# Teaching a young child to canter



## madbluebell (7 January 2011)

Hello All,

Hoping for a bit of advice on teaching a small boy to canter on his pony.

My son (3.5yrs) rides regularly on his little hairy section a and his balance is becoming very good now and can trot with his arms out (help him not to rely on the reins) etc,etc.

Over the next few months I wanted to teach him a bit of canter as he is desperate to learn now but I have no idea on how to go about it. I only learnt as a teenager and was out hacking and told to hold on and that was it as I remember!

He has a leather saddle which I have put a strap on the front through the d-rings for when he needs it.

Any tips would be greatly appreciated


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## sally2008 (7 January 2011)

When teaching little ones to canter, I have always found the transition to canter to be the most problematic area.  Ideally I like to teach it on a pony that responds to a voice aid to canter so that the child can concentrate on their position and getting used to the feel of the new pace.  I try and avoid the all to often seen scenario of madly flapping legs, pony trotting faster and faster then falling into canter leaving little hope of the child maintaining their balance or enjoying their first experience.  

Does the pony lunge well?  I would recommend putting in some work to ensure that it will make the upward transition to canter calmly on voice command and return to trot the same way.  Once this is established without the rider, try for a few strides of canter, explaining first what it likely to feel like and reassuring them that you will control the pony, then come back to trot before it all falls apart and gradually build up the time until the child feels in control of themselves.  Then progress to teaching them to apply the aids themselves. 

Hope that helps - reading it back it seems rather patronising but it's not intended to be - I don't have a way with words!  Good luck.


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## zoelouisem (7 January 2011)

When i taught my little girl to canter i used to run next to her as i could hold her knee then till she found her balance. I was very lucky the lead rein pony i had for my daughter cantered very slowly!!
I just kept it short at first then built it up by a couple of strides. She used to hang on to the strap on her saddle.
Then when she was balanced with me running with her(didnt take long) she went onto lunge where she still hung on to the strap. As for holding onto the strap when cantering there take there hands off when there ready i tried to ush it for a while and it worried her a bit then one day i looked and she was cantereing round with just the reins, thats when i let her off the lunge cantering.
Now shes well away, shes 6 and does SJ and XC at shows off the lead. She also hacks and is off the lead off road and goes flat out across the feilds usually with whoever takes her out trailing behind!!


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## Fellewell (7 January 2011)

On the British Horse Society website there is a register of instructors for your area. There is also a helpful book; 'Teaching Children To Ride' by Jane Wallace.


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## Double_choc_lab (7 January 2011)

I seem to remember running alongside an holding the knee.  At the beginning I think the reins were knotted and the child held onto the front of the saddle/neck strap.

Leading rein certainly kept me fit - wait until they get into lead rein jump offs and shout "faster mummy faster" - I even got smacked with the crop once.


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## madbluebell (7 January 2011)

Hello,

Thanks Ladies for the advice and no you don't sound patronising Sally I didn't want the flapping of legs either so was actually thinking of doing more lunging with the pony when the field dries up a bit from all the mud
Have also been using voice aids for walk,trot and halt but not canter so much as not done a lot except when one of the small teenagers have ridden him to school him so will try and do more of that too.

Son is definately going to be off on his own before I know it as he already has told me he wants to learn to gallop and jump like the jockey's he sees training near to us sometimes (god help me)

Thanks Fellewell for the book suggestion I will look at getting that too as could be useful for teaching him to steer on his own eventually 

x


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## zoelouisem (7 January 2011)

Double_choc_lab said:



			Leading rein certainly kept me fit - wait until they get into lead rein jump offs and shout "faster mummy faster" - I even got smacked with the crop once.
		
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LOL thats what i spent last summer doing lots of lead rein jumping and she wanted to canter the whole way round!!! I was definatly slimmer then, but cor i had to get her off the lead rein it was knakkering me!!!! An i think i got smacked with the crops a few time!!!!!!


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## fatpiggy (7 January 2011)

What is his sitting trot like? If he is still very bouncy then I wouldn't do any cantering yet as he could just be pinged straight off - 3and a half is VERY young and he won't have any muscle strength to help hold him on.  If he can trot without stirrups reasonably safely then I would run with the pony and have it canter for just a couple of strides. Gradually increase the number of strides (remember it is the transition back down to trot that causes problems, rarely the upwards transition) and then step away from the pony so that it is on a short lunge line - straight lines only though, centrifugal force on a circle unbalances novice riders.


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## Honey08 (7 January 2011)

Double_choc_lab said:



			I seem to remember running alongside an holding the knee.  At the beginning I think the reins were knotted and the child held onto the front of the saddle/neck strap.

Leading rein certainly kept me fit - wait until they get into lead rein jump offs and shout "faster mummy faster" - I even got smacked with the crop once.
		
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Lol.  Thats how my son came off the leadrein - mid jump off I decided that I couldn't keep up with them, so threw the LR over the neck and let them do the last two fences on their own!

