Capita Dark Horse Review: An Updated & Budget-Friendly Outsiders for Park & All-Mountain Fun

The Capita Dark Horse is a brand-new freestyle-focused snowboard that replaces the Capita Outsiders in Capita’s 2026 lineup. This board features most of the Outsiders tech features, but has one noticeable difference – it’s a budget friendly board that comes in at the $500 USD price range.

This board is designed for riders who love want to focus their riding in the park while still having enough response to cruise outside of the park as their main resort board too. The Dark Horse excels at hitting jumps and sidehits while still offering enough response to explore the whole resort.

Capita Dark Horse 2026

What truly sets the Dark Horse apart is its unique flex pattern of being stiffer from nose to tail than it is from toe to heel. This board has a medium to stiff 6/10 longitudinal flex from nose to tail that is then paired with a noticeably softer 4.5/10 torsional (toe to heel) flex. This interesting flex pattern is helpful in the park because it makes the board snappy for launching off jumps while still being flexible enough to mold around features to help you balance as you jib in the park. It’s also got the right flex tuning to be stable enough to carve with while allowing you to lock into and hold butters easily.

Overall, it’s a true twin with a Park V1 camber profile (camber between the feet rocker in tips), making it a playful, responsive, and forgiving board that is perfect for intermediate riders to take their riding up a few notches.

Who Should Buy This Board?

You should buy the Capita Dark Horse if you’re an intermediate rider, or at least a late-stage beginner with a decent foundation for how to carve, who wants an inexpensive snowboard that will be great in the park for hitting small to medium sized jumps, jibs exceptionally well, all while offering enough stability to carve great outside of the park.

The Capita Dark Horse is an excellent board for these types of riders:

• Park riders who enjoy hitting small to medium sized jumps (jumps under 50 feet), side hits, and want a board that can also perform well for jibbing, buttering, and carving.
  
  
• Flatground trick beginners who want a board that’s easy to press and butter with, while also offering an extra boost of pop out of your presses.
  
  
• Casual, everyday resort riders who enjoy cruising the entire resort and occasionally entering the park to learn their first air or press.

However, it may not be the best choice for:

• Brand-new beginners who are still learning to connect their turns. This has a camber zone between the feet that is mild, but can still feel catchy to someone who is brand new to snowboarding.
  
  
• Powder riders who look for patches of deep snow. Anything over one foot of snow is not the right board for.
  
  
• Aggressive resort riders, if you’re the type of rider who knows one speed, and that’s fast af, this isn’t the right board for you.

So, Why Get This Board?

For me, the Dark Horse’s highlights were how well it jibbed and hit smaller park features.

The most interesting note about this board is its flex pattern. While this board is rated with a 6/10 flex, it’s got a sweet spot in its tip that makes locking into a nose or tail presses feel simple, and it’s also much softer torsionally at a 4.5/10 flex rating, and that makes it feel easier to butter and jib with than most other camber all mountain freestyle boards with a 6/10 flex rating.

The highlight most readers will love is that it’s also one of the cheapest boards on the Capita Lineup at $500.

So if you’re looking for a cheaper, yet still high-quality, all-mountain freestyle deck, this is definitely one to consider.

Pros of the Capita Dark Horse

• Excellent All-Around Park & Resort Board: Balances freestyle capabilities with general resort cruising.
  
  
• Budget-Friendly Price With Higher Quality Tech: At $500 USD, it’s one of the cheapest boards on the Capita lineup while still offering some higher-end tech features. (An entry-level price without having an entry-level feel.)
  
  
• Unique Flex Pattern Makes Buttering Easier While Still Being Stable: The combination of stiffer longitudinal flex (6/10) and softer torsional flex (4.5/10) provides exceptional pop for jumps while still being highly pressable and moldable for jibs and butters.
  
  
• Approachable & Forgiving: Offers enough versatility and forgiveness for a wide range of riders, from confident beginners to experts. There’s something to love about this board for most of you.
  
