From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishcantercan‧ter /ˈkæntə $ -ər/ verb [intransitive, transitive] DSHto ride or make a horse run quite fast, but not as fast as possible → gallop —canter noun [countable] She rode off at a canter.→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
canter• From walk, they progressed to canter.• He was much sharper off the leg and could suddenly canter!• You will be asked to walk, trot and canter around the ring with the other horses.• A couple of centaurs burst out of the bushes ahead of them and cantered away down the path.• He cantered off and rode beside Mitch, and Maggie hoped he was not giving out any threatening advice.• Hermes cantered slowly but Tessa, Nora's filly, was close to a gallop.• The two men fell silent as they cantered their horses between low hedgerows that were bright with the early spears of foxgloves.• A group of five boys canter up, led by one wearing a stetson.Origin canter (1700-1800) canterbury “to canter” ((1600-1700)), from Canterbury city in southeast England; from the speed at which people rode when going to Canterbury on pilgrimage 