Gia - session 460 - long lining and canter work

 Finally the ground was not frozen today, and I was able to get a lesson in with Suzin!

Suzin started things out by long lining Gia, and getting right to work on the canter.  She did really well tracking left!  She didn't even pin her ears or act grumpy at all!  She was also nicely bent and collected on a fairly small circle.  Tracking right was a little harder, but not too bad.  She had things more together after several transitions.

Under saddle, we went right to work on the canter as well.  First she had to soften and bend at the walk and trot, and then I asked for the canter.  There was a lot of bucking and kicking out during the transitions, and even some when she just anticipated the transition.  Despite all that, I sat back, kept my leg on and waited for her to quit.  As soon as she quit screwing around and went forward, I took my leg off immediately and relaxed.  I was able to get her through it each time, but some times took longer than others.  By the end, I was able to get one canter transition where she didn't misbehave at the beginning.  When she did relax and go forward, her canter was really nice!


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