Gia - session 772 - flatwork

 I worked with Gia in the arena today on her flatwork.  We started out with a nice stretch at the walk, although I did have to encourage her to march on a little bit.  After bringing her up to the medium walk, we did a few walk trot transitions.  She was a little "sticky" at first, but after a few times, her transitions got smoother and more obedient.  I also worked on keeping her outside shoulder more to the inside, or a little counter bent.  

When I started asking for the canter, I worked on catching her outside shoulder, which wanted to "pop out" during the transition.  I would "abandon" the transition, push the shoulder back over, and then ask for the canter again.  I also worked on keeping the connection very light, but also keeping my fingers very active.  The first few times she tried to pick up the canter, she was very tight and tense, and did let out a few bucks.  Once we got through the above issues, she was able to move into her canter much more easily, and keep it longer and longer.