Infinite Patience and Tiny Steps aka Canter Puzzle

"We can train our horses to do anything if we can satisfy two stringent conditions.
First, place no time limits on when a goal will be achieved.
Second, every task must be broken down into small, achievable components - baby steps." (Zen Horse Zen Mind, by Allan J. Hamilton, MD, page 147)


Milva´s canter has changed alot over the last weeks/days. From being a cheeky lbi, snaking her neck, laying her ears back and stompeding off she now is trying her heart out for me and asking tons of questions.
From only taking a few canter strides she now can canter a whole lap on the 45´rope, remaining calm, relaxed and connected to me. How cool is that!!
She is still getting irritated when she gets thrown out of balance which usually results in putting her ears back or a little buck. I think it´s because she is such an achiever and always wants to do everything right.
Keeping the balance will get easier for her over the time when she gets more strength and muscles as well.

Another interesting thing I read in "Zen Horse Zen Mind" is following,

"Letting go of the outcome - caring too much about outcomes can cause trouble.
How important is it that you get your horse to lead off properly a second time today? The question seems silly, it´s only natural you´d want your horse to lead off more than once.
But on a deeper, symbolic level, do you really need your horse to lead off today? The more you care about the outcome, the wiser you´d be to postpone working on it.
This is the paradoxes in horse training: when you don´t care if your horse leads off is a good time to teach it. If you do care, it´s not.
Wait until you no longer have an emotional investment. Horsemanship can be maddening in this regard."
I think Pat talked about that too in one of his audios, only I didn´t get the meaning of it until now.