I love equiband - it was a great tool for my OTTB. Just remember to go easy with it - its a lot more work for the horse. I always warmed up first, and then attached the band.
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Ive seen some advice that is being given that is straight from Warwick Schiller without calling it out (ex rabbits/trigger stacking). Its great advice and I would recommend reading his new book called The Principles of Training. Its an easy read and everything he talks about is in reach and great to keep in mind when you work with any horse, especially a new one!
I got my gelding as a 3 YO and didn’t know what to expect with him being a youngster (he’s 6 now). With any horse, you will have good days and bad days. Rides that would have been PERFECT if it wasn’t for justonething. You will have a good day and your horse will be having a bad one; your horse will have a good day when your day is bad (sometimes the horsey good days turn the people bad ones around 
).
I think working with the horse you have today was also mentioned, another very valuable WS principle. Most days, I have a very loose idea of what I am going to do and sometimes we do that, and sometimes we totally change gears depending on what my horse is giving me (or not giving me) that day.
You will have people tell you this and tell you that. Trust your gut and your process but be open minded enough to ask for help if you think you need it. Don’t hold yourself to a timeline. Dont compare yourself with others. Do keep a log of things. Do ENJOY the process, the journey, and the relationship with you will have with Honey because that’s what it’s about!
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Or 5+ . It could be the adjustment isn’t comfortable? Go back to what worked and see what happens.
You need to remember also that she is now getting good food and plenty of it and that her energy level will increase. Even if she is on pasture / turnout that doesn’t mean she will exercise herself and be ready to just hop on and focus on you.
I learned something from an online trainer who’s videos I like to watch. He said ( something to the effect) that you may have training goals for the day but your horse may present you with a whole new direction and you work on what they give you.
My mindset is “ok horse, lets see what we have today” and I go from there. It may be a better day than I planned and it may be something we did weeks ago but we have a good day because we are working together.
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That was going to be what I was going to say. My gelding came to me having sat in a field for 8+ months and 200+ pounds underweight. He’s up to 5 quarts of Strategy GX/day along with lots of hay and Purina Amplify and, low and behold, he’s starting to feel a lot perkier. There’s definitely some attitude popping up. Nothing serious, but he’s not as compliant as he was when he arrived.
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Thank you. I really am enjoying this process with her
Thank you guys. Really great points, I appreciate it!
I’m happy to report her training ride went well and taught me a lot about my quirky giraffe!
I removed that shimmable pad and went back to my previous set up. She wasn’t a total rock at the block, but she did quite well with it and was calm. I’m calling it a win.
The big lesson was on how much she hates if you don’t have your butt underneath you and really use it. She doesn’t like too much hand, and hates if you fall forward at all. That’s when she tries to pull her baby rear or stopping—which I really want to eliminate for safety. Once the rider had her butt underneath her and really drove with it, Honey rode beautifully. It was cool to see and learn! Here’s a little clip, and please note, this is the riders first time, there’s a lesson outside and you can hear a tractor. Good girl, Honey! 🩵
IMG_1702
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I have not contributed to the thread about your lovely mare, but can I comment on something? Please be very careful if you are using a a small stepladder for mounting, I know of two people who were seriously hurt using small step ladders to mount. One both occasions the horse, for whatever reason, stepped to the side and got a foot through the first and second step and then freaked out. One person was on the ground when it happened and the other was mounted.
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Oh my gosh! New fear unlocked. Thanks for the tip!
The “too much hand” thing is likely from bad riding before, but the losing it over tipping forward a little makes me think discomfort. Any chance you can totally change it up and throw a western saddle on her?
Past that - if you’re sure it’s not big discomfort, I’d carry a dressage whip and get that nipped in the bud first thing. Stopping/propping/rearing is a “hell-to-the-no” from me. Everything else can get dialed in once forward is installed.
She is sensitive and wants to be handled with kid gloves. You can be respectful of that while still insisting she take a little pressure and seek the answer. You can’t ride her like she’s a barrel of TNT… she senses that, and wonders what it is you’re scared/nervous of. Be matter of fact but fair with her, and I bet things with clear up and improve more quickly.
Leg = forward, whether the rider is tipped/crooked/drunk/whatever or not. Once she’s moving off, lots of pets and praise. No babying this part.
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You actually need to put your aids on her. Put your leg on. Take a gentle feel of her mouth. If she wants to go around all Leaping Lena, you just go with her quietly and praise for the right answer. Don’t take the aids off, or she learned “when they take a feel of my mouth, I fling my head and they stop” or “when they put their leg on, I jump around and they stop.”
