Canter Canter Canter!

FUN session today.  Maria came out to help again.  I took the first ride and ended with a long trot around the arena.  Maria hopped on and continued the trot work.  Maddie was moving out nicely with no fuss and just some lingering reluctance to go into the spooky corners.  After a rest, Maria said, "I want to canter her," and Maria proceeded to ask for two short canters.  The first canter was just a few steps followed by a one-rein stop, which is what I told her was best approach to take.  Maddie gave a hop step for the depart but did nothing else.  For the second canter, Maria made a couple of circles before hopping off.  Maddie looked terrific--she was loping at a comfortable speed with a regular rhythm.  I was surprised at how good she looked, because until recently her canter on the lunge was more of a runaway affair without a lot of regularity.  Anyway, you can decide for yourself how she looked:

We took Maddie to the outdoor arena and continued the lesson.  I took the first ride, which went much better than the first time outside.  She was nervous and wanted to run, but I kept shutting her down by yielding her hindquarters and pretty soon she could walk around without too much babysitting.  I went over the telephone poles in both directions a few times and then Maria repeated.  We did only walk work outside today.

We finished by putting Maddie on a lead, with Maria still on, and walking down the driveway.  We stopped about 100' short of the road and hung out.  All in all, a fantastic session!