# Does Anyone Dislike Riding In A Cantor?



## Rebelwithacause (Aug 7, 2013)

Just curious about this as I have been taking 1X1 lessons on a TWH. He is so smooth to ride, and especially when he goes from the running walk into the cantor, it's a blast. However, I also really like just mosey-ing around on a trail ride. Anyone else just content to keep things slow? I like that I'm learning how to control my movement(s) and know how to balance myself if/when he does pick up the pace and I ask him to go.

I was just talking yesterday with my trainer about what my goals are for when I do get my own horse, and really-- I just want a good, solid trail horse. I'm not looking to really compete in any events or anything ( although I have been practicing barrels and poles a lot in my lessons). So, curious to see if others are content with keeping it slow as well. Most people I have met at the barn really enjoy in the speed and competition side of riding, which has been fun to learn!


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## Sheepdog (Sep 25, 2011)

Rebel I like cantering short distances on a trail ride, but what's the point of a trail ride if you're going to hurry through it? For me the whole point of a trail ride is to chill, see some scenery and have fun.


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## Woodhaven (Jan 21, 2014)

I rarely canter on a trail ride, only when I know the footing is good. I do a lot of trotting and can cover a lot of ground that way. I believe (just my opinion) that a trotting horse has a better chance of recovery if you run into bad footing, horse slips or stumbles because he is landing with 2 feet on the ground each time whereas with the canter the horse can land on one foot.


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## Roman (Jun 13, 2014)

I rode a TWH in a few lessons and he made me fall in love with the canter. It was so smooth I could sit it and let one hand fall to my side. The other ones were always bumpy. xD

On a trail ride depending on how I'm riding I usually walk and maybe trot a bit. Bareback - walk all the way.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Rebelwithacause (Aug 7, 2013)

Roman said:


> I rode a TWH in a few lessons and he made me fall in love with the canter. It was so smooth I could sit it and let one hand fall to my side. The other ones were always bumpy. xD
> 
> On a trail ride depending on how I'm riding I usually walk and maybe trot a bit. Bareback - walk all the way.
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


I know, right.. it's so smooth. I am seriously in love with the WH after training on one!


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## Trinity Ridge (Nov 27, 2013)

I never canter my horse. But he is a speed racker. Another guy I ride with has walkers and even in their canter they can't keep up with mine in his rack. 
When I had a walker I rarely cantered. I don't believe in doing this with a gaited horse. I have ridden his horses before and would canter. But I don't care for that gait. It's not near as smooth as the rack, and not near as fast, so why would I?


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## bsms (Dec 31, 2010)

I love a canter in decent footing and if my horse doesn't get too excited. However, it is pretty impractical for most of the trails near me. My daughter will canter Trooper sometimes, but it is hard to find even a couple hundred yards where you can canter without smacking their feet. I've been known to ban my daughter from cantering on a trail with Trooper for a few weeks based on his feet.

Personally, I could pretty cheerfully do walking and trotting on my Arabian, very non-gaited mare. I agree with Sheepdog: "_what's the point of a trail ride if you're going to hurry through it?_"


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## SorrelHorse (Apr 9, 2009)

I'm a speed demon. Always have been, probably always will be. For me, trail rides are a change of scenery. I go out slow and warm up then usually end up cruising through at a lope. My horses are also using horses though, and are using to having to go to work regardless of what the footing looks like. Don't always have the luxury of a perfectly tilled arena when you need to go gather cattle.

Plus, I play games. Laser light tag in the woods? Hell yes. Match racing up a logging road, running on the beach, loping through lake water, swimming, jumping logs...All these things are fun and don't happen at a walk! :lol: :lol: My mare though, she likes to live on the edge. She'll plod along and enjoy the scenery too, but I think she really prefers to be running and doing something. She really loves it when we have others running around with us.

It just depends on you. No way is better than the other.


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## bsms (Dec 31, 2010)

My horses are not "using horses". If they were, in country like this, I'd shoe them without any question. When I ban my daughter from cantering on a trail it is because Trooper's hooves are getting chipped up and I don't want him to go lame.


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## waresbear (Jun 18, 2011)

bsms said:


> My horses are not "using horses". If they were, in country like this, I'd shoe them without any question. When I ban my daughter from cantering on a trail it is because Trooper's hooves are getting chipped up and I don't want him to go lame.


_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Cordillera Cowboy (Jun 6, 2014)

Rebelwithacause said:


> ...I was just talking yesterday with my trainer about what my goals are for when I do get my own horse, and really-- I just want a good, solid trail horse. I'm not looking to really compete in any events or anything ( although I have been practicing barrels and poles a lot in my lessons). So, curious to see if others are content with keeping it slow as well. Most people I have met at the barn really enjoy in the speed and competition side of riding, which has been fun to learn!


Think about this a LOT before you do buy a horse. Tennessee walkers make great trail horses. Trained well, they will walk slowly on a loose rein, but they are bred for covering ground. If the other folks at your barn like to move out and you want to take in the scenery, it may not be a good match for you. 

