Hi Kathy,

From the sound of it you are doing a most outstanding job. Keep it up!

> moving and would prefer to just stay going fast. He almost never takes off on
> his own -- it's that once you ask for speed, it's hard to come back down, and
> he can--especially if he's feeling a little lazy--accelerate into something
> that's easier for him (fast canter).

This is a balance issue. If it were me, I wouldn't ask for more steps than
you can come back from. So, I'd do gazillions of transitions. Yes, click
for up transitions (lively) and click for down transitions (smooth). Then
so up/down/up (transitions) and then c/t. IOW start to move the 'bar'. I'd
move it along fairly quickly each ride. You might have to start with the
bar low the next day again but that's OK, repeat the process. Part of this
is a strength issue and part of it is an expectations issue. It can and
will work out with persistence. :-)

Having said all of this, there will come a time when in the process of these
up and down transitions that you will ask for a halt and it will be great.
I would go ahead and click it. Remember that halt (when done correctly) is
a 'movement'. Correctly means that you could reinback as easily as step off
into trot. Which reminds me that I would also c/t for reinback a lot too.

Check out my website and the story of my mare Danke. You might find it
interesting:

http://www.horsemansarts.com/2009/06/dankes-story-solving-a-perplexing-probl
em/

Best wishes,
Sharon

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Getting to Yes: Clicker Training for Improved Horsemanship
Dressage * Horsemanship * Clicker Training
Web site: http://www.horsemansarts.com
Email: sharon@...
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