BTB: Back to beginner level: Afraid to canter

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Back to beginner level: Afraid to canter Posted: 01 Mar 2011 12:11 PM PST Riley and I are moving into a new phase of our partnership. We have a problem with the canter, and Jerry Seinfeld explains it best... You see, I know how to GET the canter, I just can't HOLD the canter. My heart's just not in the canter. There are 3 issues... Limited turnout. When Ri canters these days, he's a hair too strong in the bridle. Our ring has some slick spots, and while my head says forward, my heart says WHHOOOOAAAA.  Strange shift in the "energy" of the indoor. A powerful magnetic force is sucking Riley's outside shoulder to the exit door. It's not so bad going right, but going left if I'm not super-vigilant, we end up fighting about what direction we going and we run into the wall.  Trainer's diminishing influence. As I ride more, my trainer is riding less (two Stacey lessons, one trainer ride a week). Riley senses a power vacuum. So the canter is a scary place to be for a forty-something amateur. That said, I need to suck it up and get full mastery of the canter. Trot canter-trot-transitions are in my game plan for every ride. I'll get it straightened out.

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