  
• Excellent Pop: Very lively and energetic, making it fantastic for jumps and side hits.
  
  
• Lightweight: Noticeably lightweight, which makes it feel playful and easier to maneuver in the air.
  
  
• Twin with Radial Sidecut: Rides excellent switch.

Cons of the Capita Dark Horse

• It’s Not the Fastest Board: While it has Capita’s Superdrive™ base, it isn’t the fastest board in the flat sections. It’s durable and “fast enough” to cruise the resort and hit park features. It just won’t be race ready or enough for you rippers who go mach 9.
  
  
• It Chatters At High Speeds / Not Great for the Aggressive Carver: The softer torsional flex (4.5/10) is great for buttering, but it doesn’t offer the aggressive carver the stability needed to rip. The nose and tail chatter after a certain point. If you rip aggressively once in a while, it’ll be fine, but if you only know one speed and that’s fast as hell, then this won’t be the right board for you. It’s more meant for the casual resort rider who wants to enjoy the ride.
  
  
• It’s Not Great for Deep Powder: Due to its true twin shape and minimal rocker in the tips, the Capita Dark Horse struggles with floating in really deep snow. Anything over one foot of snow, and it’s just not so easy to steer.
  
  
• Not Great for the Largest Park Jumps: While it’s stable enough for small to medium jumps (jumps that are under 50ft), it’s not the right park board to blast off 60-foot-plus jumps. The torsional flex at a 4.5 just lacks the stability to help you stomp you’re landing if you’re slightly off-centered. (So land bolts if you’re sending it off something massive.)
  
  
• Not the Best to Learn On: While it is somewhat forgiving to ride, it’s meant more for intermediate riders or anyone who already has the basics of carving already down. This is because its built on a camber dominant profile that can feel catchy to an absolute beginner who is just learning to connect their turns.

My Rating of the Capita Dark Horse

Considerations	Rating Out 5	Score Out of 100	Weight / Importance to Score
Resort Riding / Versatility	4.25	85	5
Pop / Power	4.25	85	10
Powder	2.00	40	3
Carving / Turns	3.75	75	5
Responsiveness	3.75	75	5
Speed	3.50	70	10
Ice / Poor Conditions	3.50	70	5
Switch	5.00	100	10
Jibs	4.00	80	15
Jumps	4.25	85	15
Dampness	3.75	75	5
Buttering	4.25	85	10
Fun to ride	5.00	100	2
Weighted Score	4.0475	80.95	100

The Capita Dark Horse earned an overall rating score of an 80.95 out of a possible 100 points. This is a score of a 4.04 out of 5 stars. This board held up exceptionally well in the park, held its own when conditions got icy, and offers an exceptional value for its relatively cheap price.

If you’re looking for a cheaper park and resort board, I’d recommend checking out the Capita Dark Horse.

Summary of Ranking

Value for Its Price

At $500 USD, the Capita Dark Horse offers exceptional value as a park and resort board. This board got most of its tech from the Outsiders (which was more expensive by $100), but with a less expensive base to keep it more budget-friendly. You get all of the higher end tech at an entry level price.

Sizes Available

The Capita Dark Horse is available in 148cm, 150cm, 152cm, 154cm, 154 Wide cm, 156cm, 156 Wide cm, 158cm, 158 Wide cm, and 160 Wide cm.

See the full specs section below to see which size will be right for you.

What Size Did I Ride?

For this review, I rode the 154CM 2026 Capita Dark Horse. A 154cm is the standard size snowboard I like to ride, and for reference, I am 144lbs and (an intimidating) 5′ 6″ tall with a men’s size nine boot.

Actual Feel of the Flex Rating

Capita officially rates the Dark Horse as a medium flex (6/10). That flex rating feels accurate from nose to tail, you should just take into account that this board is noticeably softer from toe to heel (torsionally) at a 4.5/10 flex rating. So altogether the board has more of a medium flex overall when you take into the feel of the entire snowboard.

