Gia - session 74 - We finally got back to cantering!

I decided to start yesterday's session out with no lunging.  It was a quiet day, and she has been going really well, so why not!  I started out working on standing still at the mounting block.  She was still fidgety, but slightly better than last time.  Once we got going at the walk, she was a bit more tense than last time, and slightly more looky, but not too bad.  I put her to work and kept her focused on going over poles, with extra turns when I lost her attention.  Once that felt good, I added the trot.  The poles were pretty easy for her today.  She only slightly hesitated at one or two of them in the beginning, and then she was perfectly fine.  I did ask for her to move off my leg and soften to my hand.  She was a little fussy about that work, but not terrible.  Once she was more obedient and responsive, I hopped off and took her up to the round pen. 

Conditions finally felt right to try the canter again - not too wet, not too windy, fairly relaxed in her walk and trot work.  I started out asking her to canter from the ground.  She was slow to respond to my cues at first, but after two or three tries, she was more prompt.  I hopped back on and proceeded to ask her to canter from the saddle.  She was not getting the cue from my leg and voice, so I had to add whip.  Once she did get the canter, she was quite animated with several attempts at bucking.  Luckily, her bucks are not hard, but more of a rolling buck.  As long as I keep my heels down and shoulders back, it's not a problem to stay on.  With each buck, I fussed at her and tried to lift her back up.  If she can't get her head down, then she can't buck.  It took several tries, and at one point, I had to stop her and be more firm with her and give her a kick to get the message across that bucking was not acceptable behavior.  After that, she tried to be better behaved going into the canter.  As soon as I got a step of canter with no bucking, I praised her.  It was like we flipped a switch!  As soon as she realized she would get praised for cantering without bucking, we were floating around the round pen in a very balanced and smooth canter!  She just needed a firm "no" for the bad behavior and lots of praise for the good behavior.  After that, I think she only thought about bucking once or twice more, but it was really half hearted.  She received lots of verbal praise and pats, and as soon as I got one good run in each direction, I hopped off.

Back at the barn, I worked with her with the clippers again.  She was hesitant at first, but did allow me to clip her other jawline with no twitch.  I finished up our session with some mane pulling.  I almost have it where I want it!  All the things we have been working on for months are finally starting to come together nicely!