Cantering Cole

I cantered Cole for the first time! (Canter is a version of gallop.) We were on the trail, since he does better for me there than the arena.. Saturday, when I asked him, he didn’t have a clue what I wanted. I ended up having to tickle him with the whip. When he got it, he went very fast. I have him trained to stop when he reaches my sister, and he did. We did it a couple more times, and then we quite for the day.

Sunday, after riding him about 20 minutes, we decided to try again. I sent my sister up the trail. When I asked Cole to go, he remembered the lesson from the day before and burst forward into a gallop! He stopped at my sister, and I started to breathe, again. The second time I tried, he walked, then trotted, then cantered on command. He still went fast, but is was more reasonable. We did it one more time, and we were very successful.

We headed home, and he was very hyper. I think he enjoyed his cantering. It was also very windy and leaves were falling everywhere. I think that got him going, too.

Since he got hyper, I may not do it again for a while. I just wanted to get it over with. Honestly, that was much more scary than riding him for the first time. I’m glad it was uneventful. He sure has a powerful canter.