Thank you for your question. As I live in Germany in the moment, presenting your horse there is tough. There is a lot of competition and there is a specific culture for the mare performance test.
That one is designed for breeders who want to show that their future breeding mares are rideable. Most of them are presented by professionals specialized in that. The mares have to do the jump chute getting ridden in all three gaits and ridden by another rider. You get scores for this which are valid for the whole life of the mare. This is important for mares which will never get ridden again because they get foals, but usually scores from shows are more valuable.
I decided against it, because I don’t plan to breed her but plan to show her. I would have loved her to get a premium but after my experience with her at the young horse seminar I had some doubts. She is not the type which is in fashion in the moment and I admit I did not push her progress enough. She still had some connection issues and she was struggling a little in the canter.
She is a nice horse and didn’t deserve to get potentially average scores because she was not ready for this…
Luckily both issues are resolved now (I switched her from a single jointed bit to a double jointed bit which made huge difference).
These videos represent our current situation. We introduced leg yield in walk and trot and we are working on transitions …
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a couple of things things I would like to mention….
I am an old amateur who is not dominant so not sure whether you can see it, but my mare basically gives me everything she wants to give me. … I believe ( might be wrong) that we have a good bond and the nice thing is that she never ever bucks or is scared of anything… that why everybody tells me I lucked out by getting the nicest horse ever….
When I ask her to do something I never force her but try to give light aids and praise her if she does anything. It doesn’t have to be perfect…. And then we do repetitions until she understands. And then we finish for the day……
I know that she is not really working over her back all the time but it is amazing to watch how very slowly she improves… My idea is that it’s going to feel natural for her without too much pressure…
she is rather dominant (not sure whether I made her dominant) but she loves to work with me.
Of course she gets lots of praise as well which she loves .
my trainer refuses to ride her ( in fact she tried several times but whatever she did the mare was resisting). I do feel bad about it because my ride style is at fault:pensive:
. My horses do extremly well with weak riders because they love to protect them but they have huge problems with riders with a dominant style….
I wanted my trainer to show her because I am really scared how the judges will mark us down (for not being through enough and not working over her back enough ) because I love my horse but because of my way of riding I have to do it myself…
And I apologize for my way of riding… it’s not for everybody and my trainer had to get adjusted to it. But now she is at least telling me that she loves it because both of us look happy 
. And what is encouraging me is that after we took it very slow in the beginning now we progress with rather big steps…. Whatever we introduce new my mare catches fast and is very solid with it after a few tries…
My kind of horse! And she is dominant because she is a red-headed mare - LOL.
It looks like she is coming around nicely. Many folks will say your reins are too long and so the contact with her mouth is inconsistent - and I would tend to agree with that - but heck, if you are happy with her and she is happy in her work, than that is the most important thing, esp, since you are in no rush to push her into MPT or YH classes or go quickly up the levels, etc.
My impression is that @Manni01 has fairly short arms. Her elbows barely reach her waist, so it would be difficult to ride with a shorter rein without throwing her upper arms out and eliminating the bend in her elbows, or tipping her body forward.
This is a fun read. So, did you end up staying at the jumper barn? (I like all the pictures on the arena walls.) She looks lovely to me, and you’re very harmonious with her, so you don’t have to apologize for your riding style. 
This is how it should be - happy, content and willing horse and rider.
That makes a lot of sense. Since such a lovely mare it would be disappointing for her to get an average score. You two are a really nice pair.
Well of course you are right and that’s exactly the reason why the judges will crucify me . In fact you just encouraged me not to enter the show in 2 weeks…
Because I am doing this for so long, I developed my own perspective of the development of young horses…. It’s not popular and nobody will agree with me but……
Because young horses are so cute and are trying so hard I hate to take away their youthful expression.
At this judges seminar last year, there was a 4 year old who looked like he was 20 . He was 100 % correct with perfect connection and totally supple but he looked dead . And yes the future judges wondered why he had hardly any experession, but they preferred him to my mare because they thought she was ridden badly .
