The Horse is a Mirror

He has a really nice canter. It will be nice when I can ride it effectively.

The canter transition is definitely improving.   Derby is responding quickly, and to the left, at least, I’m fairly well balanced and he steps right into  the upward transition.

I’m still struggling with my position when going right, and this was clear when we changed direction.  Our failure to pick up the right lead was undoubtedly my fault, not the Derbster’s.  This was one of those “the horse is the mirror” moments.  Derby has no problem picking up the right lead canter. It’s not a training issue.  The problem arises when I’m unbalanced and it feels off. At those moments Derby says “Nope.  It’s better for all concerned if we keep trotting.  You get your act together, and we’ll canter.”  I really can’t blame him.

So Christy had me work on getting a good connection and improving our trot going right.  We started out with focusing for a minute on my control of Derby’s shoulders.  Doing developed some steady contact, and then added a little leg yield and the trot really improved.  I could feel Derby’s back come up and best of all, he really stretched into the contact.

Piece by piece we’ll put this back together!