After our usual Sunday breakfast of blueberry pancakes, I saddled up Apollo and headed out to the arena, with Hubby walking Clio along to watch. We spent about 45 minutes going around at difference paces, getting him warmed up before I was ready to try a canter. On a lunge line, he kept bucking up every time I asked him to go into a canter, but eventually he settled down. Once I mounted, I jogged him around quite a while, weaving him around barrels and along the fence before I finally felt confident enough to canter, but when I finally asked him, he was perfect! I was careful to leave his reins plenty loose, because I think part of the problem may have been me pulling him too tight (not surprisingly due to my uncertainty), which caused him to shake his head and do his little jump. I was also working harder on keeping my feet forward, I think my feet may be too far back and that’s why I lose my balance whenever he does something funky. As much riding as I do, I still don’t consider myself more than an average, moderate rider, but by the end of the session, I felt a lot better about both of us. I plan on doing this again before we leave here, the arena is a great bonus at this place!
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