They move on to canter work, focusing on walk/canter canter/walk transitions. Doing these transitions correctly becomes beneficial when doing flying changes because whatever the horse does in the walk/canter it will usually do in the change. When you close the leg, the horse should go forward and...

Adrienne helps a rider on a Quarter Horse. She says that when some of the quality of the canter or walk is lost, it because the horse got long and flat. She suggests warming up by doing canter/walk transitions to work on getting the horse more compact like a square rather than long like a rectangle.

After the warmup, they begin to work on the canter. They work on spiraling in and out in the canter to help improve the connection with the inside leg and outside rein. There are moments where she can relax her inside rein and the horse does not change his balance, indicating he is moving honestl...

Adrienne works with a Grade IV para rider who was the winner of a contest featuring a clinic with Adrienne. As the pair warms up, Adrienne reminds the rider to always be looking up and stretching tall with her upper body. The rider should have an idea of the tempo, establish it in the warmup and ...

Adrienne coaches a rider on a Friesian through a warmup. She emphasizes that the contact should stay even, and that sometimes with this breed, they can get too light in the contact since it is easy for them to get upright and short in the neck. The horse must move out and down into the contact. C...

They continue working on the canter. First the weight needs to shift to the hind legs, and then the horse has to get a little hot. When the horse wants to get flat, the rider must actually bring the horse back instead of chasing him forward. Both horse and rider have to think about coming back. T...

As they move to canter, they work on shoulder-in and haunches in on the circle continuing to work on a falling down, relaxing neck. When the horse gets hot, the rider needs to resist the temptation of giving the reins and taking the legs off. They focus on keeping a methodical canter stride that ...

Adrienne helps a rider with her sensitive, hot mare. She suggests constantly pushing her off one leg and then the other to encourage her to stretch into the contact with ears level with the withers. Bending and stretching is important to get the horse to let the back go, and opening the throatlat...

They continue to work on connecting the horse to the outside rein through counter flexion. As soon as the horse drops down, it is important for the rider to relax as a reward. The horse can then bend slightly to the inside for straightness and stretch. They do the same thing in canter. Adrienne r...

Adrienne helps a Grade IV para rider with a horse she has only ridden one other time. They focus on finding a steady connection first in the walk. They play with adjusting the stride in the walk to influence the horse straightness because he is wiggly instead of going forward into the contact. Th...

Adrienne helps an adult amateur rider with her horse who is not respectful of the leg aids. She reminds her that the forward aid can get as strong as it needs to be, but when he responds it should go back to being light. The top priority needs to be that the horse maintains the tempo the rider se...

They continue to work on walk-trot transitions with a focus on a prompt step off and steady connection. The rider has to pay attention to her rein length and not let the horse pull the reins out of her hands. They move on to trot-canter transitions where the rider needs to maintain her position w...