Is It Pressable?

Yes, very much so, but not overall flimsy. You have to put some effort into nose pressing or buttering this snowboard. It does have a sweet spot just outside the insert pack that will lock you right into a press, though. (The sweet spot allows the board to press while still maintaining the 6/10 flex longitudinal flex through the rest of the flex pattern.)

All in all, the medium flex offers a decent level of stability for landing jumps, cruising the entire resort, all while still being rigid and lively enough to launch you higher.

The softer torsional than lonitudinal flex and the sweet spot in the tips of this board are its unique highlights. It’s what allows the board to press and butter while still being a well rounded all mountain freestyle board. It’s a park board that can carve, jib, and jump all for a cheaper price tag. (And usually park boards are good at one of those things – either jumping or jibbing.)

Categorical Performance Notes for the Capita Dark Horse

All-Mountain Riding

(Score: 8.5/10) The Dark Horse is a solid all-mountain performer for the casual resort rider. It’s incredibly fun to ride and handles groomed terrain really well.

While this board leans bit more freestyle, its medium to stiff flex (from nose to tail) allows for a predictable yet moderately powerful carving experience outside of the park. It initiates turns quickly and has a balanced feeling radial sidecut, making it perfect for making both short and medium sized turns.

Overall, the Dark Horse handles hard pack and uneven snow pretty well. If riding on ice, I’d just recommend keeping the edges sharp and your knees bent.

Jumping

(Score: 8.5/10) The Capita Dark Horse was built specifically to help you hit small to medium-sized jumps. This board features Capita’s Park V1 Camber profile, which gives it an extra boost of pop off of jumps, feels stable and powerful underfoot, while still having two extra flat sections in the nose and tail that help the board be more forgiving when landing spin tricks off-axis.

To say it simply, this board has the pop and power of a traditional camber with the forgiving ability to skirt your tricks into place without catching an edge when you land a little off. That’s such a helpful combination when trying to learn new jump tricks.

This board works best for jumps that are under 50 feet. The softer torsional flex is just a bit soft for landing anything beyond that.

About the Park V1 Profile: Traditional Camber With Flat Sweet Spots in Nose and Tail

Capita’s Park V1 Camber profile features a mild traditional camber between your feet with two flat spot zero camber sections that are 1.57 inches (4cm) before the end of the sidecut in the nose and tail. The small flat sections offer a more controlled ride while retaining the response and power of a cambered board these also help with landing tricks and making the board easier to balance presses.

RE: The Pop In This Snowboard

With this board having a slightly stiffer flex from nose to tail, that pairs with the traditional camber between your feet to give it an extra level of snapiness when you ollie or pop off of jumps.

I’d rate the level of pop in the Dark Horse an an above average 8.5/10. The pop in the Dark Horse is excellent (8.5/10). This board rebounds quickly back into its original shape and that works to get you some extra air.

Jibbing

(Score: 8/10) The Capita Dark Horse also shines when it comes to jibbing park features, too. I’d rate the jibbing experience of this board with an above average, 8 out of a possible 10 points.

It comes down to the board’s flex pattern and its camber profile being tuned to help you jib. The board has a unique ability to be a medium to stiff flexing board (6/10 flex) long-ways while being soft to medium (4.5/10 flex) horizontally from your toe to heel. This gives the board some power and pop to get onto features while the softer flex from toe to heel works to help the board mold around rail features, and that makes balancing on jibs feel a little easier than usual.

Additionally, the Park V1 profile has flat sections in the nose and tail that make locking into nose and tail presses feel easy. Now, with that being said, this isn’t a soft park-noodle of a snowboard. You still need to put a little effort into nose pressing it, but that’s what makes it awesome. You get this powerful, all-around park board that you can press while still feeling stable and snappy for jumping, too.

