We worked on walk-trot and trot-walk transitions tracking left, and Finn picked up the canter right away. He kept the canter for two laps, and then we practiced trot-canter and canter-trot transitions for a minute or so. Then we switched sides. Same deal with walk-trot transitions, and then I asked for the canter. He quickened his pace at the trot, took a few canter strides and broke back into the trot. Not exactly what I wanted, but at least he didn't pitch a fit.
The next time I asked, I positioned myself slightly behind his shoulder and drove him forward as I asked for the canter. To my surprise, he picked up a nice canter and kept it for an entire lap around the round pen.
I praised him and asked him to come back to the trot. I asked once more in the same way, and whaddaya know? I let him walk, made a big fuss over him, and we headed back to the barn.
Who would have thought - doing what you're supposed to do actually works ;-)
On another note, how the heck do you spell the word "longe?" I've seen both "longe" and "lunge." I think"longe" looks more sophisticated, so that's what I'm sticking with until otherwise corrected ;-)
images: http://lorienstable.com/articles/handling/300-lunging/
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