It’s hard to believe I had time to train two horses this week. It’s a big enough project working with one greenie … on top of a full-time job, family, and other obligations. But somehow I managed to pull it off.

I taught two completely different horses the canter depart this week ….

… Ace’s left side …

…and Ace’s right side.

Anybody who has ridden horses for a while knows that it’s completely different riding a horse in different directions. Just because he learns to do a nice canter depart to the left doesn’t mean he’s also learned to do it to the right in the process. Just because I can get his hindquarters to move one way, doesn’t mean they’ll move the other.

Horses have a favored side they like to do things with, just like people have a stronger hand.

Ace is very clearly left-hoofed.

He likes to go that way better. He’s happier. He’s more balanced. His gaits are smoother. He’s less resistant. He bends.

Ace on a right rein is stiff and less responsive. He doesn’t carry himself as well.

So, just because after three rides we had a very nice canter depart to the left from a feather light outside leg cue, I wasn’t surprised it didn’t automatically work when we tried it to the right for the first time.

It took four different tries before we were able to pick up a right lead canter. And boy was it ugly. Ace was all over the place and couldn’t maintain the gait for more than a few strides. It was like Ace’s right side had never talked to his left side to tell him what the canter cue meant. I had to start from scratch.

So, I did my best to maintain my position and balance, ask for it gently at first, then with more pressure, and finally with the crop until we did an ugly shuffle from trot to canter. And then I praised him like crazy. It wasn’t pretty, but he gave it to me several times so I quit.

Today we warmed up and did lots of walk trot transitions, predominantly on the right side. We cantered to the left once just to get him thinking about moving it up a gear his easy direction.

I walked Ace, and asked him to trot at the same spot in the arena where I intended to ask for the canter. We trotted a little, came back to walk, and again asked for the up transition at the canter spot. After three times, we kept trotting. When I hit the magic spot halfway through the turn at the far end of the arena, I sat down, put my outside leg back, brushed his side, drove him forward with my seat …

And voila! It was a beautiful canter depart to the right.

We did it two more times, cantering several times around the arena each direction, and called it a day.

So, Ace’s left side and Ace’s right side officially know how to walk, trot, and canter both directions.

(Have I mentioned yet that Ace has a gorgeous canter? Easily his best gait. )