Took advantage of the nice day and took Giant on a long hack out down Puruaha Rd, had a bit of a fuss when the dogs on both sides of the rode came running up to their gates barking, but thats not really his fault, no horse would like that. Trotted down the bridlepath next to the road and took the left hand road. A few weeks ago I took Harry through to the beach but they way I went is now blocked off. But the girls told me a new way, so we went down Lot 12, which is a nice ride, you go through sand dunes, then across a landing strip, more sand dunes and out to the beach. Trotted back up the beach and came home the normal way down the road. Just have to make sure he doesn't try and get too fast on the way home, hes never going to take off lol, he just gets a bit quick and its part of his turning thing.

Had the vet out for Giants lumps, she said they are probably some sort of localised reaction, but she doesn't know what too. Perhaps saddle pad, washing powder (although none of this has changed), could be environmental. She gave him two shots which should help to bring them down within a week. If not, or if they come back there is another shot I can go and get him, then we get into biopsys and stuff, but hopefully what she gave him will work.

Harry was still a bit stiff but heaps better, so I took him for a stroll to the beach and a splash in the water. The walk stretched him out well and he was feeling better on the way back than the way there.

Jumps got here! Hauled them all down to the paddock a set up for tomorrow. They will need priming and painting at some point so they don't rot, they are untreated.

Don't know what Harry was upto last night, but this morning he had a broken leg strap and belly strap and his rug was all twisted around him. Not a mark on him but hes a bit sore behind. Started to ride him, he looked and felt fine in walk, but when we trotted off he was all wonky feeling. Not much I can do for that, hopefully tomorrow he'll be good enough to take him for a walk out.

Continued with Giants lateral work, he seems to rather enjoy it all, wants to do altogether too much lol. Had to watch his 1/4s in shoulder in on a straight line, he kept wanting to stick his bum out and pretty much go full side ways, instead of flexing and crossing over nicely, just have to make sure hes respecting the leg and doesn't push through the outside. On to travers now, he gets it, it just a matter of quality as with the shoulder in, although I don't ask him for more than 10 steps at a time, he can't hold it yet. We also just need to sort the aids out more and make sure he doesn't swing his quarters into my leg.

Had a go at travers on a circle, which is harder than a straight line, but he was pretty good. Strangely he is now better to the left than the right, perhaps I have just worked on it more.

I want him now to chew more softly on the bit, he still does big grinding chews where he lifts the bit right up. I want him to chew more quietly and consistantly and just let the bit hang in his mouth. This will help him free up more in the poll and be able to stretch out. So we did some work on flexions just at a halt again and will work more on them

Headed off to the beach with Giant, he was in a bit of a funny mood, tried his turny thing which he doesn't normally do with me. School bus came down the road so I ducked into a paddock just before the house with the toi toi all around it. He seemed to really wanted to go around this paddock, but there was a swamp that I didn't really want to cross, this is where he turned the first time.

Further up the road there was a random dead bush up against the fence from all the wind we had in the weekend. BUSH !! Big sissy girl wanted to turn around and go home. But after that he was good, the gates into the dairy farm paddocks next to the creek were open so we went in there instead of the beach and went for a cruise around. He seemed to like this idea, we walked along the creek and then trotted and cantered a few laps around the paddocks.

Took Harry out in the same direction, we went through the same gate but then instead of going along the creek we went up and rode along the back of the houses, did pretty much the same as with Giant, just cruised and went for a trot and canter around the paddocks. He got a little bit hyped after canter but settled back down again after a walk trying to find a way out onto the road between the houses, theres not one...

Amazing how a beautiful day makes work so easy! Finally it was nice enough to take everyones rugs off and let them have a scratch and a roll, they really went to town lol.

With Giant today I focused mainly on lateral work and establishing a few steps of proper travers. So we warmed up just in walk going through our shoulder in exercises, and getting him to really flex and chew a bit softer within them. He finds the angle easy now, its the flexion thats the hard part and when he does flex and soften nicely he crosses over much better.

I started with left travers, the way that was going to be harder as I know I will work harder and longer on the first way. I started him the same as last time, in right shoulder in (so that his quaters would be left) and then straightening him out and finally asking for slight flexion right, this gave him the basic idea.

Once he had that I went straight into travers from a corner (by not quite finishing the corner he s already in a travers position). Keeping him really slow so that he could sort himself out step by step he got the idea of it and by then end we were able to get a few really nice crossing over steps on both reins. He was quite funny, I could see him really thinking and concentrating on where he had to put his feet, he was trying really hard.

