Last Tuesday’s lesson was one of those that didn’t necessarily deliver any “wow” feelings during the lesson, but I guess I did alright anyway. When it came to cantering Heddvig, I assumed that she would manage fine. I used the whip to just tap her on the shoulder during the canter to keep her going, and didn’t get all worked up about keeping her going. I just rode and expected her to manage.
And for the regular canter, she did. She really is capable of keeping it together for quite a while now.
Then we got to the counter-canter, and this week Ulrika told us to just ask for counter-canter without the aid of a circle or a turn that would make it more like asking for regular canter and then ending up in a counter-canter. It felt like a tall order, and it was, but I did try and on a few occasions Heddvig actually managed. Afterwards, Ulrika told us that she had asked us to do something too difficult on purpose, just to see if we’d keep riding decisively. I’d say that worked pretty well for me.