September 2025 Issue

EAST COAST EQUESTRIAN September 2025 9 Eight time Olympian J. Michael Plumb shares step-by-step exercises to build straightness, strength, and agility through the counter canter. J. Michael Plumb has been named to a record eight U.S. Olympic teams, a feat no other athlete can claim. He was named to every Olympic team from 1960 through 1984 (although the US boycott of the 1980 Games denied him the chance to compete). Originally from Syosset, New York, Plumb captained the US Silver Medal Olympic squads in 1964, 1968 and 1972 and rode on the 1976 and 1984 Gold Medal teams. Counting his 1976 Individual Silver, Plumb has won six Olympic Three-Day medals and has been named USCTA Rider of the Year four times. Mike is emblematic of three generations of horsemen: His father, Charles Plumb, was a prominent steeplechase rider, his son Charlie has been a successful three-day ride, and all three generations won the USET Gladstone Trophy during the Fall Three-Day Championship. Question: What can your horse have in com- mon with Renaissance master Leonardo da Vinci, baseball slugger Mickey Mantle, and 20th U.S. President James Garfield? Answer: Ambidexterity. Da Vinci drew with one hand while writing with the other; Mantle could switch hit home runs; and Garfield simultaneously wrote in Latin and Greek. Were they born that way? Probably not, but they did choose to practice and develop the ability to balance their talents equally between their right and left side. You can do the same with your horse through counter canter exercises. The counter canter is more than a judge’s trick question in an equita- tion class. It’s a method of keeping your horse honest and fresh to your aids. When schooled properly, it will help keep your horse straight between your legs and reins, heighten your control, im- prove their balance and surefootedness, correct any tendencies to swap out or cross-canter, and protect them from fatigue. Where To Start Like you, your horse is probably stronger on one side of their body than the other, so when you introduce the counter canter, start with their most comfortable lead. If you’re uncertain which is their better side, observe your horse on the lunge line and interpret their body lan- guage on the ground. Where do they bend and flex? Do they swap leads or stay true on all “four corners,” re- maining balanced and main- taining a regular cadence? Identify their canter’s strengths and weaknesses before they are compensat- ing for the weight of a rider, because you can’t improve their way of going until you know what you’ve got to work with naturally. Counter But Not Contradictory Remember, the counter canter is nothing more than riding the opposite lead. There are no unusu- al cues or special adjustments to be overly con- cerned with – the goal is to encourage balance and straightness in your horse at a familiar gait, using the same cures you have always used. There’s nothing intimidating about it, but a quick refresher course for striking off at the canter (using the right lead) can’t hurt: Prepare the horse with a half halt, which should bring both hind legs closer to their center of gravity. Collecting the horse like this enables them to “jump’ into the canter when striking off. ( The three-beat footfall for a right lead canter be- gins with the left hind leg, then the right hind/left fore as a diagonal pair and lastly, the right fore). At the same time, flex your horse slightly to the right. Apply your right leg close to the girth, so their right hind leg reaches forward. Your right rein, taking and giving a little, pro- duces flexion in the poll. Let the left rein control the degree of flexion and limit the forward stride of the left foreleg. Your left leg, further behind the girth, controls the horse’s quarters and prevents the left hind leg from stepping sideways. Shift your weight predominantly to the right seat bone. At the moment of strike off, ease off the right rein to let the horse’s stride flow. Your for- ward-driving seat and leg aids should keep the canter fluid. Let your upper body follow the movement while your seat remains soft and in the saddle. Feeling more confident now? Okay then, let’s start. Step One: Serpentine Find a large (bigger than a dressage-size arena) oval ring where you’ll have a generous amount of room to work on bending and flexion. Riding ser- pentines, while maintaining one lead throughout, is an excellent introduction to the counter canter. Your objective is to keep your horse going for- ward, and carrying through with the momentum of the canter without switching leads. Among the rewards to perfecting the counter canter is that you have a great follow up exercise for working on flying changes of lead, because this exercise does help keep them straight and not “falling out” at the shoulder or from behind (see more on this in next month’s, Flying Changes). The very nature of the serpentine -- as a series of connected half-circles -- makes it uniquely quali- fied for subtly introducing a horse to counter cantering without contradicting what they already know to be the “correct” lead on the rail. Horses are eater to please and they like consistency, so a circular ring avoids creat- ing a potentially confusing situation for a horse that may have been previously reprimanded on the rail for picking up the “wrong” can- ter. Ironically, horses notori- ous for sticking their necks out and “planting their fac- es” may actually excel at ini- tially picking up and holding a counter canter. You want a horse that almost “in the bridle” when you ask them to go, yet with a degree of finesse. Or, if they feel as if they’re going to “ricochet” from behind, keep going straight and forward until you have them in hand again. Sloppy, ineffectual flexion is worse than none at all. When introducing counter canter work, be wary of going too fast. Each horse has their own ideal pace where they carry themselves comfort- ably, but excessive speed and an irregular rhythm are always counter productive. That’s why it’s important to start off in a ring that’s larger than dressage specifications: Give your horse room to let their shoulders and haunches work freely while they find their balance. Strive to attain – and maintain – a comfortable pace without sacrificing impulsion. The ideal sen- sation is almost like feeling “towed around.” Key- word “almost” because if you’re feeling more akin (Continued on page 45) Big open rein courtesy of LA Berry TRAINING WITH Mike Plumb on the Counter Canter As told to L.A. Berry