Trainer communication & terrible 5's (coming 6)? Anyone else?

[raisethebar]

Coming here to vent but also ask for help. Sorry it’s so long but hopefully I’ll get some good suggestions for two different & related situations…

Horse Issue:
I am going through a bit of a rough time currently with my 5 year old (turning 6 in May). I swear he is like riding two completely different horses. He can go weeks with being perfect and really absorbing what he’s learning and then bam! He’s terrible, spooky when he never really is (normally just spooky at typical young horse stuff), running through my hands, ground manners are terrible, et. It’s bad to the extreme for a horse that is typically easy and very rideable.

When he’s good - he’s great. When he’s bad - he’s really bad. If you look back on my other threads, I got in a habit of “when it doubt, wait it out” (which use to play constantly in my head around a course) and have been realizing that he’s perfectly capable of carrying me around a course by now, it’s time to stop playing mother hen and let him do his job. Got it.

I am wondering if other people are getting similar behavior from their 5-6 year olds and how people communicate with their trainers while working through them.

I find it really difficult to connect with my trainer in how I am feeling when he is in one of these “moods” - I think this is where my frustration is stemming from. He looks COMPLETELY different than how I am feeling. He has a beautiful way of going and he looks so soft and rideable but in actuality, I am doing so much on his back to make him this way.

Communication Issue:
I am frustrated because I feel like my trainer always tells me about what I am doing wrong - not how I can correct him or myself. It’s never like, “more outside leg & rein & push him forward through the turn” as this seems to be my biggest problem. Its always, “let go”.

Maybe she’s trying to put it simply but the issue is not that I’m holding him, it’s the fact that he’s not actually straight from my outside aids (thank you COTH forums for helping me through that one). I’m a fully capable rider - very educated in horsemanship through my years of riding (and COTH forum). I feel like I’m missing a key piece of communication with her. I tell her how I feel: It’s always just to “let go”. I have tried to speak with her about all the things I have been feeling and it sort of feels like it goes in one year and out the other, probably out of frustration with me. She is very patient but I feel like this issue is just a tricky one to make better. I’m asking for help in our lessons and I speak with her after… I WANT to get better. I WANT to learn more.

On top of all this, she actually asked me if I was afraid of him… what!?! I’ve had this horse since he was 6 months old. Broke him myself. I have done everything myself with him - took him around his first course at a horse show, rode against professionals at an A show. He can be a handful but I have NEVER been scared of HIM — I HAVE been scared of the schooling ring. I HAVE been scared of other horses running at me not knowing if they are going inside or outside or the fact people were jumping the opposite diagonal line as me. NEVER HIM!

I was shocked and hurt to hear her say that. For whatever reason, she keeps telling me that I’ll be nervous at our first show of the season coming up, almost as if she wants me to to be? It’s very frustrating to have someone tell you how you are feeling & how do I respectfully and politely tell her that she has me all wrong? I am excited - not nervous. I have never had a pro pilot him around before and we have done really well even in great company.

I know she is probably frustrated with me.
I know this is a mix of me being frustrated with the horse but also a frustration on communication level with my trainer.

Anyone else have been through something like this? How did you fix/mend the situation.
I love riding here and it is a reputable show barn in my area. They have taken people all the way to the medal maclays so PLEASE don’t be nasty in towards her. She doesn’t ride anymore so I can’t just have her hop on and have her feel what I am feeling.
The other alternative would be having the pro ride him but she only comes 1x a week and it’s more or less a quick jumping session - not getting into that whole ordeal - I don’t think he will show his “other side” in this type of a situation.

Thanks in advanced. Vent over!

[GoodTimes]

If you can’t explain to her what you’re feeling then maybe you should have a pro that she respects get on him a few times.
Like you say maybe you should give her the benefit of the doubt. You’re paying her to coach so maybe she knows something that you don’t. ie maybe he’s not straight because you aren’t giving so he has nowhere to go, and when you’re on course she doesn’t have time to explain this so she just says “Let go of his face!”.
Do you ever ask questions? Maybe next time you think she’s lacking in communication you can ask her what she meant.

