Yehaa!

<< That's not me by the way, that is a rather mad friend who loves to take Pinto out for a blast now and again.

Well, what can I say? My confidence improves daily, though I do have to suck it up sometimes.

After my revelation on Monday about being able to canter in a forward position up hills I decided that the theory needed to be put to the test… after all, one result does not a theory prove!

So after a lunging session (6+2), which I admit was a bit too long, as Pinto was getting tired at the end, again the riding tack came out and off we went.

Again we did the loop backwards, so it was the canter track first… and I actually did it! Halfway along, the path gets much grassier, therefore less hard, so I asked Pinto to canter (from a trot). He was a bit confused, and didn’t strike off immediately which meant that I had lost my rhythm. But it settled down, and we cantered for about 80m when I decided not to stretch my balance too much (which was decidedly off on the flat!). Of course, Pinto was a bit reluctant to pull up as there was still quite a stretch in front of us, and we must have gone another 20m before he slowed to a trot. Thank goodness for the bitless bridle, which means that I’m not pulling on his mouth when I get unbalanced, but it also means that I can ask much harder to slow down that I would with a bit… and to be honest, sometimes Pinto needs it… he can get a bit “onward bound.”

So after walking calmly the rest of the canter track, Pinto decided that he would rather continue straight on up the path into the woods, but after a slight discussion we turned right to go up the road. We did a little bit of trotting on the road, only slowing as we came to the top of the hill as the road surface deteriorates.

Then we came to the first hill. Yahoooooooo! We went right from the bottom to the top in a fast canter. What a fantastic feeling! I was completely buzzed! So *this* is why people like cantering? I can now understand why!

Well after that little escapade we manage to walk, well at least semi calmly, the rest of the way until we come to the last hill on the way home. I know I was very naughty here, because Pinto is now starting to anticipate at the hills, but I just couldn’t resist! I made him wait until we were on the track then asked him to canter… Wow! I think it was more of a gallop. He really went for it… and it felt GREAT!

Now I want to find some longer hills so I can go on for longer lol. I also need to practice a bit more on the flat, but will have to wait until we’ve had some rain, as the ground is very, very hard at the moment.

Pinto is having a day off today… I’m not fit enough to ride every day! So I think I might spend the afternoon cleaning and oiling my tack.