It is not hard to teach Standardbreds to canter, but it does depend on the individual horse and his or her willingness to canter or gallop in the field. Standardbreds are first and foremost horses, so they have all the horse gaits: halt, walk, trot, canter and gallop.They area gaited breed so they have a few more as well; the running walk and the pace.

Since Standardbreds are made up of many breeds, they come in all shapes, sizes and a variety of colors. Because they have mixed blood, they have different inclinations for different types of work. Don't forget that the three main breeds that contributed to the standardbred of today are the Narragansett pacer, Morgan and Thoroughbred. Morgans and Thoroughbreds are some of the most versatile horses in the world. So if they can do it, you betcha there is a Standardbred out there that can do it.

The biggest difference between a Standardbred and a "normal" riding horse is that many were trained to race—normally in a quick hitch harness at either a pace (from the Narragansett pacer) or a trot. From the time many Standardbreds were about 18 months old, they have pulled a person who sat in a jog cart behind them every day for five miles at a jog/trot. On race days they pulled somebody around for 10 miles and then raced. Most likely, they were taught to go faster while still in either of the two-beat gaits.

The normal method of teaching horses to canter will not work 85% of the time.

This means that the normal method of teaching horses to canter—ie, "make them go faster and they will break into canter"—will not work 85% of the time. Unfortunately, many people only know this method of teaching a horse to canter. Below you will find another method that has worked on horses for the past 4,000 years.

The first step to teaching the Standardbred to canter is for the rider or trainer to stop thinking of the canter as a faster gait. For the race-trained standardbred, the fastest and most balanced gait is the the trot or pace. Not surprisingly, whenever they are off-balance or confused, they will find their balance in either the halt, the trot or the pace—not the walk or gallop which is "normal." Remember this, it is part of a quiz.... :-)

The key is to work on gaining balance in the walk, learning to control the movement of the horse's individual legs (in both walk and trot), and teaching submission to the bit's requests.

When we ask for a gait (halt, walk, trot) and to balance over the haunches, we should get it. We should also be able to "slow down" (not cover as much ground as quickly) the trot and ask the horse's hind legs to step under our body more. Doing so adds some suspension to the normal trot. The goal is to have a horse that obeys our aids (rein, leg and seat) and will lengthen and collect (at least moderately) in walk, sitting trot or jog. We should be able to move the haunches toward one side or the other and move diagonally. When the horse and rider can meet these prerequisites, they are now ready to start working on the canter.

Here is the method I've used successfully to introduce the canter: Put the haunches in a nice forward springy smooth trot and then slide the inside seat bone a tiny bit straight forward and the outside seat bone straight back. When the horse's hindquarters swing to the inside, sit on that outside seat bone when the inside foreleg and outside hind are in the air. Give a little nudge from the outside leg.

Your horse should be cantering and not quite sure how he did it. Go for a few strides, then stop him and praise him for being so trusting. Make sure he knows he was a very good and smart horse!

This should kick off the canter leg sequence: 1) outside hind leg; 2) inside hind and outside fore legs together; 3) inside fore leg goes down; 4) and then a little jump before it all starts over again. If it doesn't set off this sequence, you probably just missed the timing, so try posting on the inside leg and getting the feeling for when the outside hind is in the air. If the hindquarters don't move over, then go back and work on controlling the individual legs and individual body parts.

Supposing this method does start the canter leg sequence, things get really fast for the rider! You have to stop sitting heavier on the outside seat bone when the outside hind hits the ground. Instead, try to sit equally between the two seatbones, but keep the inside seat bone ahead of the outside. As you are adjusting your weight back to a balanced position between the two seat bones, you will feel a slight pull from the horse on the inside rein. Do not follow that pull. Instead, nudge the horse with your inside leg at the girth to keep him going forward rather than stopping when he didn't have the following inside hand. This will also pause the inside fore leg in the air a little bit, making it the "lead leg," so to speak.

Your horse should now be cantering and not quite sure how he did it. Go for a few strides, then stop him and praise him for being so trusting. Make sure he knows he was a very good and smart horse!

During this whole time just stay calm and relaxed and most of all balanced in the saddle. If you tip forward, over to either side or backward, you will throw off your horse's delicate balance

Depending on your Standardbred, if he is confused and afraid, you may want to end the session by dismounting and rewarding him with treats after this first canter. Or, if he is confused and curious, you may want to try the method again two or three times before ending the session. If he drops out of the canter and starts to pace, stop him and reward him. The pacing was the horse's way of saying, "Don't you want this instead?" Stopping him quietly sends a strong enough "No." The reward after stopping is for listening to your request for stop and reinforces in the horse's mind that listening to what you do is good and coming up with his own ideas will not be rewarded.

During this whole time just stay calm and relaxed and most of all balanced in the saddle. If you tip forward, over to either side or backward, you will throw off your horse's delicate balance, making him confused and requiring him to rebalance you.

What are the most balanced gaits for a pacer or trotter? Yep, you guessed it—halt, trot or pace. So if he needs to find his balance he will either stop, trot or pace. He is listening but he lost his balance, so he tries to find it again the best way he knows how. The bottom line is to try harder to stay balanced in the saddle and work on the prerequisites to cantering. When you are balanced and your horse can meet the prequisites, cantering will be a breeze.