Gia - session 702 - lesson at CDP

 I took Gia to CDP for a lesson with Charlie today.  She did not start out feeling as tight as she did yesterday.  I warmed her up with a bit of walk work - going forward, coming back, bending, leg yielding.  Then we moved on to trot work - pretty much the same as the walk warm up.  

Then Charlie had us start over a small vertical to work on her landing and cantering afterwards.  She did ok the first couple of times, actually a little slow, then she started landing, cantering off and throwing in some bucks.  So, we went back to just working on the canter itself.  

First, she had to be more obedient.  She was not allowed to canter unless I asked for it.  If she tried, then I would go back and work on going forward and coming back at the trot, until she was listening better, then try the canter again.  That helped a lot!  Then, I had to work on putting my leg on her after I picked up the canter, so that she would keep it, and not fall out of it.  At the same time, I had to carefully watch her poll and make sure it did not go down.  If it did, then she was more likely to canter.  Finally, I had to be careful not to pull back and let her neck get short.  With all that, we were finally able to get several good, obedient, balanced canters in each direction.

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