At first, A-kun was indeed a sluggish horse.
But the rider responded promptly.
Because of this, A-kun's gears shifted. From a spirited walk, with a single breathy "Huu," and a signal to the horse, he began a brisk trot.
It seemed he could ride. (Storing strength in the abdomen, closing the anus, dropping that power into the armor.)
It turned into quite a lively trot, so when tried as a proper reaction, the horse began to mark a precise rhythm, just like a metronome.
Once that happened, it was a done deal; the rider just had to not interfere with the horse's movements and stay astride.
Without tensing the shoulders, without twisting the upper body needlessly, and without tensing the legs.
If the horse's speed slowed, the rider would offer a bit more lead with the inside rein, while keeping the outside rein taut.
The unity of horse and rider was,
"Like looking at a still life painting, they seemed to be stopped in time, and it was beautiful," I was praised.
With such movement from the horse, cantering was exceedingly simple. Just a slight touch to the outside leg would initiate a canter,
and from the first step, the horse would proceed with an energetic canter.
Such an experience was also a first for me. My cantering always started with two or three steps of uncertain trot,
a sort of undefined movement of the horse,
It was unclear, but somehow it became a canter.
But today's canter initiation by A-kun was different. From the first step, it was an energetic canter.
The previous me might have found this scary.
But I felt that I could somehow keep up with that run, which might be a significant growth.
This lesson made it clear that incrementally increasing one’s experience is essential to becoming a skilled horse rider.