3.5 seems very young for teaching canter.  Couild you take them out ride and lead with your own horse for some variety?  (That was another of my leg saving tricks when son was on lr!)


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## madbluebell (7 January 2011)

Double_choc_lab said:



			I seem to remember running alongside an holding the knee.  At the beginning I think the reins were knotted and the child held onto the front of the saddle/neck strap.

Leading rein certainly kept me fit - wait until they get into lead rein jump offs and shout "faster mummy faster" - I even got smacked with the crop once.
		
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Yes I can see that happening to as he likes to tell me how to ride when I am on the horses

He also wants a riding crop but I will keep them away from him for as long as possible so he doesn't start using it as a weapon on me while I am trying to keep up with said pony


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## PonyIAmNotFood (7 January 2011)

With the kids at the riding school, they have to be able to steer and get the ponies going in trot on their own first before the even think about canter. And then they get put on the lil welshie who just does it, get told to sit down and hold the front of the saddle with one hand and he just does it, then after a few strides slows back down to trot. Wanna borrow him? Haha. But yeah I think the key is to get the pony to know your voice commands.


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## hellspells (7 January 2011)

Highly recommend the above book its fab!!  Its been invaluable to me.

I can not help practically on the learning to canter thing, we haven't quite got there yet - although we have had to "jump" (- i.e trotting poles) it will kill me this LR thing one day!


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## madbluebell (7 January 2011)

Honey08 said:



			Lol.  Thats how my son came off the leadrein - mid jump off I decided that I couldn't keep up with them, so threw the LR over the neck and let them do the last two fences on their own!

3.5 seems very young for teaching canter.  Couild you take them out ride and lead with your own horse for some variety?  (That was another of my leg saving tricks when son was on lr!)
		
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I think it will be nearer the end of spring towards summer when he turns 4 but it gives me time to work on lunging the pony and teaching him the voice command for canter

I haven't hacked out yet leading him as although his pony is wonderful he is still young and does jump at the very odd 'scary thing' and so being on the ground I can make sure son doesn't wobble off as his legs aren't long enough to wrap round him yet.


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## touchstone (7 January 2011)

I always used to get young riders to hold the front of the saddle with both hands, make sure that they aren't pushing down on their hands but get them to pull upwards to help keep their seat in the saddle.  It helps to explain a little bit to the rider what it is going to feel like, but at such a young age that might be more difficult.
Get the pony going in a good trot, get your son to sit in the saddle and you ask for the canter.  Be prepared to come straight back to trot and grab if necessary as often they become unbalanced as it is a very different feel for them. I usually only ask for a couple of strides and gradually build up, and I agree about keeping to straight lines too.


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## DuckToller (7 January 2011)

Have been there, done this, and got the t-shirt!

Not read all the replies so apologies if repeating any advice, but I found a short little canter on lead rein on a hack going uphill is absolutely the best way (as long as pony is the sort to behave!).  

It's the downward transition back to trot that is hardest to sit - ponies have a habit of dropping back to trot with all their weight on their forehand and the rider gets thrown forward onto the pommel - ouch!  Hence a little hill is great as the pony is better balanced and tends to drop back gently into trot with his head still in the air (obviously you stop before the top).

I agree with teaching pony voice commands on the lunge, but I also taught the pony to canter in hand with me giving a voice command and running along frantically - I even used to 'canter' with the pony which made parents laugh but it helped the slower pony to get the message.  And always trot before the corner for first few weeks - centrifugal force is the quickest way to dislodge a small rider - oops.

When he is ready to try a canter in the school on his own, I would stand at the gate/exit/C marker, send child off to trot round, at top end just after A give strong voice help as rider asks for canter at opposite end, and then just stand quietly at the bottom with my arms out so pony cantered in more or less a straight line to me and came back to trot.  Learnt this technique from a great RDA instructor - no cornering involved, pony aims for instructor and drops to trot (can give a treat or not, depending on nature of pony).

I found boys often prefer to sit quite lightly in the saddle rather than trying to sit deeply so a neck strap can help balance those that don't want to bounce around.

Good luck!


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## ponypilotmum (7 January 2011)

I think that it's better to wait until a child is off the leadrein and can control their pony before teaching canter. On a safe pony, the fact that he's still on leadrein shows that you know his control isn't enough. 

So work on getting him off the leadrein first. I don't think 3.5 is too young, mine was cantering a small course of low jumps aged 4.5 and hooneying off round the field. 

Make sure the pony is completely safe because invariably a young child WILL flap their legs and squeal a bit when first attempting canter and this can frighten some ponies. 

Teach the leg aids, make sure he can pull up safely and give him a little handle (the front of the saddle is no good as their hands are then too low to use the reins). Then let him try.


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## madbluebell (7 January 2011)

Thank you all there are some great tips which I will be trying out over the next few months.
Cantering on an incline sounds good so will use one of the many around here when the time comes

Think I will be glad I have started back running to keep fit as it looks like I will need to be especially running up a hill faster than when in trot as I do at the moment 

x


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