Riding Part:4

This week I will tell you how to canter a horse. The canter is a three beat gait. It is between the trot and the gallop. In the canter a horse leads with his right hind and there is a moment of suspension when all four legs are off the ground. On average a canter is faster than most horses' trot and slower than the gallop. It ranges between 10-17 miles an hour but in western riding where it is called a lope it's usually no faster than 8-12 miles an hour. To ask for a canter you put your outside  leg behind the horse's girth and one at the girth. There are four variations of the canter. One is the collected canter which is often slower and has shorter strides. The other is the most common type of canter the working, in which the horse uses an average pace and average stride. Next is the extended canter which has a longer stride and is often faster than the other canters. Lastly there is the counter canter in which the horse leads with the wrong lead. The counter canter is harder to maintain because both horse and rider have to be very balanced. Now that you know the different types of canters there are two ways to ride it. One is sitting back and scooping your hips back and forth with the horse's movement. The other way is just rising slightly out of the saddle and leaning forward. That is all you need to know about the canter.