For riding this week we are finally learning to canter. A canter is almost the fastest pace of a horse, second only to a gallop. It is a three-beat pace, which means that there are three footfalls in it. To canter you put your outside leg (which is the leg closer to the fence of the arena) behind the girth (a girth is the strap around the horses belly that holds the saddle on), squeeze with both legs, and say "canter on".
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| Me cantering |
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| Nuha cantering |
I feel like we are progressing well. In just a few months we have gone from walking on a lead rope, then walking and trotting by ourselves, to sitting trot, and walking and trotting without stirrups(we do this to improve our balance), then cantering.
It's supposed to be much more comfortable than a bumpy trot, but since Nuha fell of on her first canter I'm not sure she would agree. Despite the weather being grizzly we are really enjoying our recent lessons. This week I rode Lady (who is my favourite horse) and Nuha rode Kristoff.
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| Nuha and Kris |
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| Lady and I |
Aisha
Wow amazing progression in such a short time. I love that you described what a canter is well enough for me to understand. I hope Nuha is ok and ready to get back on the horse. Well Done!
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