Ooh! Interesting! Lol I’m not sure it’s doing anything anyway… gonna try removing it! Thank you for watching the video and taking a look!
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She just sounds green as grass. I don’t think she’s putting the puzzle pieces together either. In saddleseat if the head is where you want it you leave it alone. She probably feels trapped by contact and if you fall forward chances are, your pulling back which makes her feel trapped. Especially if you fall forward when she moves forward. Saddlebreds are smart.
Have some one put you on a lunge line and carry a whip plus person lunging has a whip to back up your aids.
Make it super clear, leg, whip behind the leg, person on ground backs it up. Don’t try for any contact, just get the go button installed. Use a neck strap so she doesn’t get caught in the mouth.
Your trainer needs to shorten her stirrups, quit pounding on her back, and have more energy to push for forward.
Just focus on short sessions as she’s still thinner than I like.
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We had a short try in the Equiband tonight and got some great stretching in. And she dozed off in the crossties (video proof. She dozed, stumbles, steps on my toe).
I also wanted to send through photos of her from today. We’re a little over 3 weeks together.
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I wouldn’t be riding her right now. She’s still pretty thin, and not much meat is covering her bones in all the places the saddle can hurt her. I’d just be doing groundwork without the saddle, maybe a surcingle - if that.
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I LOVE this photo
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Tighten that rope halter - it should be at least close to being at her throatlatch!
I think I’d put a little more weight on her before getting into the riding, too. Get voice commands REALLY good on the ground, especially the upwards transitions. That will help with the balkiness under saddle if cluck means GO NOW.
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Hey all!
I appreciate your riding concerns. I talked with my vet and we are allowed to walk her and do short bursts of trot, on occasion. The vet rated her topline at a C. I’m also adding in a more high protein and fat feed into her mix.
My surcingle didn’t fit her last night, so I’ll have to get a new one. Also chatting with a saddle fitter to try to get something scheduled.
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Ope thanks! I’ll make that adjustment
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No problem! It’s easy to put them on a little loose. 
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For sure. And I’m new to rope halters.
She’s pretty good with voice commands. Fortunately while I’m out of town she will mostly be doing groundwork, standing at the block, and doing training at the scary wash rack. So plenty to do while we get more weight on her. But I do feel like her booty is looking less triangular , lol
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It is! She’s looking much better, but still a ways to go and plenty to work on in the meantime.
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I’m out of town, but a friend just sent me this. She’s looking good! Can’t wait to see her tomorrow.
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Oh also happy to report that while I’ve been out of town I popped by a Dover store and got the adjustable padding for my bates saddle, because the fitter will come out on the 2nd to make my adjustable bates work for now. Then I’ll have her back in a few months once honey has weight and muscle to see about a new saddle.
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Oh my saddlebred used to do exactly the same thing. If you tipped forward he would throw his head in the air and “drop out” behind which felt very much like a rear. It was always weird because you swore you were trotting just a second ago.
She is not really going forward, and that’s what is causing the issue. I would not use a lot of contact with her yet. I would also be very careful with a whip. Saddlebreds are funny creatures and what may be just a little incentive to one, may royally freak out another. I use a very funny voice to tell one of mine to “let’s go!” and I ask for more trot while leaving his face alone until I’ve established a much more forward trot than you have here. It will feel weird. But you need it, I promise.
The mounting block thing - I spent many hours teaching mine, who could not stand anywhere much less at the mounting block, to stand first, then to pick me up at the mounting block. I did not use the “hold them there” method. What I did was taught him to go around me and stop when I said woah. Stop dead. No movement. I also taught him to yield all body parts with a tap of the whip.
Then I walked up to the mounting block, led him into position as I was walking up to the block, worked on moving his hips over so he was close (with a whip). Once he was in position, massive praise and a treat, and I did NOT get on, I walked away. Two lessons of that and now when I walk near the mounting block, he walks right up with me, positions himself, waits for me to awkwardly mount because I am a broken human being, and enjoys a cookie while waiting for me to tell him to go.
These horses are super smart, and I find that if you respect that about them, they do so well. I rarely give any physical corrections, mostly it is noises (I make a negative eh eh sound if they are doing something I don’t want). They do pick up their handlers’ emotions terribly - I don’t work my horses if I’m in a bad mental spot - it never goes well with the saddlebreds. They will instantly become anxious and angsty.
She is looking better and better!
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You do realize we will be expecting a full report with pictures. Honey seems peeved in this wash rack candid shot. Cant blame her. Her left side is her best side and she was caught by surprise coming out of the shower by some random paparazzi. 
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Just a minor suggestion…as if you don’t have enough lol. I have a sensitive TB. Just as a horse can get ring sour they can also get bored and struggle with repetitive work. I think you should throw in some sessions with zero work at the mounting block. It’s good to establish a routine of work but don’t always make it the same routine. Sometimes it’s a ride, sometimes it’s ring work, sometimes work with the mounting block, sometimes you do all the grooming before a session, sometimes do it after. If there is a lot going on and she’s not paying attention then shift your expectations and maybe just do a handwalk around outside just asking for focus on you and then that’s the end of the session. The more you work with her and the more she realizes that she can trust you to listen the better she’ll become. I also find that not drilling the same thing actually helps them retain the lesson mentally better.
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Thank you! I’ll have to give this a try. We learned my last horse didn’t want to be held and would rather just line up to me, so maybe that will be the case with Honey, too!
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Lol I love sending updates here. The support and advice here is the best.
She may be peeved bc we didn’t get her good side. Or it could be because my friend foiled her plan to be a true buckskin 
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I’ve been trying to keep this in mind, thank you.
I temporarily stopped the training rides. Apparently while I was out of town she tried to ride and spent an hour at the block, escalating things. I’d rather just work on this myself, peppered in with some other things. I don’t want it to be boring to honey.
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Good call. I hate to be a weird negative Nancy but I have not had luck having non-saddlebred people work my saddlebreds in any way shape or form. You cannot bully these horses into submission and that’s what a lot of people want to do. They were bred to be expressive and impressive. There’s a fine line between getting them to obey and taking the spark right out of them and/or scaring the pants off of them. I find that most trainers don’t respect or understand them, and attempts to use force will not end well.
I’m not saying you can’t be firm when necessary, but they really want to please and will volunteer if you give them a chance to learn. If they are “disobeying”, it really is usually a misunderstanding.
I’m excited to see you two grow together!
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