With Harry I wanted to work on improving the quality of the shoulder in. Like Giant he is ok with the angle, but he really does find stepping across hard, he is quite stiff behind. So I broke it down again and got him walking really slowly so that he could take it one step at a time. This is the part thats good for him, getting him to step quietly away from the leg without going faster. Especially on the right rein he just wants to move off faster and turn in the direct of the bend. Keeping it slow and using a combination of neck reins and leg he got it much better.

We did a bit of his canter as well and for the first time he got it right everytime. First time he did it great without thinking, after that he knew what was coming and was thinking about it so it took him longer, but he got it. Everytime we came back to trot I just give him time to relax and stretch before I ask him for canter again so that he doesn't get all flustered.

Finally a half decent day today! Still cold, but atleast it wasn't the hurricane we had yesterday... The electric fence came down (lucky it wasn't turned on) and Giant was stuck in a corner, "trapped" by a tape lying on the ground, was actually quite amusing, look as if there was a force field around him from a distance lol.

Took Harry for a hack up Harakeke Rd where I took Giant the other day, he was good with the thing on the side of the road, looked, but didn't do anything. We trotted along all the verges thenwent up one of the new drive ways (before the road that goes up the hill) at the top the fence had come down so I stepped him over the wire (which he wasn't too keen on) and we went through the trees, was really nice under there, then came out in one of the dairy farm paddocks, went for a tour around the hills, then back home via the road.

Giant went for a hack down Puruaha Rd (leads to the new beach development). Nothing overly exciting happened really lol, he got a bit of a fright when about 20 ducks flew out of one of the ponds, but appart from that he was really good. We trotted down the walking track and went for a bit of an explore around a couple of the first properties.

Another freezing day, so just jumped on Giant and got him moving and warmed up, lots of forward work, but he was really good in the cold today, nice and relaxed. Once we were both reasonably warm I wanted to work on some new lateral movements, so in walk we started on our shoulder in square, he does this really nicely now, both ways, although it can be slightly more difficult to the left cos thats the way hes stiffer flexing to. Then rather than just doing a fairly rounded corner in shoulder in I asked him for a 1/4 shoulder in priouette, straight away he did it really well, I just had to get him to step around a bit slower, he did some nice 1/2 SI pirouettes too.

Doing pirouettes (I'm sure you're picturing Giant in a tutu...) lead well into learning travers (in the piroette he had to move in the direction of the bend), I started this a few weeks ago but he didn't really get it so I left it for a while. Today we got the start of it, he understood what I wanted, I just put him in shoulder in on a straight line and then changed the flexion so that he was moving into the bend rather than away from it. This was more difficult to the left but he still got it.

Changed Harry's bit today, thought he might like the weird leather bit I got from HOY and never used... and he did seem to really like it, he was calmer (not so worried about his mouth) and steadier in his carriage. I think I've written about the scarring in his mouth, I wouldn't be suprised if he has bone spurs along the bars of his mouth, in which case the soft leather would be much more comfortable tha the metal. He was a star, we just went through suppling exercises in walk - shoulder in on a circle, then on a square. For him I straighten him out before the turn as he still isn't so good from a neck rein. Worked on a little bit of slow trot shoulder in and then up into canter. Usually to make it easier for him I canter on the good lead then switch and ride just to the right. Today I kept changing direction so that he had to think about what I was asking for, he was good, just set him up and gave him time to think about it, still got it wrong a few times, but when he got it right the trans was much more flowing.

Another excitingly windy and freezing cold day! I'd better face it, winter is here :? :(.

Took Giant for a hack down Harakeke Rd (the new one to the left over the bridge) he was being really good despite the wind and we went for a trot up the road... except that around the corner there was a thing on the side of the road all taped off, lots of flapping plastic. Stop dead, snort, spin, fuss around. Lots of fun there, but I think he really did just get a fright from it, he was being a drama princess but once I got him past it he was good again. They've done a lot of development on the road and I just rode straight down the middle of it, they've also made a few drive ways up and down the hill so we went up there and then for a good long trot down the road. He was pretty good coming back past the thing on the side of the road, got on his toes a bit but didn't do anything.

Much less exciting ride on Harry (thankfully lol), I was going to take him to the beach but he seemed to want to go over the bridge so we went to the main road instead, hes so cruisey hacking out most of the time now (hes back in a halter too), we just walked and trotted to the highway and back again.

