Cue it to walk, teach it to "woah," back up, get it to flex its neck for turning. You'll be in this stage for a while, as you'll want to get the horse moving off your leg with little to no hesitation and pressure.


Dressage tests are perfect for this stage, as they have tons of circles and figures to keep you and your horse thinking, but you can also do horsemanship and trail patterns as well.
Stick to walking until you can get a good "woah" and good response from your leg, and then do the same for trotting. Make sure these two gaits are solid, and that you're getting good flexion from the neck and body in your turns. Figure-eights are a must.
Try not to stay still too long, as you'll want to keep the horse thinking and moving to prevent it from potentially testing you and forming bad habits. (Pawing, head swaying, etc)

, Make sure you have a solid "woah" for this, in case the horse gets carried away. Work in a large, enclosed area, such as an arena.


Get the horse to pick up a canter. It will feel unbalanced and you may get a rough, brisk trot beforehand. That's okay, just keep urging him to canter. Get a few good strides, and then ask for a trot again.
Slow down to a rideable trot, and then ask for a canter again. Slow down again after a few good strides. The reason for doing this is that the horse - if it's just now being trained - doesn't have a strong canter yet. It can't balance well, and if you ride an unbalanced canter, you and your horse can both get hurt. The goal is to strengthen his canter.

This may take months, so be prepared for a lot of trot work. To do this, form a circle in your arena. 20 metres if available is best, otherwise the width of the arena will do just fine.


Get a good trot going, and then ask for the canter. Canter the circle, and keep light pressure on the reins. Don't hang on his mouth, just ask for him to turn the circle. This forces him on his haunches to turn, and will strengthen them enough for a good, balanced canter. Always start with the side they are better at. You can find this out by watching them in the roundpen. What side to they like to canter better?
Keep yourself centered in the saddle, and let your arms and elbows stay pliable. As soon as the canter goes unbalanced, or the horse tried to rush, go back to a trot and immediately half-halt. Trot the full circle once or twice to regroup, and then ask for it again.
Repeat as needed. Eventually, the horse should transition soundly into a rhythmic trot from his canter, and if he doesn't after he's had plenty of time to realize what you were asking, do a trot-halt transition.

This gets him thinking again, and you can continue and try again.
 Eventually, you'll be able to lengthen the time you stay in the canter and shorten the time you trot, until you're able to canter the whole circle. At first, however, you may only be able to canter half the circle balanced, and have to trot the whole circle to get a rhythmic trot again.


Work on this every day to get your horse to strengthen and balance his canter, for a month or two depending on how long it takes your horse.
Now, your horse should be able to canter multiple circles without needing to trot in-between, and he should be getting the transitions between trot and canter immediately. Now, do a figure-eight, cantering the circle at one end of the arena and then dropping down to a trot.
, Once you've got this down, start shortening the spans of trot, so that most of it is done in a canter.
 Start at one end of your arena and pick up a trot. Trot a 20 meter circle to start, and then pick up the canter at the short end. go into the first loop for whichever lead you're on, and then transition to a trot as you straighten out.


Ask for the opposite lead, and finish the next loop. Repeat for the final loop, trotting as you straighten out, and ask for the final lead. Return to a trot as you complete the pattern. Try to gradually shorten the span of trot each time.
 Trot a 20 meter circle at one end of the arena, and then canter the circle. Now, drop down to a trot at the corner, and trot a 10 meter circle, and ask for a canter to go down the length of the arena.


Do the 10 meter trotting circle at that corner, and repeat the pattern round the entire arena. Feel free to trot the 10 meter circle twice if you find it difficult.
 Return to the original 20 meter circle. Trot one half, and canter the other. Gradually shorten the trot length, until you trot for roughly 3 steps before taking the canter again.


Next time,silently ask for a trot by dragging the reins and shifting your weight for a downward transition, but keep a gentle, supporting leg, and as soon as you feel your horse shift for that transition, apply more leg and ask for the canter again. Alternate this between actually trotting, so he can associate it with something he knows.
Remember to repeat for the other direction. After he gets the half-hald down clearly, you should be able to ride a balanced canter all around the arena!
Now you should be able to ride your horse walk, trot, and canter, and you can start schooling for the events you want, or just go hit the trails!
Remember, though, wear a helmet when doing new things, and if you're going out alone, let people know where you're going and how long you plan to be gone. Should the horse spook and dump you somewhere, people will know where to look for you. Enjoy working with your horse!
To get on without a lunge line, do the same thing you did during the groundwork, but with you on its back.
Eventually move on to cantering.
Repeat this for the other side, in the other lead.
Change direction as you turn across the center of your arena on a diagonal, and then trot the new circle, before asking for a canter of the lead corresponding to the direction of the circle.

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Repeat, so that you're changing leads after a full circle of trot in each direction.
Practice cantering the 3-loop serpentine pattern.
Use the entire arena.
After working on the horse's gaits for weeks or months, start introducing the half-halt.
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