Gia - session 64 - more canter, much less drama!

Danielle has been working with Gia on some of her ground stuff - relaxing more around strange things and not panicking and planting her feet when she doesn't want to go somewhere scary or near something scary.  She also worked with her this morning on brushing her face and forelock.  Gia was so good that she was practically asleep when I came in to bridle her!  On the lunge line, Gia was ready to go, but not in a bad way, mostly.  As soon as I asked her to trot, she also tried to move into the canter/buck.  I think she was remembering the last thing we did in her last session, and I also think she was nervous about it.  I got the feeling that she was trying to do the right thing, but bucking just kept getting in the way.  I wasn't even asking her to canter, but she kept trying to do it anyway, almost like that's what she thought I wanted her to do.  So, I continued to ask her to just trot, and only trot, until she relaxed.  I did not ask for the canter at all on the lunge line, and once she realized I didn't even want that, she seemed to relax.  She is definitely a people pleaser, and I think she was a little stressed as she was trying to figure out how to do what she thought I wanted.  I lunged her at the trot, in the other direction, at the other end of the ring, and she was just fine.

Under saddle, she started out trying to walk away from the mounting block.  I don't think she's trying to get out of work, like a lot of the lesson horses do.  But rather, I think she is excited to get to work and is trying to get a head start.  Regardless, she has to learn to stand at the mounting block quietly, so we worked on that a little at the beginning.  Her walk was great today!  Nicely forward and relaxed, hardly distracted at all.  She was a little sluggish to get into the trot, so I repeated the transition a few times until it was more prompt.  The trot itself was also fantastic!  Very relaxed, forward, and only falling out a little through her left shoulder today.  It was very easy to correct her and straighten her though.

Once I hopped off, Danielle and I took her up to the round pen to remind her about the canter cue from the ground.  She was a little resistant to pick it up, but better after a few transitions.  I mounted her using the side of the round pen.  This is not something that most young horses will tolerate, but she really didn't care!  Once I had her responsive at the trot, I asked her to canter.  We started on the right side today, since it seemed easier on Wednesday.  I had to ask a few times and Danielle had to help out with a verbal cue and the whip as well.  Once she got into the canter, it wasn't too bad.  She never actually bucked today, but she did put her head down a couple of times like she was thinking about bucking.  I was able to get her head up quickly, and keep her going.  Since there was no bucking on the first canter that direction, I let her stop and rest a minute before we went the other way.  The other direction was even better!  She went right to the canter from only my cues, and on the first one!  And the canter itself was very quiet and balanced!  No bucking at all, so we ended the session there.  Since she had been so good, I decided to give her a break from the clipping and mane pulling today, and reward her by ending everything there.