And I do fight with my trainer about it because she also wants this steady connection from my mare (her own young horses have this steady connection but they look years older and more like 2nd level horses then like a young horse…. ) Her idea is that I do a steady connection and keep her youthful expression…. But I don’t think that I am good enough to get this done
When I started her I felt that she was extremly sensitive in her mouth. Maybe because she was still changing teeth I don’t know. but she was really throwing her head if I got any contact. So at one point I decided to give up all contact and ride her with pretty loosereins. I was actually surprised how much she liked it. She never tried to take off and we were both happy with it. Because I wasn’t able to find a trainer we did this for a long time.
My current trainer changed the bit and got into a horrible fight with the mare because she demanded connection….
Since then I tried to get more connection and IMO it is improving but I don’t want to force it….
So this is a very specific problem and probably my personal problem. But because I am under no pressure I guess I will take the risk and continue with my philosophy….the pics shows my trainer fighting with her…… I love my trainer but I also love my horse……
)
I would never leave this barn . It’s my personal heaven. It’s the nicest facility I ever boarded at with the friendliest people!!!
It’s more or less a private barn and the pictures are the owners…. That’s about the only disadvantage because I admit I would prefer mirrors to the pictures…
And I believe that although I am the only dressage rider and 20 years older than everybody else, they respect me because I started my own young horse with not too much help….
After me another girl in the barn got a three year old probably because she thought it is easy because I was able to do it…. And she got so scared of the whole process that the guy who helped me had to take over and ride the horse full time. I think she is still not even able to lunge her young horse because it’s leaving the ring when she tries….
Thank for your kind words !!!
But unfortunately that’s not really a valid excuse for my problem…
IMO, this is too much for a young horse. She is behind the vertical and is probably not strong enough to really carry herself correctly yet. Take your time, let her build strength and confidence and you will have a partner for a long time.
That’s a hard dynamic. I think your instinct to protect her is well rooted. From the saddle it can be hard to feel when they are behind but it sounds like you could see how much they were at odds. Slow progression is better than regression. I admire that you’re sticking to your guns. It can be hard to balance a relationship with a trainer and advocating for letting your horse slowly develop.
I love her!!! And I love how she goes with you.
Thanks for posting your journey!
Just tell your trainer that you are following the training scale. Connection comes after you have mastered rhythm and relaxation and you are working on the first two. How can she argue?
Your videos/pictures look so much happier and more harmonious than the one with your trainer.
Love this thread.
I’ve just backed my 3 year old and I take a much different approach to another person at the barn that frequently starts youngsters. As with anything horse related, you’re always going to have different opinions. You just have to do what is best for your horse. Since we’re not pros, we have the luxury of more time and less pressure, typically. I also have no desire to own multiple horses (hardly have the desire for this one at times 
) so I don’t want to mess it up, and want my horse to last.
For the first 10 rides, I just rode in a sidepull, so no bit, and I only touched his face for basic steering and stopping. I really focus on forward.
He has been long lined bitless and with a bit prior to being ridden, so he already had some idea about stopping and steering. He also knows lunging quite well, and I found that the verbal cues carried over nicely from the ground to riding.
I don’t ask him for many posture related things while ridden yet, but he carries himself well given his age, training, and strength level. Between rides I do ground work with poles, stretches, bending, flexing, and other movement to encourage him to use his body correctly. Also helps me see where he’s weak, strong, tight, loose, etc.
It can be mentally challenging at times with young horses, and it isn’t for everybody. It’s especially tricky when you have differences between you and your trainer.
Today was fun !!! For the first time I jumped her over some crosses .
Of course she was prepared with all this free jumping but I haven’t jumped in decades ….
But we have this amazing jumping arena and all these jumps so I took advantage of it!!
I signed up for a clinic in August with a guy who always does one day of dressage training and one with little (as little as you want) jumps. And I didn’t want to take my mare to that clinic without ever jumping her before…
She was really amazing we improved with every jump 
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And of course I got the comment that she is simply the most willing horse ever….
BTW this is the guy who helped me today . He is 72. And this is our jumping arena …but our jumps were lower
Yes!!! That’s my opinion as well!!! Thank you!!