Also, anytime I notice someone who is hanging on the horses face (not saying you’re this extreme) I usually assume that they’re a little nervous. They think the horse is going to forward even if they aren’t. Perhaps this is where your coach is coming from.

[raisethebar]

@GoodTimes Thanks for your input Goodtimes! - the problem with the pro that comes in that she normally is on the horse for a total of 10 mins(no joke, if even that) and only comes 1x per week. I just find that it is offly expensive for a time frame that the horse isn’t even truly warmed. up. My trainer always says that the pro can get out of them in 10 what we can in an hour - totally agree but 10 mins of walking, trotting a lap, cantering a lap, and jumping 5 jumps will not produce the kind of behavior that I am referring to in order to have her help me with him. The feel the pro has is great; that is what happens when you ride 20 horses a day as your profession but I have a little bit of a problem with the program and paying the money for something I know he will be perfect with - the problem comes when you sit him down and make him do anything he isn’t wanting to do that day and its not an every day type of behavior. I truly don’t feel like I need to use the pro consistently because he can go a long time without having these “tantrums” - I just would love to know how to ride him through them!

When we are doing exercises and she just tells me to relax my arm, I am literally flapping my arm and she still tells me to relax my arm. I tend to ride with longer reins too but tells me to shorten them up and then tells me to relax them all at the same time as I am flapping like a chicken around the ring… When I see a deeper distance, I do have to sit back, close my leg, and fit the deep one in. But then she tells me I’m pulling on him - but honestly I just don’t want to die! Haha. I just feel like everything she is telling me to do is exactly opposite on how I feel and what she is trying to get out of us. I am by no means pulling on him all the way around the ring. Not even up to the jump - just when I need to fit in a deep distance.

In reference to asking questions - I do ask them often, if not too often. I feel like she is frustrated with me because I’m not getting any real answers even after my lessons when I try to talk to her further. I understand she is busy and has more clients then just me… I am often wondering if I should take a private on a weekend we don’t have a horse show to really be able to take our time together. I feel like its a vicious frustrating cycle and I really don’t know how to put the pieces together to make things make sense.

Sorry again for the book

[Mia_Sorella]

Horse Issue:
Not sure I understand what the problem is here? Young horses are going to have better and worse days. As long as the better days outnumber the worse days and you’re finishing up on a positive note, I think what you’re experiencing sounds normal. You’re still in the end stages of the “terrible 5’s”; maybe that’s what your trainer is trying to communicate–don’t make an issue out of normal young horse behaviour.

Trainer Issue:
This can be tough if your learning style and her teaching style just don’t mesh. Based on your descriptions, to me, those could be completely normal, non-conflicting instructions. Have you thought about asking her to video you and point out on the video what she is seeing? Maybe you’re not feeling what she is seeing?

Also, keep in mind, I do think some trainers teach “prophylactically” in that they will keep repeating an instruction more so as a reminder than an instruction to do that particular thing at that particular time. For example, my coach might keep repeating “don’t hold on the inside, don’t hold on the inside…” and I’m looking down thinking “there’s a loop in my inside rein, what is she talking about???”. I’ve realized it’s intended to be a reminder so I don’t change what I’m doing and lose what we’ve got going in that moment.

Not sure if that helps? Good luck!

[raisethebar]

Thank you @Mia Sorella, that does help! Definitely a different way of thinking about what she is saying vs what I am doing. I don’t think I have ever made the connection that it could have a reminder - not a point that I am actually doing it at that exact time.

The horse issue is certainly typical young horse behavior and he does have way more good days than bad. I am currently stuck on some bad days and I am finding it is more of an issue with connecting with my trainer when he is in one of his moods - sorry if I wasn’t very clear. I do not have any problem with him normally but have been wondering if other people are getting similar behavior from their 5-6 year olds and how people communicate with their trainers while working through them (I’ll update my original post to be more clear).

