Canter Pirouette in Dressage

When training a horse to do full canter pirouettes, the horse will first have to learn how to do half of a canter pirouette. Discover why the canter pirouette has such as high degree of difficulty with helpful advice in this video on horse training and dressage.

Now, we're going to perform the movement called canter pirouettes. So, in the canter pirouettes leading up to a full canter pirouette, the horse will first learn how to do half a canter pirouette and this basically means that the horse is turning on a spot in the canter pivoting around its inside hind legs and it's a very high degree of difficulty. Horse has to be having a lot of strength and power, and quite a muscled hind end to be able to carry this weight on the spot in the canter. So, I'll demonstrate first, half of the canter pirouette. There he just turns on the spot. I ask for a flying change, that was a canter pirouette, half of a canter pirouette right, now I'll do half of a canter pirouette left. So, the horse has to bend around my left leg and turn his forehand around his hind end. In the Grand Prix, which is the highest level of dressage, we show only full canter pirouettes, so I will now demonstrate a full canter pirouette. Good boy! That was going to the right and now we will do one to the left, flying change first, changing my lead, same thing getting him to bend around my inside leg, stay actively jumping. Good boy! One more time, good!