A couple of ladies I know were having trouble with their leased Walkers. They said they had started to stumble and sometimes wander off the trail. The barn owner had me ride the horses, and I had no problem with them. After some fishing around, the owner found out that the ladies were riding at a dead walk, side by side on the trail, chatting with each other for hours. The boss figured that these well conditioned trail horses were simply bored to tears as they plodded along. The ladies had to make a choice. Stay with the walkers and pick up the pace a bit, or find straight gaited horses to lease. They stayed with the walkers.

All that just to say make sure your future horse matches up with the job you want it to do.

To answer your question, I like it all. It very much depends on the horse I'm on or the group I'm with. When I had my mustang, I enjoyed long, long rides alone through the woods, mostly at a walk. We did mix it up, but mostly I just drank in the scenery and the feeling. When I'm with the folks from this walking horse barn, we'll scoot on down the trail and enjoy that feeling as well.


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## waresbear (Jun 18, 2011)

OMG I love tearing up the trails at a full out gallop and I have! My horses got too hyped up so it was back to walking on a loose rein and relaxed seat.....phooey!
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## trailhorserider (Oct 13, 2009)

I like to do any speed type stuff going out.....and then dog-walk coming home. That way you can do your faster gaits but still keep the horse from thinking (hopefully) you are in a hurry to get home.


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## KodasSlvrWings (Feb 5, 2014)

My SIL and I have races on trails  if there's a long open dirt path or a wide open pasture that we've been through a few times all we have to do is look at each other, get into two point, and push our hands forward and we are off! It's one of our favorite things to do! We laugh and holler the whole way through! We are both on non gaited breeds, she a quarter and myself a saddlebred. But we are speed demons and love anything at a faster pace. Our horses also start to get bored out of their minds if they are kept at a slow walk for too long! But to each their own and if you are more comfortable moseying along then you do what makes you happy! There's no fun in it if you aren't comfortable. As stated above, just keep this in mind when you are buying. Have your trainer go with you or someone who is horse knowledgable that knows what you are expecting out of a horse. Have fun, be safe, and happy trails!
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## verona1016 (Jul 3, 2011)

I love cantering in the arena but not on the trail. The trails I frequent are multi-use with lots of blind corners and no real open, flat areas. I use it as a time for me and my horse to relax and a change of pace, mostly walking.


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## boots (Jan 16, 2012)

I prefer a good working trot to the canter. But, I do some conditioning work at the canter and most polo is played at the canter, so we do that, too.

But, for general conditioning and for much of cow work, walking and trotting is used.


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## DancingArabian (Jul 15, 2011)

I love cantering everywhere and so does my horse. I think if cantering on the trail means you're rushing through the ride then your ride or trail simply aren't long enough 
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Rebelwithacause (Aug 7, 2013)

DancingArabian said:


> I love cantering everywhere and so does my horse. I think if cantering on the trail means you're rushing through the ride then your ride or trail simply aren't long enough
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


True enough, good point! When we go on the rides right now-- it's about an hour or so after work before it gets too dark. There's a lot of places around here to ride, but I haven't been on those trails quite yet!


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## Rebelwithacause (Aug 7, 2013)

Cordillera Cowboy said:


> Think about this a LOT before you do buy a horse. Tennessee walkers make great trail horses. Trained well, they will walk slowly on a loose rein, but they are bred for covering ground. If the other folks at your barn like to move out and you want to take in the scenery, it may not be a good match for you.
> 
> A couple of ladies I know were having trouble with their leased Walkers. They said they had started to stumble and sometimes wander off the trail. The barn owner had me ride the horses, and I had no problem with them. After some fishing around, the owner found out that the ladies were riding at a dead walk, side by side on the trail, chatting with each other for hours. The boss figured that these well conditioned trail horses were simply bored to tears as they plodded along. The ladies had to make a choice. Stay with the walkers and pick up the pace a bit, or find straight gaited horses to lease. They stayed with the walkers.
> 
> ...



Thanks for the feedback! You're totally right, this is something to _realllllly_ think about before buying. I'm no where near ready enough to buy right now, so I'm soaking it all in at the barn and riding different horses and getting a feel for their personalities and traits. 

As far as speed goes, I've been working a lot on controlling the pace and reign management. We do arena work a couple times a week then move on to some real world application out on the trail rides. I literally went from shaking when I would mount because I was so unsure of myself to hopping on up, grabbing the reigns and being much more confident in my riding ability. I never would have thought that I would feel confident enough to get on a huge animal and run around an arena!

That's what I love about riding, you're always learning something new about yourself. After every lesson I feel like I found something else out about me the horse that I didn't know an hour earlier.


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## DancingArabian (Jul 15, 2011)

Rebelwithacause said:


> True enough, good point! When we go on the rides right now-- it's about an hour or so after work before it gets too dark. There's a lot of places around here to ride, but I haven't been on those trails quite yet!


Buy lights  I have a breastplate with LED lights on it and have rigged up a headlamp to go in the center. I've also invested in a couple of kickstarter projects for safety gear that lights up.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Rebelwithacause (Aug 7, 2013)

DancingArabian said:


> Buy lights  I have a breastplate with LED lights on it and have rigged up a headlamp to go in the center. I've also invested in a couple of kickstarter projects for safety gear that lights up.
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


haha, that IS a good idea.


