Serena Ireland and Advanced horse Tjibbe showing a great extended canter at the 2024 Australian Dressage Championships. Image by Roger Fitzhardinge.
It is commonly said that you can’t improve the canter, but that’s not true – there are ways to refine and develop this elusive pace between the trot and the gallop.
Horses are born with an inherent capacity to walk, trot and canter. Image by Roger Fitzhardinge.
Before you start to improve the canter it’s important to know the sequence of the footfalls so that you know when to use an aid and when to be quiet, as the moment of the aid in the sequence of the footfalls is all-important.
There is a clear three-beat rhythm (dar-dar-dum!) in the canter, and the footfalls for the left canter are right hind, then left hind and right fore together (a diagonal pair that are actually trotting, when you think about it!) and the leading foreleg, the left front; and then there is the period of suspension when all four feet are off the ground. This is the same sequence but reversed for the canter right, starting with the left hind, right hind and left fore together, then the right front leg and then the period of suspension. It is imperative that you know where your body and legs are at any phase in the canter as the timing for an aid in this pace is essential.
Thirty-two per cent of the Grand Prix test is taken in the canter as opposed to 17 per cent allocated to trot, so it’s important to have great canter! Horses are born with an inherent capacity to walk, trot and canter just as a human is born with an inherent way of moving. When training someone to run or jump faster or higher, there are a lot of factors involved. There is the mind and whether they want to try to improve (probably the most important factor needed for improvement in any activity); there is retraining the way the legs and arms move in coordination; and, of course, there is the strength that strong muscles and good balance can help with to develop the power and carrying capacity.
There are problems associated with the canter; the most prevalent being that the canter, when it is collected, can become four-beat, which is a serious problem. The canter can also become disunited, where the hindlegs cross-gait and the canter is not in the correct rhythm. The canter can become on the forehand or, as some put it, croup-high. The canter can be short and choppy with a poor period of suspension.
“Horses are born with
an inherent capacity to
walk, trot and canter.”
As a rule in the canter, it’s always best to have a more upward-thinking neck; pictured is Deon Stokes and MP Phoenix Rising, the 5YO Young Horse winner at the 2024 Australian Dressage Championships. Image by Roger Fitzhardinge.
CONTROL AND SUBMISSION
As with any pace, there is always the fact that before you can improve it you need to have control and an adjustable frame, and submission both laterally and longitudinally as well as in the forwards and the back. With this established you can then start to improve the canter. Probably the best way to see the problems is by taking a video of your horse in canter on both reins so you can see what is lacking to score a 10. Also, good eyes on the ground and some lunging so you can see what is going on – or not going on!
Before you can improve the canter, you have to ascertain which parts of the gait are in need of improvement, and then stick to the plan with dedicated and centred riding.
Probably the most important factor with the canter is that you do not try to collect the canter too much with the younger horse or with a horse that has a big, slow canter. Remember, most importantly, that in the canter the head and neck have to move a little back and forth – as in the walk. By restricting this, as will happen in the walk, the canter may become lateral looking and lose the definitive three-beat tempo. It is more important to ride the canter forward and not ever allow the feeling that the horse is pushing his mouth downwards towards the ground.
Estupendo stepping his hind leg under in the extended canter for David Mckinnon at the Australian Dressage Championships. Image by Roger Fitzhardinge.
There is no problem with riding the canter rounded and with a supple feeling at the poll, but as a rule in the canter it’s always best to have a more upward-thinking neck. When done correctly, a great exercise is to ride the canter in a frame that is a little deeper and rounder than you would in competition. You must be careful to always think that you want to keep a supple poll and then feel that you ride the canter uphill from the back legs and then upward through the shoulders and the front legs up off the ground. Never get the feeling that the weight is rolling forward over the shoulders and the front legs can’t get up off the ground cleanly and quickly. The feeling to the rider is that the horse is rocked over the hindlegs; as if the body has the position and feeling of the rein back, but the legs keep moving forward and out in front and forwards from the horse’s centre of gravity.
SLIDING HORSE
The best example of pitting the hindlegs under in the canter is to think of the Western horse making the sliding-halt. The hindleg comes so far under it is almost between the horse’s front legs. The hind-end almost sinks and sits to the floor with extremely flexed hocks and stifles and the forehand is raised and the front legs are up and barely touch the ground.