[Eleanor]

If you are having more bad then good days right now it maybe your horse feeling spring in the air right now. My guy is 11 this year and there are still days that he feels like the young horse that doesn’t want to work.

Remember that riding is not an easy sport, we don’t just sit there and the horse does all the work. Some days we work harder in the saddle then others.

P.S. your trainer might thing you are afraid of him because you are telling her how much he is fighting you and you are not showing it in the saddle, but voicing it to her.

[raisethebar]

@Eleanor - thank you for your words of encouragement! I think you might have a point about how I am telling her how I feel but not showing it and how she might associate the two. I guess I might just have to make sure I am more clearly and effectively explaining how I am feeling .

Riding isn’t easy, you are right! But it is worth it

[Pocket_Pony]

It might be helpful to you to have someone video tape one of your lessons and stand near trainer so they catch her commentary while you are riding. Are you in a group lesson? Is it possible that she is telling someone else to let go of their horse’s face and you are thinking she’s talking to you?

How many lessons do you take vs. how many solo rides to you have in a week? Do you have this problem only in lessons or when you’re on your own?

Sometimes what we feel doesn’t match up with what is actually happening. I know when I’ve had shows videotaped, when I feel like I’m flying around a course, it usually looks different.

You might try to focus on your breathing. Even if you have loose reins you can be stiff and emit a nervous energy. If you are able to exhale and relax, even with long or short reins you can change the feel your body is giving to your horse. I teach all my horses a sort of half-halt with my breath and it is very helpful for both of us.

[btswass]

I got my horse just as he was turning 3. And 5 was definitely his worst year! He was an absolute maniac full on charging out of his stall every single morning. Not a fun year. You just sort of have to push through it. He just turned 7 yesterday and I think he’s finally got his head on straight…if we can get through spring that is.

In terms of your trainer it might be beneficial to ride with another trainer if possible? I alternate every other week which trainer I ride with. One is a hunter/jumper trainer and another one is a dressage trainer. I love my dressage lessons and the way she explains things both what I should be doing and how he should be responding. Its so rewarding to get that awesome trot and canter that she manages to pull out of us (that I can never quite repeat at home…) and really benefits us on the weeks we jump.

In general I think its so beneficial to try to ride with as many trainers as possible. They all bring a little bit of a different perspective to the table and really helps create a well rounded rider and horse.

As a side note I definitely got the let go of his face thing a lot with one of my trainers. We need to let a young horse figure it out on his own. We can’t constantly be holding him up every step of the way or you will create a crutch that will be much harder to undo. Its going to be ugly when you let him figure it out. Thats ok! My favorite saying when dealing with young horses - embrace the suck!

[raisethebar]

@Pocket Pony I ride in a group lesson with 3 older adults of all different levels. I take 1 lesson per week right now and jump outside of my lesson 1x and then most days I do a ton of pole work, counter canter work, transition work, etc. I try to switch it up a lot and will adjust my plan on how he is being that day. I find that there is no correlation of lessons vs non lessons. It’s very inconsistent. I enjoy my time out of my lessons and find it very positive and constructive.

I agree - it looks completely different watching than what is actually happening when in the saddle. I think I will have a friend come to my next lesson and record it. I often do have someone to record but it hasn’t been consistent on lesson days. I still feel like I can’t dismiss how it feels though.
Thank you for your input!

[raisethebar]

@btswass

In general I think its so beneficial to try to ride with as many trainers as possible. They all bring a little bit of a different perspective to the table and really helps create a well rounded rider and horse.

As a side note I definitely got the let go of his face thing a lot with one of my trainers. We need to let a young horse figure it out on his own. We can’t constantly be holding him up every step of the way or you will create a crutch that will be much harder to undo. Its going to be ugly when you let him figure it out. Thats ok! My favorite saying when dealing with young horses - embrace the suck!