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## Trinity Ridge (Nov 27, 2013)

DancingArabian said:


> I love cantering everywhere and so does my horse. I think if cantering on the trail means you're rushing through the ride then your ride or trail simply aren't long enough
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


Very true. ....If it's less than 10 miles it's not worth the effort to me. Generally it's 15-20 miles.


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

Each person has their own preferences and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. 

For me, it greatly depends on what I'm doing. Sometimes I'm just in the mood to plod along so I give my kids their head and let them amble along wherever they want to go (we have no real trails to follow). However, if I've got something to do; if I'm training on a young horse or if I'm working cattle, I'll spend most of the day at a long trot or a lope. None of my horses are gaited, all stock horses.

To me, so long as the horse is comfortable for me to ride, I like all gaits, though there are a couple of horses on my placed that I refuse to trot because they're so rough. With them, I either walk or I lope LOL.


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## DancingArabian (Jul 15, 2011)

Rebelwithacause said:


> haha, that IS a good idea.


I've already got a halo belt: http://www.halobelt.com (the double version) and I have Tail Lights coming (http://tail-lights.com).
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## tinaev (Dec 2, 2012)

Sheepdog said:


> Rebel I like cantering short distances on a trail ride, but what's the point of a trail ride if you're going to hurry through it? For me the whole point of a trail ride is to chill, see some scenery and have fun.


Totally agree!

I will canter a couple of times for short distances (1/16th of a mile maybe?) on trail rides. Mainly because I need to improve my seat at a canter and because my horse thinks it's fun. He gets very bored just walking everywhere and likes to take off sometimes. But the main point of the ride is to relax, see the wildlife and enjoy the outdoors.


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## Trinity Ridge (Nov 27, 2013)

I can enjoy the trails even at a fast clip. It's not like we zipping through at 60 mph. 

Today I pushed him into a canter, just because of this thread. It didn't take me long to pull him back into his rack. That canter was super rough.


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## Rebelwithacause (Aug 7, 2013)

Trinity Ridge said:


> I can enjoy the trails even at a fast clip. It's not like we zipping through at 60 mph.
> 
> Today I pushed him into a canter, just because of this thread. It didn't take me long to pull him back into his rack. That canter was super rough.


Well I'm happy that this thread inspired you! I, too, picked up the canter on a ride a couple days ago. It is fun, but I also liked just walking along, too


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## Cordillera Cowboy (Jun 6, 2014)

Trinity Ridge said:


> I can enjoy the trails even at a fast clip. It's not like we zipping through at 60 mph.
> 
> Today I pushed him into a canter, just because of this thread. It didn't take me long to pull him back into his rack. That canter was super rough.


Interesting. I also rarely go into a canter when I'm riding a gaited horse. (No real need to.). I have noticed that some will pick up one lead on the front end and the opposite on the back end. Like riding a car with square tires. I'll rein 'em in and start again from a walk or a stop.


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## Corazon Lock (Dec 26, 2011)

I like either moving out on flat trails or working methodically through hard trails at a slow pace, mostly because my horse is happiest that way. We took him to some more advanced trails in Iowa, and he absolutely loved the challenge! When we went to Minnesota to a family campground with flat trails, he was terribly pokey and tripped a lot. 

I think a lot of it does depend on the horse and how the horse likes to go through trails.


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## Change (Jul 19, 2014)

smrobs said:


> To me, so long as the horse is comfortable for me to ride, I like all gaits, though there are a couple of horses on my placed that I refuse to trot because they're so rough. With them, I either walk or I lope LOL.


OMG, smrobs - I've ridden those horses. It felt like they were apprentice kidney surgeons!!!!!:twisted:


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## SorrelHorse (Apr 9, 2009)

Just got back from camping. Did one balls to the wall run on Selena in the more open trails out of camp, two nice and easy rides with the young horses, and one with the boyfriend which involved a mix of both. I enjoy it all. I don't need to examine every single pine needle.  It's fun either way though. Both the peaceful and more hardcore rides.


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## Gossip (Sep 26, 2011)

Sheepdog said:


> Rebel I like cantering short distances on a trail ride, but what's the point of a trail ride if you're going to hurry through it? For me the whole point of a trail ride is to chill, see some scenery and have fun.


I agree with you. I like walking and chilling and looking at the scenery BUT if I see a path that is so straight that its just meant for galloping, I will gallop my horse (or canter) through it. You don't get to do that in a riding ring, so scenery is not the only purpose for trail rides.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Clava (Nov 9, 2010)

Hacking in company for me is about walks and chatting to friends and then when we get on some good going either having a steady long canter or a fabulous gallop

Out on my own I can't resist a nice long canter on my haffy...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWWf-jU_lX8&list=UUQPwTpiWgJ7iCQotbWHAxtA


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## Katz1411 (Jul 31, 2014)

I find it a bit boring in the arena but do it for the practice, including w/o stirrups. Love it on the trail, where I know the paths, possible holes and gremlins, etc.


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