Wow, yesterday might have been a storm, but it was still pretty warm. Today its turned around and there is what a southerly! There is more snow on the mountains than I've seen, its freezing and windy, when that hits you you know that you're alive - the horses are all feeling it!

So again, I lunged Giant before getting on, he went off! Had a good buck when that wind hit him, then settled so I jumped on, just lunged him to let him get that back out, we both knew he needed it :P. Did our usual warm up of just moving forward at w/t/c encouraging him to stretch out, he is getting it now, I just have to be careful that he doesn't curl up, getting him to stretch forwards is the hard part, he wants to come back at you.

Really pleased with his canter today, he remembered what we did last time really well, slowed his canter right down on a smaller circle, he was much lighter infront, not relying on me so much and he waited for me then dropped into walk when I asked, although he did few have a few walk strides, but thats fine, canter to walk is hard and he knew what I wanted just rom doing it a couple of times last ride.

Took his canter out on lots of different shapes, large around the paddock, circles, loops and counter canter. He is feeling so much more balanced and strong, he still needs some help to keep it at times, but he is doing all that well. Just today he was a bit funny picking up the left lead canter, he got it wrong quite a few times which he doesn't normally do.

Gave Harry the same warm up as Giant, he was a little bit stiff and tense in the cold, we just took our time and he came really nice. Really nice shoulder in in walk, now working on trot shoulder in which he finds harder, so just asking for flexion with a shallow angle, keeping the trot really slow, which in itself is hard for him to keep a proper trot rhythm, but hes trying hard.

Popped into canter on the left (the good one) lead, and did a few trans up and down from it encouraging him to stretch at trot afterwards so that he relaxes, and he was much better at it, he was looking for the stretch straight away.

On the right lead now he just needs that time to sort himself out, then he gets it right, hes really tying, thinking a lot more and not getting wound up. He was good, looking for his stretch on this rein too, but still showing a bit of tension by falling onto the inside shoulder and flexingto the outside. If I just give him a walk for a mo hes much better.

What a crazy but awesome day weather wise! Gave Giant a bit of a lunge after his days off, but he was fine, those lumps are still there though, they don't seem to worry himbut I don't really know what there are, have just washed all the saddle cloths incase its that. After lunging we went to the beach. It was one of those really dark stormy days, pouring out over the ocean, island gone. Tide was out though so we went for a trot and canter down the beach, hes being really good, hasn't done any of his turning stuff. Turned round and trotted him through the water on the way back, then we got a bit of a move on as the storm started to roll in and cantered back, it started to spit but we got back before it really came down.

Wasn't so lucky with Harry, we headed out in a break in the weather, was going to take him around the Sims Rd loop, but we didn't quite make it that far. Trotted up Sims Rd, and hes feeling nice and sound now and not tripping so much since hes had his feet done. Infact he was feeling a bit too good, had to watch that he didn't get too fast. Before we got quite to the end of the road it started to spit again with those really big heavy drops... We turned round and trotted back, but by the time we got to the bridge the storm was on us. He wanted to go a bit sideways with his bum into the rain, but can't blame him, so did I! Very wet, but pretty cool weather.

Took Harry and Giant to the farrier today although was just about to postpone, we had the heaviest rain this morning! Would have filled the tank up in 5mins lol. But this afternoon came out nice and we had a fun ride. They ride and lead well together now, Giant just trundles along and it seems to calm Harry down. We had a bit of fun when they saw the Yaks, they weren't really scared, they were just being silly together. Then there was an Emu. Lucky they didn't see that...

Giant was a bit worried and snorty about going into the forge but Harry was fine and it was good for him to do something different.

Harry's leg was good today, still a bit of filling but he felt fine. Giant has some strange new lumps on his back, not like the ones hes had before, they're quite big, sort of at the back of where the saddle sits.

Do you want to play hoofball? Gavin is setting up a day with a demo where we can take our horses and have a go, sounds really fun, I'm going to take Mate. Theres a bit about hoofball here http://www.hobbyhorse.co.nz/

Harry - still a bit sore on his leg, pretty good in walk but short in trot. Theres some heat and swelling in it so I took him for a quiet walk to the beach and a walk in the water. His leg looked better after the walk so hopefully he'll be ok to go to the farrier tomorrow.