@btswass – I am so happy to hear it is not just me. I agree 100% about riding with different people. Some people will harp on one specific thing and another trainer will tell you in a different way. I feel like this is where I am at with my current trainer (ie, relaxing my arm vs focusing on my outside aids and going forward to the jump). Two different things but for my specific circumstance, a different point of view might be really good.

Hopefully his 6 and 7 year old years will be better. Now that I’m staying out of his way, As you mentioned, it is going to be ugly when I let him figure it out… Boy has it been ugly some days but other day’s I see his true brilliance shining through.

Thanks again for your words of encouragement! Time to embrace the suck --> I love that saying!

[Scribbler]

If you are riding in a group lesson only, then take a few private lessons where the trainer can focus on you.

Before the lesson, tell your trainer that you would like to hear a correction only when you are making the mistake, not just as a reminder, because that is confusing.

See if your coach will ride the horse for a lesson, and tell you what she thinks. If she is afraid to ride him, you need another coach.

The last thing is, everything you report her saying adds up to the strong possiblity that you are in fact hanging on the horse’s face and looking tense and nervous. Can you get a video of your private lesson, with your coach’s voice on the audio, to review at home? I can see the “are you afraid?” question stemming from you being unable or unwilling to let go as much as trainer wants.

Can you in fact ride this horse on his good days on a very loose contact? Or have you got into a cycle of tighter and tighter contact?

Without a video of you riding, only your subjective feeling that coach is being unfair, none of us here can tell if the problem is you or is your coach.

[BabyGotJump]

My horse is coming nine and it’s only been in the past year that he’s become more of a “solid citizen” kind of guy. Five to six was definitely the time where the difference between good days and “bad” days had the widest margin.

I’ve had my horse since he was born and I also started him myself. Especially during his 5-6th years, there was always a certain amount of variance between what my trainer could see and what was really going on.

For me, trust and solid communication with my trainer was really important at that time, because I needed to be able to try to do what he was telling me to as much as possible, but I also needed to be able to speak up and say “you know what, our brain just isn’t there right now, can we try something else?”

You need this kind of relationship with any horse, but you really, really need it with a young horse.

Another thing is that I had my trainer ride my horse from time to time, and I watched. This often meant losing a lesson because my and trainers lesson time was limited, but it really helped trainer and I stay understand my horse and each other.

If you’re only having group lessons right now, try to arrange a private lesson and have some specific things you’d like to go over.

Like others have said, we wouldn’t be able to tell you where the problem is, but trying something different- a private lesson, having your trainer ride, or riding with a different trainer, might help you figure out where the issue really lies.

[CHT]

I agree with the video while you lesson making sure you can hear your coach in the video. What you feel may not be accurate. Our brains lie to us all the time: a crooked person tends to think they are straight because their body had adapted to being crooked for example. It also doesn’t matter if you think you are pulling…it matters if your horse thinks you are pulling. If your horse’s head is up and back hollow for example, regardless of the weight in the reins, the coach will want you to give more reins.

Overall, you just sound frustrated. A clinic or change of scene might help.

[OverandOnward]

I CAN RELATE !!! One of the biggest frustrations with a horse that can be inconsistent - especially once you’ve figured out a few things to ride through it - is the public eye that is on you !!! They do not know the history.

It’s especially maddening when a trainer has knee-jerk reactions and won’t listen. When they act as if all of their students are filled with the same excuses, when that is not what is going on at all, and isn’t the lesson we were working on last week (or month or last clinic etc.)

You’ve figured out some things for handling the horse when it’s off it’s usual form. Here’s a tip for handling the trainer in that circumstance:

Stop covering up for your horse. Stop making it better. Let the horse show his true colors, on those days. Let the trainer see it. Don’t worry about him embarrassing you. A smart horse person will see right away that he is embarrassing himself.

I had had so much show-riding-to-win background & coaching of how to cover up little things, the trainer never got to see what the horse was actually doing, on those special days.

When I quit covering for the horse and just gave him the usual ride that the trainer was coaching, there were remarks (cries of outrage, actually) “You should be xyz! You have to zyx! Oh, actually you are doing that. I can see he understood your aids. He should be responding.”

