I haven’t read every reply but this is a topic I am very familiar with and interested in. I have a mare who was this way and is now a lovely horse with a good work ethic. Can get into details over PM if anyone is interested. The bottom line though, which I believe someone touched on in previous posts, is that I believe it depends on the horse’s nature (OP, you may not know the horse’s nature right now, so to answer your question, yes, do the trial, because then you will know). In most cases they act like this because of inconsistent expectations in the first months/year under saddle, leading them to “test” and see what they can get away with. If the horse has a sweet, good nature, and you find a job it likes, the “testing” and nonsense will go away with time (may always have a tendency to revert back if it gets scared or frustrated, may not be something you’d put a little kid on, but likely can be a very good horse). There are certainly horses out there who are giving a true “FU” and you won’t install a work ethic on those. But I think most horses want to please us once they figure out what it is we want.