This is a great analogy if you want the horse to sit and engage as the sliding horse then…
1. He must be forward.
2. When you want to stop, the rider’s position is vital… not leg-on!
3. Weight in the saddle and lean a little back.
4. Arms dead still and engage.
Of course, this is an extreme example, but it exactly demonstrates the theory of engagement. The primary important factor is, above all, that to stop or half-halt or get more weight over the hindleg, the horse must be forward so you have some energy to convert to engagement. Take this sliding-halt theory and keep it in mind for any work with a thought of engagement. If in any ride when teaching a horse about balance and connection, and half-halts and reactions, then remember that if you don’t get a good reaction to the half-halt then halt… if it’s still a slow and sluggish reaction, then rein back, proceed and repeat. Every half-halt you ask must be answered. This is also of the utmost importance for the canter as if the half-halt is sluggish then the weight will not be transferred to the hind end but rather be loading the forehand!
GOOD FEELING
When you get a good feeling in the canter that the weight is taken back, then you must keep this transfer of weight as you ride forward. When you go forward, the contact is allowing the horse to move freely forward again but it is not yielding so much as to allow the horse’s neck to get longer and downward as you go forward… this is why it is essential to have your horse sharp and quick off the leg to easily and readily accept the forward transition. This simple exercise of forwards and back will make the canter better, for sure, but never come into collection for too long as it is hard work and the chance that the canter may well become lazy and four-beat, and lose the engagement and activity that you require. To use a metronome for the canter is a great idea. Set it at a canter stride (around 100 beats per minute) and when you collect and ride forward keep the tempo the same. The tendency will be to become slower as you collect, and you need to feel that you are actually keeping the tempo quicker. (You can get a small metronome that clips easily on a belt.)
For any horse that has a tendency to become slow with the hindlegs and almost become four-beat, or for those horses that lack a good separation of the hindlegs, then traverse is a fabulous exercise as this tends to make the outside hindleg leave the ground a little earlier than it wants and so quickens the hindleg – but this exercise must be done with a rounded outline and a good forward connection to the bridle. This should always be combined with some straightening and forward and collection exercises following the traverse, and always – no matter what the pace – after lateral work it’s important to refresh the pace with brisk forward transitions.
CAVALETTI WORK
There is always room for cavaletti work to improve the jump and cadence in the canter. The absolute expert in these exercises is Ingrid Klimke, and through her father, Reiner, she has fabulous exercises over cavaletti to improve the canter. The period of suspension is improved as is the bascule and the technique that each stride makes when you make the canter over a sequence of poles.
Ingrid Klimke making use of cavaletti in the canter during a masterclass. Image by Stephen Mowbray.
Robbie Mckinnon and SPH Fortino, Small Tour Champions at the 2024 Australian Dressage Championships. Image by Roger Fitzhardinge.
Leg-yielding in the canter – that is, moving slowly and deliberately away from the inside leg and the bending – also increases the cadence in the canter and gets the horse to lift and stay off the leading foreleg and inside shoulder, thereby helping with balance and self-carriage. This exercise can be done by spiralling in on a circle and leg-yielding out, or, on the straight line (say the quarter line) and moving with good control to the outside track. The exercise can tend to slow the tempo in a good way by increasing the cadence and time the horse stays in the air.
Counter-canter is another exercise that helps improve the balance and needs to be done with a good feeling of self-carriage. The biggest thing here is not to allow the counter-canter to gain speed at each step and fall on to the forehand. Walk-canter and canter-walk, as this really helps and can be done during the counter-canter to improve the adjustability and control. Beware that the counter-canter is often ridden with so much caution not to upset as the lead change; well, this is not good, and you need to able to ride forward and back in counter-canter, as you can flex and bend in or out within the counter-canter. It’s a great exercise but must be kept active and not earthbound.
The canter is a seriously important pace and there is no question that with good, logical and understandable clear gymnastic training, and with an eye to the future development of the whole horse both mentally and physically, there is a clear pathway to improvement. Primarily, step back from your horse and look at his canter as if you were a trainer and the horse was a client’s horse. Take emotion out of the equation and evaluate the horse’s strengths and weaknesses and set about making a plan to improve the balance and the canter. Never, ever take only the canter, but make sure you always keep the whole wellbeing of the horse in the forefront of your mind and never bite off more than you can chew and set tasks above yours or your horse’s capabilities.
Keep it simple, keep it clear, keep it continuously along the same way and allow time and the strength to develop. As with a gymnast, it doesn’t happen overnight but through progressive and diligent training at every opportunity. EQ
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