Where you go from that point is uncharted territory, but at least you got the horse part of it sorted out. The trainer will soon be in the frustration boat with you. For whatever that is worth. :winkgrin:

At that point, one kind of snarky litmus test for the trainer is if they will get on the horse for a few minutes or not. My experience - only two trainers ever did. The rest would not, because they knew the horse would give them the same behavior and that’s not what they wanted people to see.

I became very, very selective about trainers that could actually help me when the horse was really off his normal behavior. You may need to do the same, to save your sanity and have productive coaching with this horse. You’ve got to have someone who is tuned in to the horse himself, not just the rider.

Don’t second-guess your good instincts when they give you good results. Don’t let anyone else force you to do it. Be the steadfast one who knows what is going on with their horse and how to effectively manage it. If that puts you a bit on the outs with a trainer, use a different trainer, at least part of the time.

Since he is so young, hopefully there is a great chance that he will level out over time, with your good riding. If you’ve figured out how to make it better by pretending it isn’t happening, that may be the best help he will ever have to eventually minimizing that behavior as he matures mentally.

[PonyPenny]

@Eleanor

If you are having more bad then good days right now it maybe your horse feeling spring in the air right now. My guy is 11 this year and there are still days that he feels like the young horse that doesn’t want to work.

Remember that riding is not an easy sport, we don’t just sit there and the horse does all the work. Some days we work harder in the saddle then others.

P.S. your trainer might thing you are afraid of him because you are telling her how much he is fighting you and you are not showing it in the saddle, but voicing it to her.

Heck my horse has those days and he is 18. Usually it means he is fresh. A quick jaunt in the round pen where he can leap and buck solves the problem. Sometimes you have to not personalize it and over think it.

[raisethebar]

Wow I don’t even know where to start - this has been an awesome, eye-opening thread and you have all given some great feedback!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Let me try to work through this all:

@Scribbler - I have asked others who know how I ride and have seen me develop this horse from the ground up (also keen horsemen) the question if I ride tense/grab his face/etc. They all have answered no. I have ridden around with floppy reins and arms flapping and I still have been given the same advice of “let go” - as another poster mentioned, I guess it is meant to be more of a reminder to continue with a soft arm, not that I am actually am pulling back constantly. I personally find it would just be more helpful to tell me 4 strides before the jump or focus on my outside aids and my arms will follow. I also wouldn’t use the word “hang” at all. I just take back when I see a deep distance but the entire way around the ring, I am giving and literally “pumping” all the way up to the jump with a loose and following arm in lessons to exaggerate it. He also is still green and his steering isn’t always of pin point precision. I use an opening rein, counter bend, etc. to help encourage him to be straight… I have thought that maybe that is what she can see from the ground is my efforts to steer him. Thoughts on that? Maybe I should ask her what she is seeing and ask if me steering him to the center is what she is referring to?

I understand what I am saying might be looked at her being “unfair” but I do not think that in terms of her criticism in terms of my riding. We ride to get better - and I am not afraid to take constructive criticism - especially if it is constructive! Trust me, if I wasn’t afraid of him teaching him to jog in hand, when he learned to run backward out of the ring while learning to lunge, or even when he was learning to cantered and would canter right out of the ring, I am certainly not afraid of him now. In terms of me taking him to make room for an appropriate distance - I do not think that warrants me as being afraid.

My thoughts are this:
If it was ALWAYS me, he would go in this manner I am referring to all the time. I am not saying that I do not play a part in his “tantrums” on these days, but if I was always the problem, I feel like he would be giving me the same result all the time.

I just am looking for ways to communicate how I feel on days where he isn’t his typical self. I find those days her and I are missing communication factors.