Usually, park boards lean more towards being good at either jibbing or jumping. However, the Capita Dark Horse is great at both. That’s what makes it so special. It’s an all around park destroyer of a board that won’t hit your budget too hard.

Buttering

(Score: 8.5/10) The same features that make jibbing easier—the flat sections in the nose and tail and the softer torsional flex—also make buttering with the Capita Dark Horse feel easier too.

The flat sections in the nose and tail help you balance your presses. These act like a sweet spot/balance point in the longitudinal flex pattern of your board. So while the board’s flex from nose to tail is on the medium to stiff size, these sweet spots allow you to lock in and balance your butters a little easier than most other camber boards.

In addition, the softer torsional flex makes it noticeably easier to keep your weight constantly uphill as you spin your butters. As you butter, you need to keep your weight constantly uphill (so you don’t catch your edge), and the benefit of the board being able to bend torsionally to allow you to do that.

All in all, for a board with an overall flex rating of a 6/10 flex you get a board that’s still really great to butter with and that’s what makes it unique. It’s got the power for carving, but it can still help you butter.

Powder

(Score: 4/10) The Dark Horse is not a great board for riding in deep snow. It’s a twin that you stand on directly in the center. There are no tech features to help you keep deep snow from piling on the tips or to help you steer it when things get deep. It’ll do ok in a few inches of light, fluffy snow. However, if you’re riding in snow that’s deeper than a foot, I’d recommend going with a dedicated powder board or an all-mountain resort board that’s got some tech to help you steer when conditions get deep.

Carving Experience

(Score: 7.5/10) Carving-wise, the Dark Horse felt energetic, controlled, and even predictable to ride. This isn’t the dampest feeling board, so getting it up to speed in really choppy terrain, it can start to feel a bit chattery, so you’ll want to keep your knees bent. With that said, the board is more than stable enough to cruise the resort at normal speeds and even occasionally bomb the hill. It just isn’t the right board for the aggressive carver who only knows one speed and that is ripping fast, though.

Turning-wise, the Dark Horse excels at making tight to medium turns. It can make the occasional wider, aggressive turn, but it just felt best when I let the board’s natural arc make its small to medium-sized arcs. It’s great for making the occasional tree run, but right at home with casually cruising groomed terrains at your resort and allowing you to quickly change direction when you need to evade something (or someone) or to hit a park feature.

Overall, the turning experience felt balanced and intuitive, with a noticeable little spring out of turns thanks to the Park V1’s traditional camber section between your feet.

The Edge Hold and Ice and Poor Conditions

(Score: 7/10) Being on the East Coast, I really got to test this board’s capabilities for riding ice and hardpack. I am happy to report that the Dark Horse performs decently well on ice, too.

On ice, I felt controlled and even stable when I was cruising at normal speeds, but things started to get a bit loose the moment I tried to go faster. This board’s tips can begin to chatter at speed, and when that happens, the more mellow camber profile and softer torsional flex don’t do much to help you keep your carve locked into its turn on ice. As a result, the Dark Horse occasionally fell out of a few turns when it was icy.

Just keep in mind that if you’ll be riding the Dark Horse on ice, I’d just recommend you keep your edges sharp, keep your knees bent, and just be mindful of your speed. This board works well for ice, it just has a limit to how hard you can push it when its slick out.

With that being said, there are all mountain/freestyle boards that have tech features to help them grip ice for riding ice if you’ll be doing it most of the time. I’d check out the Capita Resort Twin, the Gnu Head Space, the Jones Tweaker, or any of the boards on our best snowboards for ice list. Any of the boards I just mentioned here or on that list will have some additional tech built into their their edges to help them grip to ice a little better for you.

Speed & the Base

(Score: 7/10) The Dark Horse features Capita’s Superdrive base. I’d put this base in the average “fast enough, but not the fastest” category of bases.

It’s faster than most other bases at its price point, though.