Giant - warmed up again with asking him to stretch out, worked on a big figure eight as the change of rein helps him soften and he was a bit better at giving on the left rein today. Then went into a slow sitting trot shoulder in on the circle, easy on the right rein, hard on the left. I had the trot really slow and then just ask for that bit softer flexion, at that point he just wants to stop lol, but when pushed through it he improved.

He does really nice walk to canter trans now, and today we started to work on canter to walk (much harder). Only did a couple on each rein, concentrating more on preparing the canter, collecting him in shoulder in on a small circle and then dropping into walk. This was a good exercise for him, cantering in shoulder in helped him because he could still take a bigger step behind and it was a little easier to keep him light infront. He had some trot strides in the trans but that was a good start.

Harry - there was a big crash when I was brushing Ra and there was Harry with his legs in the fence... He must have been leaning over the way he does and the fence broke a bit more and he fell into it, got his legs stuck and pulled his way out of it. Bought him in and hes sore on his left fore and theres a bit of a cut on it, but nothing serious. Gave him a cold hose for 10mins and I'll see how he is in the morning.

Giant - took him for a hack to the beach, I haven't ridden him there for a while, just lead him off Harry the other day. He was good, didn't try to do any of his turning. The tide was right in so I took him through the streets so we didn't have to go over the rocks and then there was a pretty good bit of beach right up next to the sand dunes. Trotted and cantered him all the way down to the blue post (they put a marker in at the Te Hapua Rd access), gave him a break walking halfway back and then trotted and cantered again. I wanted to try and get him to go fast but the beach was too cluttered, but he was nice and forward and quite happy to go.

Giant - warmed him up on lunge again, practicing lots of walk/trot trans to really get his listening and reacting quickly. Didn't bother with canter, he was being good.

Undersaddle warmed up with lots of trans just on a loose rein, walk/trot, trot/walk, walk/canter, to try and get him to reach for the rein a bit himself, he was good in the trans, but he needs direction to reach into the rein. Picked him up in trot and took him into a slow sitting trot and did shoulder in on a circle and then on the square with turns remaining in SI, just concentrating on weight and outside neck rein to direct him (weight in outside seat bone for straight SI, inside for turn), he does this nicely. Did lots of changes of direction and went rising forward trot every few square encouraging him to stretch out (hes more enclined to want to after he thinks hes worked hard).

Had a go at the same exercise in canter, that is hard for him, so just did a couple of squares each way and moved on... to something just as hard for him. Counter flexed canter with a sort of leg yeild attitude, hard but good for him, and he tried pretty hard.

Harry - hacked out to beach, was amazing down there, really calm, water like molten silver. Really nice ride, went for a good splash then a canter a bit past the pink stump. He did his usual where he starts on the left lead and then changes to the right when he gets tired. But he was nice and easy to control and we just trotted on the way back home, making sure he didn't get too fast.

Walked back through the streets, it was that nice time of night when its getting dark and all the street lights go on. He was good walking back in the semi-dark, didn't worry him at all.

Giant - hacked out to the forge on the main road, he was a really good boy. There was a rather strange lady that keeps her horses there, she was setting up electric tape on the side of the road for her horse and she started talking to me, Giant had his usual snort, but luckily I had some licorice in my pocket which I gave her to feed him so he liked her a bit better after that lol. Then there were the yaks (highland cattle, but yaks are so much better) that where hiding behind a bush to scare him, he went to spin around and go home but I caught him and he was pretty good going past them. We trotted where we could, which was a bit hard cos everyone seems to be grazing the side of the road.

Harry - hacked down new road (the one that goes through the pine forest, except that we just kept going straight), not half as exciting as Giants ride, nothing really happened at all lol, we just trotted most of the way there on the good verge, had to walk where they are doing the new road though. He is tripping a bit, hopefully getting his feet done on friday will help him. I did his back feet when we got home, the left one was quite a bit longer on the inside, so rebalancing that up may help him a bit with how he feels a bit stiff behind.

Oh and the jump stands arrived today, they look good :). No poles to put on them though...

Giant - freezing cold and windy day so I gave him a lunge first to make sure he was well warmed up. Just aswell too, he seemed fine for a while, started on the right rein and he w/t/c really nicely, over on the left rein though I asked him into canter and he went into a bucking fit... took a few minutes to get him to settle down properly, but then he was good.

Today focused mainly on getting him to stretch forward down and out. So in walk (where fdo is easy) I started him off using flexions to each side to get him to soften and chew and then offering the rein so that he "chews the rein forwards". Then we went on to do the same in trot, just doing lots of big circles and serpentines encouraging him to go fdo. Little by little we get there.

