Riding clinic

On Friday I arrived at the Seven-Gate-Ranch and took some pictures of the people who had riding-lessons with Klaus. I also took Baga for a small ride but can not remember what exactly we did. Only some unspectacular thing ;o) Later we tried some trail-obstacles but I noticed that they are very difficult even though they're looking easy.
On Saturday we started the clinic with the real base: leading, mounting, approaching only with weight and showing the direction, start at a trot, making stops, going backwards. I decided to try the tölt-saddle and natural hackamore for this and it worked very fine (see the pictures below)! We (8 people) were splitted into 3 groups so I always had the chance to see how the other were doing and took many pictures of them.
The second lesson was mainly about leg-yielding (Schenkelweichen). First on a fence, then in slalom around some pylons or through riding small circles around the pylons. And the more qualified riders could also do it in trot (I'm not one of those :o) But Baga and me worked hard and there was some progress to see. The most important thing is that I keep all in my mind and can go on with it at home. This was just the end of our lessons on Saturday but in a good second I tried to ride some canter. I had avoided to do it since last October. Luckily it worked but only for few steps. Then Klaus came to me and took Baga for a small demonstration ride :o) It was really great to see him riding canter in both directions, asking her for leg-yielding, stops and spins. Everything worked great!!! So here you can see Klaus and Baga:

Later he told me what a wonderful horse she is and that he had a lot of fun! What a proud horse-owner I am now!!!!
On Sunday it was damned cold so I took all the clothes I could find around me. Later I even changed the helmet against a warm cap. We were very lucky that the rain changed into hard wind and we really stayed dry the rest of the day.
The first lesson on Sunday was about responsiveness and going on the bit so I repeated the practices from Saturday but asked more for collection and it worked from time to time. I didn't expected to do everything perfect at the first try but I noticed that everything what we learned the day before was easier than ever earlier! Yeah, we got it ;o)
Then we started cantering! Klaus explained every step in his naturally easy but funny way and then we should try it by ourselves. I had no idea if it would work or Baga start bucking like often before but she didn't. We striked off at the canter from walk and it was brilliant. We cantered two circles with slack in the reins and it felt as if we never did anything else!!! Outside of the riding-ground all my friends were clapping and cheering because they knew about my canter-problem. We tried it again and again and it worked very very fine. Unfortunately I also wanted to canter the other direction but we failed. Now I know which side is our bad one and will work on an improvement ;o)
The other riders also learned to ride counter-bends but my brain was too full to understand what to do so I decided to be happy with the things I got. If I have more prcatise with cantering and don't always think "Now I have to canter..." then we can think about more complex lessons like counter-bends! At the end we learned how to turn the forehand and the hindquarters and it was no problem to do it. Here you can find the pictures of the weekend: http://skinfaxa.de/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=18668
Now I have to hurry....bye bye.