Capita’s Superdrive base is a sintruded base. That means that it is a hybrid base type that sits between an extruded and a sintered base. It’s basically the material of an extruded base packed down with higher heat and more pressure to resemble a base that’s closer to a sintered base than an extruded one, just at a cheaper price tag.

Altogether, you get a durable base with a quick glide that’s easy to repair should you get a gouge on a rock or jib feature. Maintenance-wise, it still requires wax, but you won’t have to wax it as often as if it were a sintered base. I’d say you can get away with waxing this deck every fifth time you ride it, as opposed to every three times you ride if it had a sintered base.

RE: The Base in the Capita Dark Horse vs the Outsiders

It’s worth noting that the base downgrade from sintered to sintruded was the main cost savings detail that was updated into this board as it changed its name from the Capita Outsiders ($600) to the Capita Dark Horse ($500).

For the $100 cost savings, I can tell you other than in the really flat sections, I didn’t notice that much of a speed difference, so it’s excellent that Capita made the Outsiders 16% cheaper under its new name – the Capita Dark Horse.

Stability

(Score: 7.5/10) The Dark Horse offers a decent level of response and stability on groomers and softer conditions. On choppy terrain and ice, it does start to feel loose and chattery the moment you go faster, so it does have its limits. As long as you’re cruising at a normal speed, you won’t find those limits. That note is more for the really aggressive carvers. It’s just not the right board for ripping all of the time.

Dampening / Shock Absorption

(Score: 7.5/10) The Capita Dark Horse offers above-average dampening. The board’s dampening properties come from its Dual Core™, Special Blend Fiberglass, and the Carbon Aramid Boosters that run the length of the board. The Dual Core™ uses poplar for snap combined with beech for durability, strength, and natural dampening. Special Blend Fiberglass with magic bean resin optimizes strength and flex while smoothing out chatter, preventing direct underfoot vibrations. Carbon Aramid Boosters, with aramid for shock absorption and carbon for reinforcement, reduce vibrations while retaining pop.

The dampening tech makes for a a stable yet lively feeling ride that does a decent job absorbing around 45% of the vibrations you’d feel underfoot. It’s not the most dampening tech that Capita offers, but its not the least either.

Flex

(Manufacturer Rating: 6/10) / (Actual Feel Rating: 5/10) The board is rated at a 6/10 flex, but the torsional flex is noticeably softer at a 4.5/10. This makes the board feel a bit softer than the 6/10 flex rating that it’s given, so I’d consider this more of a medium 5/10 flex to gauge it.

Weight

The Capita Dark Horse felt noticeably light. This helped to make the board easier to maneuver in the air or adjust when I needed to while jibbing.

Full Specs of the Capita Dark Horse

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• Shape: True Twin
• Sidecut: Radial
• Camber Profile: Park V1 Camber (traditional camber between the feet, transitioning to small zero-camber sections near tip/tail)
• Base: Superdrive (Sintruded) *This is the main difference from the Capita Outsiders’ Hyperdrive sintered base. The Outsiders felt faster.
• Flex Rating (Manufacturer): Medium (6/10)
• Actual Flex Feel: A medium 5/10 overall flex where it has a 6/10 Longitudinal, 4.5/10 Torsional (toe to heel)
• Core: Dual Core
• Reinforcements: Carbon + Aramid Struts Boosters + Magic bean resin

The Capita Dark Horse vs. Capita DOA

Both the Capita Dark Horse and the Capita DOA are designed for hitting jumps, side hits, and cruising the entire resort, but they cater to slightly different riders.

