LESSON OBJECTIVE
If you compete:
Use the counter canter to open your horse’s shoulders and hips, as well as increase the “hang time” and length of his stride. Furthermore, horsemanship patterns often call for counter leads to test your skill level.
If you don’t:
Gain greater body control, improve collection, and achieve more roundness in your horse’s body for a more enjoyable ride.
You might think a counter canter is simply “loping on the wrong lead,” but that’s not correct. A horse on the incorrect lead isn’t necessarily collected, doesn’t engage his hindquarters, and pulls himself along his path of travel. A horse working on the counter lead keeps his hocks underneath himself, holds his shoulders up and square, and travels rhythmically, just as he would if he were loping…
