In this session, Ali teaches Chantal and Mia for the first time. Chantal and Mia have previously had training with Peter Dove and Mary Wanless and they have taken part in several webinar series and demo days.

The session begins by looking at the groundwork and assessing the starting point for Chantal and Mia. Mia generally has more 'whoa' then 'go' which is unusual for a cob. In particular, Chantal works on front leg abduction as this has been a sticking point in the past.

In ridden work, Chantal already has good alignment and has been working on her 'boards'. Mia tends to have 'kinks in her hosepipe' which stops her from being straight and reaching into the reins. Ali gets Chantal to make Mia's legs a bit quicker which helps with straightness and to keep narrow to stay 'on the balance beam'. Chantal needs to be able to steer from the outside, in particular on the right rein, to stop Mia poking her nose right and falling out through the left shoulder. Ali shows Chantal 'hands up against a resistance' to help when Mia tries to go on to the forehand. Chantal thinks of 'slingshot' to connect into Mia's back legs and make her push from her hind legs in trot. 'Slingshot' also helps with the trot-walk transition. They also look at 'shaping' the upward walk-trot transition.