1. The Dark Horse is the more budget-friendly option, coming in at $80 cheaper than the DOA (the Dark Horse is $500 while the Capita DOA is $580).
2. The Capita DOA is the better option for the more aggressive rider. It has some advanced carbon tech features that help you jump higher and carve deeper. This makes it the better option for more advanced riders who want to go bigger.
3. The Dark Horse offers a more forgiving, easier ride, and it’s the better choice for late-stage beginners or early intermediate riders who want a less demanding board.
4. The Dark Horse is the less stable board at speed.
5. The Dark Horse is the better option for jibbing and buttering.
6. Either board works for small to medium sized jumps, the DOA is better for larger jumps and side hits.

Read our full Capita DOA review to learn more about the DOA’s features.

What About the Capita Ultrafear vs the Dark Horse?

The Capita Dark Horse and Capita Ultrafear are closely similar boards in how they feel to ride. Both excel with jibbing, hitting side hits, and small to medium-sized jumps. However, the Dark Horse stands out as the better carver for being your all-mountain board. It’s also cheaper by $50 than the Ultrafear. Additionally, the Dark Horse features a softer torsional flex, which makes it feel easier and more forgiving for buttering and jibbing.

On the other hand the Capita Ultrafear offers a smoother, more damp feeling ride. It’s got the more durable core, and it can handle slightly larger park features than the Dark Horse. Additionally, the Ultrafear is the faster of the two boards that feels a little more stable at higher speeds.

Read our full Capita Ultrafear review to learn more about the Ultrafear’s features.

Review Wrap-Up: Is the Capita Dark Horse Worth It?

Yes, the Dark Horse is an excellent board for hitting the park and cruising with your friends.

It’s an approachable, fun-to-ride, and all around excellent all-mountain freestyle board that offers a great value for its price. If you’re an intermediate rider who loves to hit small jumps, you’re going to love this one. However, if you’re more of an aggressive park rider, you might want to see what you can get for an extra $50 – $80. Both the Capita DOA and Ultrafear offer a bit more power, dampness, and stability for the aggressive park rider.

Bindings to Pair With the Capita Dark Horse

I rode the Capita Dark Horse with Union Ultra bindings, and they paired up very well with this board.

Why the Union Ultra Works Well With the Dark Horse

The Union Ultra is built to be light and has a medium flex pattern. The benefit of the Ultra is that they are great for hitting jumps and flexible enough to help you press into park features, all while offering some support for casual carving.

The flex patterns and benefits match perfectly with the type of rider that would get the Dark Horse. I found a few package bundles here where you can save a few bucks if you get the bindings and board together.

With that said, most of Union’s mid-flexing bindings would work, so if you find the Union STR, Union Strata, or Union Force bindings on sale and in your price range, I’d recommend going with any of those too.

Where to Buy the Capita Dark Horse

If you enjoyed this review, please consider buying the Capita Dark Horse through either of our partner links to EVO, Blauer Boardshop, or Tactics.

These partner links all point to the lowest-priced offer that I could find for the Dark Horse, and there are no additional costs or fees to use them. By using these links, you support this website because when you make a purchase through them, I make a very small referral commission from the sale of your board, just like if I were your shop’s salesman.

While the commissions are nowhere near enough for me to quit my day job, they do help cover the hosting fees for this website, and any remaining funds then go back into the reviews in the way of lift tickets or purchasing more gear to test out.

Thank you for your support and for reading this far. I hope you enjoy every second you get out on hill this upcoming season.

PS please leave a comment at the bottom of this page if you found this helpful or have a question.

-Steve

Image Gallery for the Review

About the reviewer

Rider Name: Steve Weber

Field Test Notes: I rode the 2026 Capita Dark Horse at the EWSRA on snow demo in Stratton VT on February 4th and 5th 2025.

Rider Experience Level: Intermediate to advanced – I’ve been riding for over 16 years. However, I lean more freestyle than freeride. I prefer hitting jumps and rails over making the perfect turn.

Rider’s Preferred Terrain: The park with small to medium sized features

Size / Model: The board I reviewed was a 2025 Capita Dark Horse in the 154cm size.

Rider Weight: 144lbs

Bindings Used: The 2026 Union Ultra