How long until you canter?

Question

I have been riding for a year now, already coming into the sport with some experience... (some posting, a little diagonals)

but i just cantered my first time today, (very excited by the way)

i also just switched stables. My other said it would be a while. (they didn't pay attention, the instructors would sit and talk to eachother and not pay attention...) anyway people said they cantered in a few weeks. Is a year a normal amount of time? or should it have been sooner? (not to get cocky, but im not a bad rider, i grasped posting, sitting, and diagonals very quickly) So what do you think? Thanks.

Answer 1

well i cantered my third time... but it was consecutive weeks. and first i did it alone, in a straight line. then another 3 weeks came by and i cantered in a circle and ive been fine by that. a year is a long time to canter, unless you just want to work at a trot. if youre comfortable, then ask to canter

Answer 2

It all depends on where you go. Most dressage trainers do not allow cantering for a year or more to work on cues. Some other disciplines will have you cantering the first lesson if your seat is good enough.



  It all depends on your instructor, and their way of training.

    I have seen people cantering after a few weeks that could barely keep balanced on the horse at the walk- they were definately not ready for it, and got mad when the horse couldn't balance from their flopping around.

  Me- I cantered my 3rd time riding- just because the horse spooked, lol

Answer 3

I think that a year was way too long, but it depends on the person. It really matters how often you get to ride. Make sure that you are comfortable and on a proper horse. Your leg strength and control of the body make a very big difference.

Answer 4

I cantered for the first time on my 3rd day of English lessons.

Answer 5

Most people start cantering within a week.  I believe it was your trainers who were holding you back.  I'm sure you are a very good rider and sometimes it take people about a month to start cantering but a year is just way too long.

Answer 6

When I started western, I loped/canter on my 1st lesson. I just now recently am now looking for english stable barns to start english riding and have only gotten to the trot. I think a year is too long to wait for canter.

Answer 7

I think a year is a little long, but anything longer than it kind of gets boring doing the same stuff. Trust me, it took my coach three and a half years to start cantering, then I went to a different place and cantered right away in my first lesson.

Answer 8

if you are working with a classical master, he/she knows best, just listen to what they have to say and it will pay up in the long run. if it is not a classical master you might want to look into some other trainers or instructors, because they should be paying more attention to you when you ride that to each other, but a year is actualy normal if the horse that  you are learning on is also a horse that is learning at the same time.

if you are riding for a year now then your instructor should put you on a safe horse and help you canter. http://tonyonehorse.weebly.com good luck to you.

Answer 9

You should be cantering some now. Probably just in "two-point" or "jumping position" which ever your stables calls it!

Answer 10

it depends on your riding skills

Answer 11

Its normally when your instructor feels your ready to move up. Ask away! There is nothing wrong to ask if you can canter or ask if your instructor thinks your ready to canter. It has been five years since I started to ride. So I dont remember when I cantered. Another challenge you will have, is if you are interested in riding bareback for fun, you can master the walk, trot and canter bareback, that is a challenge. But a fun one. Enjoy your riding and have fun!!!

Answer 12

Well it depends. I began cantering with my old trainer about 3 months into me riding. This was cause i just got my own horse and i probably would have started it earlier but the horses at the ranch are mostly basic walk/trot horses. Now that i am taking dressage with a new trainer, we went back to trotting and i am relearning the post trot now. btw i have been riding for over a year now

Answer 13

i started cantering after 2 years- just canter when you feel feel ready!

My instuctor asked me to canter 1 day and i didn't feel safe so i didn't.

Just canter when you think you are ready.

Answer 14

a year is long actually, my first actual barn held me back and i jumped nothing over 2'9" for a year (when i should have been moving up). Usually moving through the gaits is sometimes quite fast in lessons. Everyone usually gets them down pretty quickly. Your old stable was holding you back it sounds like. It usually takes anywhere from a few weeks - 4 months to start cantering (that I've seen). It does take awhile to get the canter down solid though. By now you should definitly be cantering and doing some jumping (small jumps). And maybe a small schooling show.

Answer 15

i would say that a year is a little long depending on how often you rode.

Answer 16

u should have been cantering a loooooong time ago! in our first lesson, we did safety, how to tack up, how to mount. in our second lessons, we did walk, turn, back up. in our third lesson, we did trot. in our fourth lesson we did the canter and in our 5th lesson jumping. u should have cantered LONG AGO!

Answer 17

Whenever you feel ready; I was cantering by the time I was six because I was a little daredevil, but others need to build confidence at a slower pace.

Answer 18

You just cantered? No it is not a normal amount of time! I have been riding for about a year ( a little less) and I am jumping!

Answer 19

woah a year and no canter!!! i took western and English lessons

i was cantering western within the month (weekly lessons) so i learned to sit a canter in my 3rd lesson and 4th lessons

then i stopped riding for about 2 months and i took up English lessons and it took me about 2 months to re-learn the canter and sit the canter and then i was able to canter wherever and whenever controlling the horse in a fast canter.

a year really is too long 5 months at the longest I think

oh and congrats on your first canter!! isn't' it a blast!?!?!

I hope you can start cantering more, and a trainer that doesn't pay attention to the horse or rider is not good al l the trainers I've had either rode along besides me (private classes) or they sat in a chair or stood in the middle of the arena watching my every move lol!

oh yeah and i only took English lessons for 3 months and i was jumping with ease and cantering all over the place so really i think you could totally handle cantering and jumping by now

Answer 20

with me and my horse it took me about 2 month cause our bond was not as strong as i wanted to be. but know your bond is as strong as ever!!! and i can stand on a bareback pad and have him trot   so if you you had a trong bond then thatwas a long time but if you didn trust her with your life then its a good thing you waited!!!

                     hope i helped :D

Answer 21

I believe I cantered on my fifth or sixth lesson...I had a bit of an advantage though: I had been riding my friends' horses for a few years (not very well considering the lack of lessons, but enough to get a basic seat and feel).  I think ten to fifteen lessons in is about average for beginning to canter.  All the trainers are different though.  My current trainer does not train beginners, but he said people are taking lessons from him that are already jumping a few feet, know most of the complicated commands, and have excellent seats and balance - all with never cantering before!  So whoever their first trainer was stressed control in the walk and trot...And, for the most part, their first canter was much better than many of the people that have been riding for years because of that knowledge that they gained.  There isn't really a set time to when a rider will begin to canter; it really depends on the trainer's ideals

Best of luck with cantering!

Answer 22

I cantered in my third riding lesson (:

But,, it was too soon... I fell off lol

So yeah, you sound just about right! Well done!

Have fun ridingg!!