I’m looking for a new lease horse and considering a mare at my barn. She’s perfect on paper—sweet on the ground, always jumps, and could take me from 2’3 to 3’ (AMAZING jump I’ve never had so much fun jumping a horse). But she’s pretty lazy on the flat, which isn’t my preference, especially since most of my rides will be hacking on the flat. I’m worried I might get bored with a kick ride. On top of that, her owner now wants to sell her, so we’re debating buying her since it’s our only option. 
Granted, my current horse is sensitive, so it might be good for me to learn to ride a lazier one. I just wish I was more decisive since this is such an expensive decision. Am I being too picky?
I think it takes a certain type of rider to ride a “Lazy” horse. I prefer to think of them as dull, and needing a rider who is willing/able to motivate them to be sharper and won’t fall into the trap of nagging them.
If you think of it from an evolutionary point of view, a lazy prey animal makes no sense, but if you think of “cold blooded” horses that evolved to escape pack hunting, their instinct is to stay just ahead of the pack but to put in minimal effort beyond that (vs hot bloods that evolved to evade from a single, fast predator, so their instinct is to bolt first, think later). So for a “cold blooded” type horse, you need to learn to use strong aids and make a big impression, and then be very quiet…and when the slow down, make a big impression again. I like this type of horse - I find them easier, because it’s like 5 seconds of “loud” riding, and then just doing pretty much nothing until you have to reset with another 5 second reminder. but it definitely isn’t for everyone!
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