1. Teaching Canter Off The Lunge
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2. Teaching Canter Off The Lunge Overview
Riders Whom Have Cantered Before
First Canter Off The Lunge
Teaching Canter in Half an Arena
Teaching Canter in a Full Sized Arena
An exciting time for any rider who has been taught on the lunge rein is the moment when they have developed their skills enough that they are able to be taken off the lunge. This workbooks looks at the progressive ways to begin teaching a rider to canter off the lunge rein.

3. Riders That Have Cantered Before
After viewing these riders on the lunge you will probably have a pretty good idea where their strengths and weaknesses lie and if you decide they are competent enough to come off the lunge then you will also have in mind what exercises and activities you are going to use to help improve the weaknesses.
Some experienced riders may find it a little quizzical that you put them on the lunge to begin with, while others will be happy for the opportunity to focus on their riding without being concerned about the horse. Assessing new riders with experience on the lunge is necessary to ensure the safety of horse and rider, that the horse and rider are appropriately matched and also for you as the coach to identify any potential areas for improvement.
In situations where you are teaching a rider whom is new to you but is not new to your riding centre (e.g., the rider has lessons with another coach at the riding centre) then information about the rider can be sought from the other coach prior to the lesson. Some establishments also keep records about riders and what was covered in previous lessons.

4. First Canter Off The Lunge
If this is the riders first time off the lunge then chances are they are going to be pretty happy, excited and maybe a little bit nervous too. To reassure confidence in the nervous rider (and maybe to reassert your directions for the eager, young rider that makes a bee line to go riding off into the sunset the second the lunge line comes off!) revisit exercises that were previously done with success in slower paces first. For example rising trot on a circle, weaving through cones/markers and transitions.
Once the rider is comfortable you can progress to revising exercises at canter. To begin with have the rider canter for half a circle in upright seat, upon successful completion this activity can be progressed to cantering a whole circle in upright seat. Ensure this is done on both reins. As the coach you should maintain control and determine when the rider performs the transitions into and out of canter, this can be done by specifying a point at which transitions will be done (e.g., between 2 markers) or by verbal command such as “Prepare to canter…(this pause can be filled with feedback or comments to the rider)…and canter on” and “Prepare to return to working trot, rising…..and trot on”. This same method can be used for 3 and 2 point seat.
If you are not fortunate to have a round yard the best place to have a rider begin to practice 20m circles in a larger arena is at the A or C ends. This is because they will have the fence to guide them along one side of the circle. Circles in the middle of an arena where the rider will only come next to the arena wall for one or two strides can be trickier to ride because of the required co-ordination of outside and inside aids.

5. Teaching Canter in Half an Arena
For the purpose of this chapter when the term ‘half arena’ is used it is to refer to half a full sized dressage arena (60m X 20m) which would be 30m X 20m.
Once a rider is capable of guiding a horse in canter on a 20m circle (off the lunge) you can then progress to exercises where the rider will canter in half the arena. When in a full sized arena it is important to clearly section off the half of the arena you will use. It should be free from hazards such as jumps, jump wings and jump poles because even the laziest horse can have a change in heart and unexpectedly pop over a jump that may have been left up. Cones or markers can be used to provide a boundary to section off the arena.
Cantering all the way around the half arena can be built up to similar to how was done on the 20m circle. For example you may begin with asking the rider to pick up canter in the corner at M (this will help in getting the correct canter lead as it is unlikely that a rider whom is just learning how to canter in a large area with have the skills to set the horse up for the correct canter lead), cantering through the short side past H then returning to trot at E. Again markers can be used to define where the rider needs to do the transitions, in giving the rider these points to look for it will save you in having to repeat yourself and allow you to give more feedback and corrections.
Cantering on straight lines can be more difficult for some riders to maintain their seat if the horse is inclined to canter a little crooked down the long side. Remember to explain to the rider what they will need to be doing with their aids to be able to ride and maintain the straight line in canter.

6. Teaching Canter in a Full Sized Arena
As the rider accomplishes being able to control and guide the horse with reasonable accuracy in half the arena the can begin to canter in the whole or full sized arena (in this workbook a full sized arena in defined as a 60 X 20 metre dressage arena). The same method of asking for canter in a corner to help obtain the correct canter lead can be used and cones or markers may be necessary to help guide riders a\down the long side of the arena and into corners.
Because some horses are likely to become unbalanced down the long side of the arena the rider needs to be capable of co-ordinating the aids to use half halts to prepare the horse to ride into corners after cantering down the long side. There are three main problems that are likely to occur when cantering large around the arena:-
(1) The horse becomes crooked bring the hindquarters in so that the side of its body closest to the fence is parallel with the arena wall. This is very common in most green or unschooled horses and whilst it is not a massive setback or behavioural issue it is something to consider if the rider is having difficulties guiding horses through corners.
(2) The horse gets faster on the long side. When beginning to learn to canter and do canter exercises the rider should be mounted on a horse that maintains a consistent rhythm and tempo in all paces but as the rider’s skills develop and particularly in larger riding schools, access to using the same horse over time may not be possible (or necessary if the rider has outgrow the steady beginners type of horse).
An increase in gait tempo can be cause by things like the horse being unbalanced (e.g., crookedness) tension in horse or rider, evasion of the aids (it is highly undesirable to have a school horse which bolts as an evasion to the aids) and of course fear. It will be up to you as the coach to ascertain what causes an increase in tempo and give direction or take appropriate action to correct the problem. Horses which get faster on the long side tend to lean in when they get to the short side and are more difficult to ride into the corner resulting in a short side that resembles more of a half circle.

7. Teaching Canter in a Full Sized Arena (cont.)
(3) The horse gets slower & falls out of canter into trot. This will probably be more common in the lazier school horses, but sometimes a horse will return to trot on straight lines because they are unbalanced and lack the forward momentum to maintain a clear three beat canter.
To be able to guide the horse down the outside track and into following corners the rider will need to have a good knowledge and use of the outside rein for it is this rein which will keep the horse out wide enough so it remains on the outside track and to guide the horse appropriately into the corner. The rider will also need to be able to use driving aids timely so that they can maintain the canter through the corners.
A useful exercise to gradually introduce a rider to cantering in the whole arena is to have the rider perform 20m circles at letters on the long side of the arena. For example the horse and rider can pick up canter in the M-C corner (which would put them on the left rein) and canter down the outside track to S and ride a 20m circle between S and R, upon completion of the circle the rider then rides on the outside track to E and rides another 20m circle, after completing the E-B circle they ride along the outside track to V ride another 20m circle then continue on the outside track to A.

8. For more information see your course workbook