Nice horse and nice rider, very soft with exceptional hands. In my opinion horses like this deserve training but need a rider who is as capable as this one. He’s clearly not into killing his rider but rather the type who challenges his rider and then once won over is a talented and great ride.
The difficulty often comes when riders think they are as soft, intuitive and bold as they need to be to ride a horse like this but, in fact, aren’t. Once the rider becomes frightened the horse seems to get labeled dangerous. I’ve known two dangerous horses in forty years and both went after their riders, one by throwing himself down and trying to roll on his fallen rider and the other by flipping over and then rolling on his rider. There is a big difference between a silly two year old falling on his rider accidently while playing around and a horse going after his rider… But like I said, I’ve only seen two out of many many horses. Most are like this horse and just need a good intuitive rider.
I have a mare who behaved like this through every aspect of her training. My first response was to take her back to the basics, beginning with basic handling and leading. However, as I moved forward we hit the same blocks until I had to just keep going with the next stage if I wanted to ever ride her. I’d still be leading her had I not ridden her through that type of behavior. It’s just what it took with her. Eventually she decided she liked the game.
I think every horse deserves a chance, but I’ve learned there are a few out there who demand that you completely rethink and recreate your training strategies. And also, you have to be very honest with yourself about what you can ride, for your own sake and the horse’s.
