MizElz
Well-Known Member
Last year, Elz and I struggled like mad with our canter. She found it very hard, having to adapt to a more collected way of going - it made me realise just how lax I'd become whilst we were show jumping
She never seemed eager to go into canter, and when she did, she was very evasive; our comments in dressage tests were always: 'Hollow', 'tense', 'evading rider' and so on. We had lots of lessons and worked very hard on it, but I cant honestly say there was much improvement throughout the year.
However, since I've been bringing her back up and getting her fit again (we havent competed at all since September; we've just hacked and generally had a nice time) she seems so much happier - she actually asks to go into canter, and often anticipates - something she never did before. Surely an eagerness to canter means that she is finding it a bit easier? She still finds bending and collection quite taxing, but she just seems so much more malleable now! We ran through our Walk & Trot test for Sunday earlier on, and the silly moo kept breaking into canter all the way through it!
However, since I've been bringing her back up and getting her fit again (we havent competed at all since September; we've just hacked and generally had a nice time) she seems so much happier - she actually asks to go into canter, and often anticipates - something she never did before. Surely an eagerness to canter means that she is finding it a bit easier? She still finds bending and collection quite taxing, but she just seems so much more malleable now! We ran through our Walk & Trot test for Sunday earlier on, and the silly moo kept breaking into canter all the way through it!