Caroline Pamukcu’s head rider Lee Maher schools a horse in a last dressage school before competing at Novice in a spring horse trial the next weekend. He begins by making sure the horse is going forward, and in the walk, he checks in to see how the horse is responding. They start in the trot with large circles watching for the shoulders to come around. Keeping the horse’s head low and the frame long, Maher incorporates trot–walk–trot transitions. Then he rides circles, maintaining the same trot rhythm throughout. Rhythm is the key factor in the canter. He adds transitions within the canter, and when he drops back to the trot, he has a more solid connection. When he goes to canter–trot–canter transitions, he looks for the horse to be more forward. After a few transitions, Maher finds the balance he wants. They end the session with a stretchy trot while changing directions.