Any tricks for teaching a horse to counter canter?

I agree with Sazzy, what you were being asked to do was quite advanced.

Start by cantering on the inside leg and down the long side of the school loop about 5 meters from the outside track to the inside but take the outside bent and return to the track before the corner so she is on the correct leg.

When this is established you can take the canter on the correct leg and change the rein diagonally across the arena and maintain the counter canter.

Ok, Not to be rude but I am not sure why a counter canter is such a big problem....

A horse should be trained to pick up what ever lead they are asked for. If you are riding on the rail and want a canter (not counter) how do you ask for it? Ok ,now if you turn the other direction, how do you ask for that lead?

Now every horse should have a cue for a lead..

right lead.. pick up on reins to collect horse ,Drop your outside hip slightly, your outside leg goes back and applies pressure to push the hindquarters to the inside, inside leg should just have light steady pressure at the girth to steady horse, then when horse is set up correctly, (make sure you are sitting deep and your shoulders are back not forward) kiss for the lope (or canter)

Left lead is just the opposite...

These commands should tell your horse what lead you want, whether you are going down the middle of the arena or are on the rail.

The horse should never just pick up the inside lead.. they should always pick up the lead they are being cued to take.

To help your horse be more comfortable and balanced on the counter canter ask for the inside lead then work figure 8s... one circle will be on the inside lead then the other will be on the outside lead (when you change direction in the figure 8). keep pressure on the opposite side of the lead with your leg so they dont try to flip leads when you go the other direction... this is a very good balancing exercise. Dont let them speed up while counter cantering, keep the front shoulders up and balanced.

Go to the middle of the arena and ask for the canter on the left lead... canter 4 strides, stop then immediately ask for the canter on the right lead (always in a straight line away from the rail) If the horse picks up the wrong lead, stop them immediately, back them up 4 or 5 steps then ask again...If they get it right, let them canter 4 or 5 strides stop give them a pat tell them good then start again. make sure you are clear and consistent every single time you ask for a lead/canter and soon they will figure out that when they take the lead opposite of your leg pressure they are rewarded, when the take the wrong lead they are stopped backed and asked again... this may take a few days but this is one of those things that they cant seem to get right all of the time then all of the sudden it clicks in their head what you are asking and they will get it right every time. The most important thing is for you to be very very consistent every single time you give a cue.

This is easier than you think. Good luck and remember you are the one that sets the horse up and asks for the correct lead.... The correct lead is what ever one you asked him to take, not necessarily the inside lead..

What I did when introducing a horse to counter canter a while back, was to strike off on the correct lead and then do a reverse demi vault so I was on the other direction on the same lead and then go from there. Make much of her every time she's successfully counter cantering and keep it short and sweet.

Eventually she'll be getting it better and will be building up to striking off on the other lead once she's got the idea of what to do. Chances are it's been drilled into her that she must go on the correct rein, so now she's doing something more difficult it's breaking the rules of all she's been taught - so of course she's going to be confused.