He finds it harder to soften properly flexing to the left. To the right he chews quite nicely, left he still wants to tilt his head a bit and do this big grinding on the bit so I was trying to ride him through that a bit. We also did the same in canter, again, to the right he does well and was having a little go at stretching out, to the right he finds it more difficult and wanted to turn on a small circle rather than flex properly, but getting him to soften a couple of times helped him when we came back to a trot, he stretched out a bit more than before.

Harry - We worked on the samething as with Giant, he gets it quite well when he is relaxed, and when he isn't its a good way to help him relax. We did some canter on the left lead (the good one) where I lengthened his frame in trot a bit, asked him to canter and then tried to maintain that frame in canter. This is difficult for him, in canter he just wants to lean and get fast, but he improved. After the trans back to canter I got him to stretch out even more to get him to relax.

On the right rein he worries about the lead and gets himself all flustered, so everytime he got like this I got him to stretch out a bit and waited for him to settle before we tried canter again. Usually now he just needs time to get himself organised and thinking about what hes doing, like a right handed person writing with their left hand it seems to take a lot of concentration for him to get it. We ended with a couple of nice trans where he came back to a trot and allowed me to flex him better and just settled.

Yikes, has it been that long already? Its been chucking it down the last couple of days so I gave them their days off. The place is under water, haven't seen it so wet before! Today was beautiful though and they were feeling it, or Giant was anyway. It was still too wet to do anything here, so I took them out hacking again.

Harry and Giant - took them both out togther again so I could burn off some of Giants silliness before I rode him lol. We were going to go to the beach but the tide was right in so we went down Sims Rd instead. Once we got to the wide verge we trotted al the way to the end and back. Pretty uneventful really, Harry wanted to get a bit fast but I just stopped him a few times and got him to settle in walk then we trotted off again. Giant seems to quite enjoy going out with Harry like this.

Giant - hacked Giant out down the new developments at the beach (go left out of driveway then right down the road with all the toi toi). He is nice after going out with Harry, he was being much better today, there was only one time where I have to go between two places that have dogs that come running down at you from both sides where he got a bit worried, but can't blame him for that. We trotted down the path next to the road and went exploring some of the development sites. Good ride, helped to have a nice sunny day for a change :).

Mail: 2 from IRD for Mobius films, 1 from Telecom and 1 from Genesis energy.
Problem - Doesn't seem to be any gas in kitchen...
Put a latch on front door.

Harry and Giant - next week I will take both of them up to the fordge to have their feet done so today we had a practice riding Harry and leading Giant. Harry was really good, he didn't worry at all, infact he was probably better that usual. Giant didn't understand at first, he kept dragging and getting stuck behind Harry, but once he understood where he should be he wass good.

We went to the beach, on the grass just before the beach there was a guy cutting grass, who was apparently very frightening (to Giant). We went for a trot down the beach which took a bit of sorting out but we got there. On the way back Giant was much better passing the grass guy.

Giant - fed and put Harry out when we got back and then took Giant on his own hack, we went back to the beach to go and see his grass man but he was gone, we went through the creek and up the path between the houses and beach, trotting all the way once we got off the stones. Then came back down Sims Rd. Appart from a bit of a look at the bridge (hes been a bit funny about it since there was someone camping under it one time) he was really good after his lead out with Harry.

Harry - warmed him up with suppling exercises, shoulder in on straight lines, he still finds it hard to really flex and step across, he always wants to just step forwards out of it. Then shoulder in on a square, except that I straightened him before the the turn so that he didn't step ot of it. Got him turning away from a neck rein better.

Getting him to settle and stretch out in trot, he gets quite tight and I just want him to lengthen his neck a little and relax his stride, then practicing keeping the correct bend and turning from the neck rein.

Worked on getting nicer transitions to and from canter now, he got it first time, then when we came back to trot he started his head up pacing/half cantering on the wrong lead that he gets into when he panics. So I spent sometime getting him back to a half decent trot before each transition. When hes nice and calm I can set him up right then touch him with the whip behind my leg on the inside and he usualy gets it right. Staying off his back in canter at the mo to make it easier for him but also starting to shape his canter a bit more.

Giant - took him out on the same hack as last time, except the other way around, we started through the gate ust over the road here. Horrible cold windy rainy weather, so he was a bit on his toes and jumpy, gave him a quite lunge in walk and trot before we started out to makesure he wansn't going to buck me off lol. But no big dramas.

