Cantering!

After that week of really awesome sessions, both me and Cal really needed a break.  I was getting demanding and not being polite, and Cal was just not interested in seeing me.  So I didn't play during the past week.

Today I went into the arena, with the intention of mostly just hanging out.  (Still wasn't feeling like I could be a very good partner.)  I decided to put on the 12' line and just play some stick to me.  After playing a little with walk, trot, and stopping, I decided to try some cantering!  It turned into a lot of canter.  At first it was pretty fast and I did a lot of disengaging and changing direction to have him stay back with me.  By the end, he was doing really well at slowing his gait down so that he was going slow enough I could stay next to him.  Yeah!  I did always stay on the inside of him, so he decided that when I was on his right side he wanted a right lead, and when I was on his left side he should do a left lead.  So I have to play with being on the outside so I can start selecting leads.

Also got some canter circles on the 12' line!  To the left I got one lap.  To the right I got two laps, with SLACK in the 12' line!!!!  O_O  Who would have ever thought that my horse who had so much trouble cantering on the 45' line could do that?!  Awesome!!!!!!

I then decided to do some fast sideways.  Got the trot, then...Canter?  Yes!!!  Cantering sideways along the wall of the arena!  Cool!

I tried playing with jumping barrels upright.  Did some approach and retreat, working towards upright barrels (jumping double down barrels was easy).  When I finally set up the barrels he went right over!  Of course, I probably should have stopped.  But I didn't.  With some more approach and retreat he jumped it two more times.  I really wanted him to jump it twice in a row.  I almost got it.  But on the second time squeeze over, he knocked it down.  Crap.  After that he didn't even want to jump the barrels laying down.  So I played with getting him willing to do that again, then stopped.  Dang it; wish I had stopped sooner!

At the end I did a bit at liberty.  Liberty trailer loading for the first time!  Some liberty squeezes over a jump (guess I did okay building his confidence back up).  He wasn't stuck to me as much as I'd like; at least, not physically.  Mentally, he was super connected.  He would leave and do a pretty large circle around me, using three sides of the arena and then cutting across the middle.  I could draw him back and change directions, or disengage and he was right there.  I got the feeling if I had the communication and understanding of what I wanted I could have gotten some awesome liberty circles in the open, he was that connected.  And with all that cantering, one time when I asked him to come back he came at a canter.  Love that!!!  <3