Cantering home

Jessey

Well-Known Member
Dec 20, 2004
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Suffolk, UK
Do you? If not how far from home do you consider OK? Or is it just anytime you are geographically heading towards home?

I saw a post on Facebook about it, the trainer said sure why not they will just do as their told and w/t/c as asked. I was always taught not to canter home. It's probably a bit different where I am too as every track is a canter track from 200yards from my gate for thousands of acres, so I don't really need to canter towards home (unlike where I used to live and each loop ride only had 2 or 3 places you could canter)
 
I have to be really careful. I can and do, but I just have to be careful not to do it too often and in a controlled manner. I'd say I have to be conscience anywhere in the last 1/4 of a ride (to be fair, I have to be mindful halting close to home too). Pete used to nap terribly when we tried to leave the yard, pull the whole way round and just run when 'home' was in sight. A lot of work later & sightmore than happy to leave for a hack, but his walk does still perk up when home is in sight .... :D

Like you, I'm lucky to have ample canter tracks on our off road forests which helps :)
 
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Fine as long as I don't make a habit of it. We actually did walk, trot and canter up my road on Saturday on most of it. The tarmac and track was soft from it raining so I was happy to. He was listening my change of pace requests all the way. If he hadn't I would have gone straight back to walk.
The next day we walked the entire length of the road all the way home.
 
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I think it depends on the horse - that seems to be my stock answer for everything! On Little In I will, and I'll also walk down a track to check it then turn round & canter him back, but he's a very good boy & if he did anything major I'd probably fall off in shock lol. But I've also ridden horses where it would be begging for trouble & I never would do it on. To be fair cantering Jim home wasn't a problem, but stopping him was out of the question & as he grew up staying on was doubtful!

It's not something I'd do close to home on a horse I didn't know or had doubts about.
 
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Generally no problem on Raf, he might be a little more enthusiastic going towards home but he's not silly. Just occasionally when it's the first time on stubble, for instance, and he's feeling fresh I might go in a field for a canter but if he's feeling very woohoo I won't turn and canter back towards the road, just in case.

Likewise if we're in a group situation, depending who I'm with, I wouldn't want to canter towards home in case any of them get over excited and it ends up a mess!

Also, I like to arrive back at the yard fairly cooled down so we normally do the last bit of the ride in walk anyway.

So basically, what @carthorse says.
 
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Canter whenever I want whether going away or toward home. Might be slightly stronger towards home but I'm used to that. Wouldn't make her daft if I did it every day then wanted to walk, she's very good. It all depends on the horse I guess. Normally I like to cool down on the last stretch though.
 
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I almost always walk the last 3/4 to 1 mile to home, as a cool off as much as not rushing. If I canter the last track before that regularly Jess will then offer to canter it but doesn't do anything silly if I say no, maybe just be a little more keen or stronger if we are trotting.

I knew a woman who was killed because of a canter home, they were at the same ranch I spent time at (but from the UK and on the western show circuit) and had been cantering home most days (against the owners requests), she had bent down to fiddle with her stirrup and when the others cantered her horse did too and she toppled and cracked her head on rocks, that's how it was relayed to me anyway.
 
I didn't canter her home on purpose, but we used to trot up the steep hill back to the yard. However she did break into canter a few times. Like carthorse said - probably depends on the horse, but personally I don't think I'd make a habit of it, just in case!
 
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Cantering home was not really an option where I lived before moving to Shetland, as it was nearly all road hacking, but my normally content in walk loan horse forgot herself one frosty Christmas Day, and took off. It was something of a revelation to find she was flexible enough to canter sideways with her nose on her chest!
 
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I canter either way but i often am doing various loops and going back on ourselves just because you can cover alot of ground but not the same fields over and over with the great hacking i have here so they actually never really know when I'm having that last canter home so to speak so tend not to bother too much. Now the loop block ride which is road work they march 100miles an hour on the drive home so to stop it I started adding a bit extra by nipping into the woods right by the turn to the yard. Doing that a couple times and they stopped marching. Perhaps once every 4 weeks I will do it just to keep the idea that towards home doesn't necessarily mean home.
 
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