Babying horses like this prolongs the problem. She will always be sensitive - I find that delightful, and is my preferred ride. But a horse who is THAT picky that you can’t get your aids on is a no-go, and a horse who will rear if you lose your balance a bit is a heck no unless you’re always a perfect rider. I know I’m not!
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I agree. It’s a hell no from me too. I don’t have a western saddle. But I can see if maybe someone at the barn does that would fit her.
I haven’t done X-rays, but after her ppe, a scheduled vet, and an emergency vet appointment, we haven’t found any reason to suspect pain. Just that she has no muscle. That’s not to say it’s impossible, but she stands perfectly calm for tacking up, touching her back and withers, no signs of ulcers… etc. it seems to just be an under saddle thing.
I’m glad to know this is her quirk but I agree. You shouldn’t get a fit—especially a baby rear, if you mess up your eq in some way. I’m sadly out of town for a week but I’ll talk to the girl doing training rides and see if we add a dressage whip how it will go. I have a sense it will make honey realize we mean business.
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Be firm but fair, she will quickly realize the gig is up and then it will be so much more pleasant from here on out. I can’t wait to see the progress!
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I’m certainly not perfect either! It was nice to see the training ride. She was more aggressive than I am in asking her to go forward and it got results. Honey was praised the moment she moved forward. It showed me I can toughen up. I certainly don’t want to baby her and let this go on
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Thank you! I need to get “firm but fair” imprinted in my mind lol
I forget where I heard it, but someone said that the best thing you can give a horse is clarity. And I like to remind myself of that.
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Not quite the same situation, but I’ve had two horses who were initially trained/ridden western and both of them had a hard time at first transitioning to forward seat riding. Neither one of them were sensitive, like Honey, but their immediate response when I would lean forward in a trot was “She’s going to fall off!” and slam on the brakes. It took a while for them to realize that it was simply a different way of doing things and not a catastrophe in the making.
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That’s a very good point. Back when I was still riding colts, I never posted at the first few trot rides. Posting often scared the youngsters at that very early point in their training.
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I agree that rearing in response to a rider off balance is not OK.
I’m not sure I agree that adding a whip to the equation is the answer, and I don’t personally punish horses who stop because the rider becomes off balance. That’s a babysitting skill to be honed and shaped in an ammy horse. Sure, gently encourage them to keep going and learn to compensate for minor upper body shifts so it’s not an abrupt brake slam, but I would 100% rather a horse that thinks ‘oh she’s off balance, I better stop’ than one that thinks ‘oh, she’s off balance, she’s going to hit me, I better run off’. JMO as someone who starts a lot of youngsters. Riders often don’t realize just how much the weight of their upper body moving affects the horse.
OP, it sounds like you are doing great and going at a nice slow pace. A lot of people tend to gloss over mounting block issues so I’m really glad to see you addressing that first! I hesitate to say anything, but if this trainer is going to be doing regular training rides, perhaps a different saddle is needed? Rider is really posting hard off the cantle and the dramatic shifting of the rear of the saddle hurts my own lower back to watch. Your horse looks like she is a real trier and wants to be sensible, I think you found a good one. 
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Thank you, I think she’s a good one too! And I feel like a celebrity now that you’re here: I’ve been following Bo and using your journey as a baseline for trying to get Honey’s weight up.
I agree that I don’t want her to go the opposite direction and take off, but I think if we used the whip to help go forward and avoid the theatrics after she stopped maybe that would be okay? Because she stops, but then has a little too much opinion about restarting.
I agree about saddle fit. I totally am not into the saddle on her. Trying to figure something out there. And waiting to hear back from some fitters to see if there’s anything we can do to make my current one fit for now. In a few months after she’s filled out a bit I’ll more than likely look to buy a new saddle, but that feels premature now.
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What do you know about her background? Was she initially trained saddleseat? If so, the leaning forward could be totally foreign to her. Unfortunately I have seen horses that had bad saddleseat training lose their “forward” button. The “trainer” pushed them for the headset and “brilliance” in an overly aggressive way and the horses became nervous, stuck messes - dancing, spinning, backing or rearing. It would take time, patience, firmness, and confident forward riding to reset their brains.
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While I hear you, both parties don’t know each other well right now, and one of the two has got to take a leadership role. The horse is second guessing what’s going on, and the rider has to take the lead here and give a clear direction.
The more fine and nuanced stuff comes later.
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