Counter canter?

Eeek! Counter canter is not nice. It feels weird, but we were giving it a go in our lesson today. Not at all elegantly but we were doing it - although RI seemed quite impressed.

It involved cantering up the track to the middle of the school and turning back on ourselves in a shallow loop (so basically the outside leg is leading) then going round in a shallow loop to the right (in counter canter) and then going round to the left so you're leading with the inside leg again. It made Sammie do some nifty turns I can tell you! I nearly flew out the side door with one of his left turns and sent RI and her trainee/observer into fits of giggles. The final left turn felt like one of those turns that you see Western riders do.

The amazing thing for me (apart from Sammie's quick response to my weight aids) was that we kept the canter throughout all of that. That would have seemed an impossibility a year ago. Apparently this is also one of the ways to start canter pirouette - I thought they were kidding but was told I was half way there. Hmm....all a bit beyond me I think. Maybe Sammie could do it with a better rider, but not with me.

We started the lesson with some exercises to get Sammie's back end going. He's always been more stiff on the right, so the idea is to get that right hind really stretching over in lateral work. We also tried turn on the haunches. Again I'm sure Sammie is more than capable, but my mind tends to go into meltdown with this leg here, that leg there, this hand doing that and the other hand doing something else.

As RI was saying, the more you do, the more you notice things that need to be worked on. I don't know how far Sammie and I will get with all this. But just to have those strides of nice canter on the left rein and to be able to get it so easily will never cease to amaze me.

Sammie worked very hard, bless him, so he got a bit of a chocolate brownie from RI at the end and then just stood munching the grass round the edge of the school while we chatted. I explained how all this barefoot business had made me quite nervous but they both said that he was sound and the best help I can give him is to keep him strong. All sounds sensible, but I take that in, agree it sounds sensible, while my mind wanders and works in mysterious ways!