Lisa's Blog post # 9

Cotton was so happy to be cantering out in the XC field!  I’ve been limiting our canter work to the arena so I could practice stopping him with my seat instead of my hand and this was our first attempt out in the open at a canter using that new – i.e. correct - technique.

There are probably at least a ½ dozen ways to stop a horse, ranging from the controlled dressage transition to the all out desperate “run them into a large, immoveable object” technique, with a host of methods in between.  A good rider knows them all.  An excellent rider has the wisdom to know which one to apply to which situation – and probably would never have to resort to the last mentioned desperation technique!

Our first canter went fine for the first few strides, then he suddenly seemed to notice all those XC jumps surrounding him and, not wanting them to go to waste just sitting there, got kind of carried away.   Because I didn’t have my leg on him I have to admit …. I ended up stopping him with all hand.  I was so disgusted with myself for throwing out all my recent education that I almost gave up and returned to the arena for our canter session.  But then I said to myself, “Self, you know what to do, now get out there and do it!”  So I did.

We cantered a few large circles around a jump each direction and he continued to express his joy – at one point he even squealed as he voluntarily broke into the softest, lightest canter I have ever felt!  Even though he got away from me a few more times, my confidence grew because I was able to bring him back to me when I employed the right technique.

We ended on a very good note. I am thankful.  It is so much fun to ride such a happy horse and I am ever more determined to conquer the open range!