Should you canter a driving horse - yes or no?

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With arguments for and against this issue, this video explains our viewpoint on cantering in harness and why we believe your carriage driving horse should be safe, confident and happy at all paces including the canter and gallop. We talk about why we canter horses in harness, the benefits of being able to do so and why we canter both on the roads and on grass.
We discuss the pros and cons of cantering and how these can be overcome, the difference in noise when working at a fast pace, and how the driver should ultimately be responsible for the speed you work at.

[@craigmiron510]

I used to drive Shires, they loved to canter, especially when pulling a meadowbrook cart....no effort at all and I never had any children go blind or fires start as a result of cantering in harness. I currently drive a Fjord...she also loves to canter. I'm an ex-3-day rider...cantering isn't dramatic or scary...just another fun jaunt down the trail.

[@carriagegirl4260]

I am so glad you did canter work with Sheraqui because I was always afraid to let my horses canter in harness, thinking they might run away with me. But after you worked with Sheraqui I am happy to canter her knowing I have control. Thank you

[@Benj8211]

I played this back this morning as a good reminder of the necessity of the three gates in harness and so good to hear your voice again - I hope you are well.

[@BoldEquine]

its makes more sense to have had the horse canter in harness in control if for nothing else than to have him experience it before the horse gets scared and finds himself cantering

[@anonymixx8106]

Totally agree. Its responsible animal handling

[@hackneysaregreat]

In my experience, horses quite often enjoy a good galop when driving in the forest. And I like it too :-)

[@barryhook2]

Indeed hackneysaregreat ; its a natural gait for them, as well as being fun for the drivers!

[@jeanviarengo231]

fun to watch - last time out in harness, I start in the walk and allowing my horse to move out, is not a trot necessarily for my horse. He is gaited, and easily moves into a "foxtrot", and this moves easily into a canter. He quite happily moves into a canter, and enjoys himself - the softest ground I have to drive on is a gravel road, and most are asphalt. His hooves are in great condition, and he is not shod.

[@introvertedAF94]

The 3rd shot of the 2 bays that are trotting in sync is amazing they are paired up so well! I love your videos and the things your teaching. I may never do any driving but a lot of what your talking about applies for under saddle as well.

[@candymeadowalmondjoy]

Awesome video! With my driving pony I allow her to canter in harness outside the ring, in the forest and on the roads. But when she enters the arena she is no longer permitted by me to canter because I do show her and want her to understand that the ring means a different type of driving unlike the road, and trail driving :)!

[@melaniehellum1281]

I think that makes good sense. Seems a good education to me.

[@brianleonard6025]

I really enjoyed this video on whethef a horse should or shouldn't gallop in harness. Thank you Barry for all your efforts to produce all these fantastic videos on driving!! 😃👍🐴

[@biddydibdab9180]

I agree it’s really important to train at all paces - it’s key to ensure that the horse remains calm no matter what you’re asking of it. However, as a former farrier, I’ve seen too many horses who’ve sustained injuries from working on hard surfaces in unforgiving steel shoes.

[@Oakleaf700]

Surely Edwardian, Victorian and earlier horses since they were domesticated have cantered in harness..if the doctor had to get somewhere quickly, for example, or because a train had to be caught.Love the Driving a car in 5th gear analogy. Makes massive sense to ask a horse to canter, as a controlled canter is way better than a sudden panicked breakaway. Great videos as usual.

[@lspthrattan]

exactly! Same goes, in my mind, the modern rule that one must always have a groom at the horse's head. Surely many people had no one to go with them, and couldn't afford a paid groom, and would have gone out alone in a cart or carriage. Again, with a calm, happy, trusting equine, I think one might bend that rule a tad. Of course I'm no expert...that's why I watch these videos, I have plenty to learn...

[@Oakleaf700]

@@lspthrattan For sure! It was only the wealthy that had grooms to ride with them- If a horse needed holding at a destination, street boys would do the job, but I've seen a nosebag be deployed to keep a horse busy while the driver is delivering or collecting stuff in the past.

[@lspthrattan]

Sometimes I wonder if people fear cantering because they can't tell the difference between a canter and a full gallop. I'd advise against a full gallop, but a nice controlled canter should be fine in most conditions, with a well trained pony, I think. Same with riding horses. The point is to be in control of a calm animal at any pace; if they trust you, they'll listen to you, they'll be less likely to bolt, and there's no need to saw on their bars with a harsh bit. If they trust you, a voice cue and a little reminder cue with the reins will be enough. Your "gears" analogy was spot on. You wouldn't want a car with only one gear, no. Great videos on this channel; worth watching more than once.

[@littlebitofhope1489]

It can depend on the cart. There are many in the US who barrel race with their miniature horses using a Hyperbike. With some carts the horses would hit their hind legs in a full out canter.

[@hhlagen]

Agree! Logical and good sense. I really enjoy these videos.

[@jj_hoolio]

Finally, some real reason and logic used in horsemanship.

[@paintmichele]

I love every video you make you are a superb asset to the driving world and the horse world. I tell everyone to watch your videos. Especially this one. The best explanation I've heard yet. Keep making awesome videos and training the no non sense ways that you do. You're great!

[@barryhook2]

+paintmichele Thank you for your kind comment; we are currently producing more videos about our work that will be for sale, as well as the standard videos we will continue to put up on KZbin. I'm glad that you like our approach; Barry has always believed in being upfront and honest, please or offend, as its the horse that matters at the end of the day. Thanks again and I hope you enjoy watching our future films.

[@christylent4858]

I'm so glad I watched this.

