Day 9. Rode for about an hour. Another good day- the difference is quite profound. I wish I had done this last year instead of wasting the past year. Similar routine as previous days- warm up at a walk and trot on loose rein, down the fence line and in and out of ground poles, cones, bushes etc. Followed by episodes of asking for a canter (guess I haven't discussed the cue here- mostly it is sitting deep, smooching, no rein contact but looking in direction we are going to go in, and brushing with the outside leg when his weight is off the inside hind leg).

Today, almost all stops were done straight, based only on shifting my weight down and back with a "whoa" (so very few roll backs or one-rein-stops). Even the few time he was cantering too fast, he sucked back and stopped promptly.

So what did I do to "push the envelope" today? More cantering in the most "exciting" areas (often through the gate that leads from the paddock to the grooming area). We did a couple of actual circles at a canter on a loose rein, guiding him very lightly with the inside rein- they were quite a bit faster then what I want eventually but when I asked him to stop, he sucked back right away.

What I plan to do on our next ride is sort of 'up the ante" by putting out jump standards and having him canter through them (maybe with a ground pole between them). Jump standards triggers his most unruly and out of control nature. I want him to really be broke, not just behaving ok under some, carefully managed situations.

He was amazing today- I think he is getting a new world view where cantering as not so exciting after all, even offering to break down to a trot on his own a few times (at this point, I wouldn't correct this because he is offering to slow down on his own).