remember my coach at the time (one of those good ol' cowboy types) climbed up on the fence had me bring my horse up to him and he jumped on behind me. That was my first canter. 

It takes a while to feel comfortable and often, if you have a bad experience or fall the canter is the gait you will associate with panic but just keep working at it.

Remember (for all gaits but the canter especially) to sit your butt down in that saddle because it is much safer to loosen up then get tense (that is how people get pulled forward out of their saddles)


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## Rainaisabelle (Jan 2, 2015)

I still haven't properly cantered lol both canters I have done have been a horse taking off on me, 1 I fell off and the other I managed to stay on and pull him up so... I am a bit apprehensive of the canter.


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## kiltsrhott (Mar 11, 2012)

I had been taking weekly lessons for 2-3 months before I got my first opportunity to canter. I do not recall it being a traumatic experience. The lesson horse I was riding had lovely, smooth gaits, and I had learned sitting and posting trot before moving onto the canter.

If your instructor doesn't rush you into it and your seat is truly ready, you should take to the canter well. It is really an easy gait if you know how to follow your horse's motion at the walk and trot. And it does help to have a good lesson horse with a smooth gait, who is not apt to rush.


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## SueC (Feb 22, 2014)

I don't remember which horse it was on, but it was around a month into the beginner rider / basic dressage programme I did at a German riding school at the age of nine. I do vividly remember the elation that it was so much less juddery than trotting, which had been such an almighty disappointment I had nearly cried!  In fact, to that version of me, cantering felt a little like those boat swings at fairgrounds - you know the ones? That was a very similar sensation!

...have to say, they pushed us to do a lot in a little time and I was grateful for it. We were made to trot without stirrups really early on it the piece as well. Sink or swim, but something to be said for high expectations. You're working so hard you don't have time to be scared.


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## Foxhunter (Feb 5, 2012)

My first canter was on the back of a Welsh pony behind my cousin, bareback. 

We did fine until he got fed up and charged to the gate of the orchard and veered to the left and we didn't! 

Generally I would only start novice riders cantering when they had mastered a good sitting trot.


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## Rainaisabelle (Jan 2, 2015)

Actually I just remembered my first canter was on a friends TB who was the most dopey and slow horse ever it was fantastic.


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## ShirtHotTeez (Sep 23, 2014)

You don't say how long you have been riding "just starting out" can be quiet broad. There is no hard and fast rule about cantering, i have seen complete novice non horsey people get on a school/stable? horse and canter across a paddock and back without ever having walked or trotted (not recommended).

When you can comfortably control your pony at walk and trot there is no reason not to try cantering. If you can do it the first few times on the lunge it reduces worry about control while you get the feel of it, as it feels quite fast the first time. It is important to try and stay relaxed or pony feels you tense and thinks he should go faster.


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## ecasey (Oct 18, 2013)

Gosh, it seems like it took me forever. You can do a search on my posts and follow my progress. Then when I did it, it wasn't comfortable or safe for months and months, and I take lessons 3 or 4 times a week and own my horse! So be patient. Everyone does it at her own pace and you don't want to do it too soon or you could fall and then be afraid to do it at all (Like my daughter who's now cantering bareback and everything else!)


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## SEAmom (Jan 8, 2011)

Depends on the rider and the horse. A naturally balanced rider will likely canter sooner than an unbalanced rider. A naturally smoother gait is easier to canter than a "rough" gait.


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## Zexious (Aug 2, 2013)

Man, that was so long ago... I can't even remember /shot!
Best of luck!


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## Skipsfirstspike (Mar 22, 2010)

My first canter was the first time I rode a horse as a teenager at a dude ranch. Loved it, went back every weekend for the rest of the summer, was working there the next spring lol


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## karliejaye (Nov 19, 2011)

I really love all the variety of answers. Reinforces the fact that we all learn differently and progress at different paces.


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## Shannon2117 (Aug 20, 2015)

My first time was after I had been taking lessons (once a week) for about three or four months! I had never been on a horse before this though. I rode a 16 year old quarter horse that was as easy as they come 

it took me months to feel comfortable in it though!


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## Chicalia (Nov 5, 2013)

Everyone progresses differently -- and on top of that, everyone's instructor has a different philosophy about what kind of foundation and skills one should have before one tries new things. My first accidental canter was after riding for about eight or nine months; we only went a few strides and I didn't have trouble staying on, but I wasn't supposed to be cantering yet so I brought her back down to a trot right away. My first real, "on purpose" attempt to canter (when my riding instructor said I was ready to work on it) was after riding for about a year. Still, it took me a couple of months of really focusing on it during lessons to figure it out. I had to be not only physically, but emotionally ready to progress to the canter before it really "clicked" for me and my horse. By emotionally, I mean that cantering was on the very edge of my comfort zone, so I really had to take baby steps with it, learn to trust my horse even more, and let go of my imagination-fueled fears about what "might" happen. Once my anxiety about it settled down, I stopped feeding into my horse's anxiety (we were basically just feeding off of each other, which never helps, LOL), and it just started working for us.


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