Had a bit of a snort at the cows and then did a few laps of trot and canter around one of the flatter paddocks, getting him to stretch out his stride, although had to be a bit careful as it was quite slippery. Big tractor was parked in one of the paddocks, that was fun, he kept snorting and wanting to spin away when we got up close, but again, nothing too major, he was just putting on a show. Walked back down the road nicely and was good when a bus passed in the same place as the tractor the other day.

Harry - stumbling and tripping quite a lot today, I think all the canter work has been quite hard on him, but now that we have got through that psycological barrier it should be much less hard work (for us both). So we went for a nice long but cruisey hack to the main road. Had a bit of a trot, really just letting him stretch out.

Giant - redeemed himself somewhat. Warmed him up on the lunge just to make sure after yesterday, but he was really good. He goes great on the lunge now, I don't have to nag him all the time and he canters easily (although I still wouldn't do it when its slippery).

Started under saddle with shoulder in on a square in walk (like on PK DVD), he did this beautifully to the right, more difficult to the left (this is the way that he wants to fall out through the shoulder all the time, so making him turn in shoulder in is really good for him. We did the same in counter shoulder in as well, even when he was in counter shoulder in (SI to the right) he found it more difficult to turn right.

Straight onto canter, we went back and practiced riding on in forward canter and lengthening out the srtide and then collecting him back again. He is now a lot better at this, he finds it much easier than he used to showing that he is stronger behind and more able to sit and step under himself. We did a sort of stretched out figure eight so it was straight in the middle and did canter trot canter changes again. He got it really well, we trotted as we came onto the straight did about 5 strides change flexion and then on into canter again as we turned, got it right everytime.

Finished off with asking him to stretch out in trot, again, all I can to is suggest what I want and encourage him in the right direction.

Giant - Idiot. Took him for a hack out to the beach, headed down the road and the was good, then a big tractor down the road, I turned him round and we were in next to that house with the flash garden so he had lots of space. He was fine while it past and then as soon as it was right past us he freaked out and went into one of his bucking fits. All good until he headed for the tarmac and I decided to abort mission. Better to land on my feet. Don't worry I was wearing my helmet :).

Got off the road after that, the gate next to the bridge was open so we went across the dairy farm paddocks. He was on best behavior, certainly wasn't getting away with anything... did safety stops for any little thing he even looked at. Interestingly hes much better at bending around than he used to be which is good.

Harry - he got it :). We just did 10mins in the paddock to reinforce what we did yesterday, he picked the lead up 3 times in a row, didn't get it wrong (through it is difficult for him), so we finished up and I took him to the beach. He was great hacking out, think he enjoyed the change of scene. Walked out there, went for a trot to the pink stump, a splash in the sea and then walked back through the streets.

Giant - warmed up on big circles encourging him to stretch fdo in trot, he understands the attitude of what I'm asking him, but hasn't yet actually done it, although a few times hes tried. This can take a while to do properly, its easy to manipulate them to putting their head down, not so easy to get them to willingly stretch forwards and they have to physically ready for it so they don't just fall on their shoulders and drop in the withers. He'll get there, I think it will be his favourite thing lol.

Then we worked on getting his downwards trans from canter to trot better, slowing the canter, waiting and then rising into trot, so that I could introduce canter lead changes through trot. Firstly we just went on a circle and did canter trot canter trans, then used a figure of eight to get him to pick up the other lead. We started by doing about 10 strides and got it down to 5, he was good, he only got it wrong once.

Eventually he will do only 3 trot strides on a straight line. And then through walk...

Harry - Only working on that canter now, after a quick warm up we started. He got the lead 3rd or 4th time and I thought we had finally got there. Apparently not. After another 30 or so he didn't get it again. So I made it a bit more clear, everytime he struck off wrong I halted him and backed up, then waited in halt for a second for him to settle, and started again.

It took a bit, but finally the penny seemed to drop. He got the right lead again, and then again a few minutes later and then to end with he finally got it 3 times in a row. Sometimes he pops onto it easily, I think this is when he does it by accident so it sort of doesn't help in training him to do it. Usually its very difficult and takes half a circle of coaxing before he can pick it up, but when he does get it the canters fine. I think its all in his head, perhaps he has had an injury at some point (hes uneven behind) which prevented him from doing it and that has stuck even though he can do it now. It would have been way too difficult for them to fix in the riding school.