[@amycarter1331]

I just don't get the "they will get too excited" nonsense. If they are getting too excitable because they cantered, then you have missed much in their training in the first place and should go back to basics. Any properly trained horse should be able to calmly execute any pace, and I feel this is especially true in the driven horse. Cantering is a regular part of my Fjord's driving repertoire. Thanks for the great videos.

[@Pixiel711]

It’s my understanding that hobbles are only ever used on pacing harness racing horses, which is an alternate gait usually limited to the Standardbred of the USA, not on trotters. At least that’s how it is here in the US, where pacing horses are generally faster than trotters, and the hobbles make more sense as they lock fore and aft legs on one side together, which is how the Pace is executed.

[@littlebitofhope1489]

You really could not use hobbles on a trotting horse because it is a diagonal gait. You would have to have the hobble on the left front, and right rear, so I'm sure you can see the issue with that. You would have crossed hobbles under the horses belly also.

[@HobbyFarm50]

I wish someone would have done that to my quarter pony..... The first time he was driven in years, he spooked at my moms horse coming up from behind him, he was wearing blinders which he was not used to. He broke from a trot to a canter, went off the road, dumped me from from the cart, and took off. We found him down the road a ways. A farmer found him all hung up and got him free. He completely ruined the cart and couldn't be riden or driven in months due to a sprained ankle. We since then only driven him once. He no longer feels comfortable driving. He ground drives fine, just hooking him to the cart is scary for him. I hope he will be able to be driven again before he retires.

[@anonymixx8106]

Do you have recommendations on wagon/cart weight, wheel base height, wheel size, etc? Ex, are wagons with all the same size wheels or larger back wheels better, are lower wagons to the ground better, should I use a different wagon to horse weight ratio if I will be going at speed.... I'm wanting to make sure I build my wagon properly to allow for faster gaits without stressing the horse. I really appreciate your outlook-- it's always really confused me why people are so surprised by runaway freak accidents when their horse has never felt a cart behind them while running

[@DeeinNZ]

Hi Team, in this video Mel mentions a video about kicking straps, can you please direct me to it, nothing comes up when I put it in a search option.

[@barryhook2]

Hi Dee, Sorry can't find it either! We'll put it on the list to make another one some time.

[@gabrijelatumbas]

Yes

[@TheSausageMobile]

I find that cantering on our clay soiled,rutted field margins or tracks either shakes your teeth out or launches you into orbit, depending on the vehicle springs. On roads I find slipping is a big problem for the shetland and the ton+ cart horse, I've tried road nails but they made little difference. Any ideas?

[@barryhook2]

+TheSausageMobile Apologies for not responding sooner; we have road nails fitted and not had problems with them slipping, but it seems some types of tarmac are very slippery even when freshly-shod with road nails. Sometimes the placement of these can be crucial and make all the difference, as the horse may be screwing its foot around for example and the road nails may not be "gripping" as the slide has already started if that makes sense. Our horse Roly is shod with tungsten studs too (little bumps welded into the horseshoe itself, not like a screw-in stud) as his shoes are flat plate. Having brakes on a vehicle can also be a godsend to prevent slipping as you can take some of the weight off going downhill, likewise trotting instead of walking uphill if possible can help as the foot isn't in contact with the ground for as long a period of time. This can therefore help stop the horse slipping as he isn't dependant on one particular hoof remaining in one place on the ground for as long.

[@1trottingfilly1]

hello , i enjoy your videos very much , and hear you mention a video about roadwork , i can't seem to find it ? could you share a link ?

[@barryhook2]

Nathalie Delisle Thanks for your comment; here is the link to the video we are talking about in this film: kzbin.info/www/bejne/lXyslq2thNp8iKs

[@1trottingfilly1]

barryhook2 Thank-you !

[@Isobel201]

I drive with the RDA and they have a firm rule about no cantering in harness, however the riding section allow cantering under saddle! Its ridiculous rule.

[@barryhook2]

This is something we have heard too Isobel201 - I believe the reason they don't allow cantering (or, as we have heard, RDA horses to be used for driving trials etc) is because they think it will keep them "calm" and less likely to misbehave as they spend a lot of time just walking. It is a rule we find absurd too - if anything panicked the horse and it did canter, as it would be unusual and therefore frightening, it could turn into an accident. There are disabled people competing in driving trials (and yes, they canter!) and we have broken horses for some of them, as well as horses that went to work for the RDA and they were all taught to canter in harness while they were here. I think in some cases its the drivers (or able-bodied whips/whoever is in charge of the RDA groups) that are frightened of cantering and think the horses should be kept at the walk as they are not actually "in charge" of the horses, so they worry even more about losing control at the faster paces. As Barry has often said, there's a big difference in We always think a better test of whether a horse is quiet and sensible is by asking it to gallop, then bringing it back to a walk and seeing that it walks calmly on a loose rein, rather than simply asking it to walk and not seeing how it reacts after "getting excited", as that after all is where you really need to see how good the horse is. In our opinion the horse needs to be quiet and confident in a crisis, not only when everything is calm around it, because that shows the horse is actually sensible itself!

[@Isobel201]

barryhook2 fortunately the ponies we have do take a stride or so of canter just to get up the hill towards home, so they are used to it, just seems a shame to pull them up.

[@wagonwheelfarm3387]

Yes if they are Cde horses

[@moomoo3031]

they dont show any horses slipping on asphalt...I would worry about that alot! we were told to never trot or canter on asphalt

[@animalfreaks5353]

Hi 😋is it bad to canter on roads

[@Oakleaf700]

No worse than a fast trot.

[@milliemonsta6528]

Why do you canter on roads

[@bellaxo7552]

Millie monsta The horses are shod