@BabyGotJump - I’m so glad that someone else has been through a similar situation and started their horse from the bottom up. The trust is there with the trainer - as I mentioned before, the communication issue is something I think we are lacking (hence the reason of this thread :lol:) Unfortunately I do not think she will be willing to ride him & it is not that she is afraid of him (age reason) but it is worth a try to ask her in a private lesson. I do need to learn to speak up when something isn’t working tho. I have spoken with her about some things after a lesson but need to learn to do so during & I do think a private lesson will certainly help.

@CHT - We have horse show coming up soon! The barn shows all year long but I refuse to spend money to be miserable & freeze. I think a change of scene will be super helpful, especially for my horse. I think having something that naturally backs him off will help with some of the other issues we were having with him.

@OverandOnward - This is so helpful and I feel like is exactly how I am feeling. I think the main idea of everything I’ve learned from COTH threads and reading things like this is just let him make mistakes and stop covering them up. Eventually he will learn to take care of himself and he won’t be having to rely on me. (Literally summarizing multiple people’s posts)

Thank you all again. I am really hoping to get a video of our next lesson and maybe try to post it on here or send it privately. If anyone else has any more ideas, I am opening to listening to them all. I really appreciate this person’s opinion, but as said before, it is frustrating when it doesn’t seem to be lining up with how I feel and what is going on in the saddle.

[FindersKeepers]

I love the idea of videoing your lesson. I would also not work so hard to make your boy behave. Let her see what he is doing. That way, she can offer suggestions on changing his behavior. It sounds as if you are working really hard to bottle his behavior, but it is not altering his behavior. So let her see it in, in all of it’s terrible 5 glory, so that she can offer new ideas in addressing the issue.

I’d also schedule a private lesson anytime he starts on a naughty streak. Then explain to her what you are feeling. “He feels like he is hanging on me” or “he feels like he isn’t traveling straight and ignoring my aids” and then work it out. In a group setting, her eyes are not on you the whole time, and its easy to miss the struggles you’re having. I personally hate teaching groups with green horses because I feel like I can’t give my clients what they need. (Not that your horse is super green, but he’s young and prone to brain farts).

And at the end of the day, if this trainer is not giving you what you need or teaching you in a way that you understand, it’s time to work with someone else. Maybe not permanently, but haul out for a day and take a lesson with someone else and get some fresh eyes.

[raisethebar]

@FindersKeepers - Thank you!!! I think this definitely needs to be the plan-of-action going forward. I couldn’t agree more - “it sounds like you are working really hard to bottle his behavior, but not altering it” - yes yes yes! I think this is where she is thinking that I am holding him too much, etc. but asking if I was afraid went just a little bit too far for me.

I do know that fighting against him never works but sometimes it can certainly be a sense of self-preservation, last ditch effort. You hit the nail on the head and that is where my frustration is coming from and why I am on here asking how to better connect with her when these issues are occurring.

Brain farts = YES! Thankfully they are lessen as the years roll by but my god his 4-5 year old years have been frustrating! I still am very much enjoying the journey and would do it all over again in a heartbeat!

I highly respect my trainer and her thoughts but I think a private lesson might better benefit us going forward. It would allow her and I to connect better and really take her time with me.

Fresh eyes is a great idea as well and other people mentioned it - I have decided through all of this that our pro will be schooling him the morning of and show him in the warm up class and I will show him in the division. I despise the schooling ring and cannot wait for the day I don’t feel the need to school in the morning/go to bigger shows where we can’t. She has ridden him periodically so I feel like I can use her as a way to gauge how he is/where he is at in his training as well.

Thanks again!

[Mac123]

I think video-taping your lesson and watching it with honest eyes (the latter is what makes the former useful) will be really helpful.

If your pro keeps saying let go…then LET GO!! I’ve taught a number of people who just can’t stop micromanaging the front end of the horse. And I tend to BE one of those people. Even if I’m not afraid, or if you’re not afraid, the lack of ability to let go and the tendency to micromanage and hold the horse’s hand reads as tentativeness or fear. I would assume the same watching you ride as your trainer asked. And if I’m honest, if I watch the videos of me riding my mare in my holding phase, it looks tentative, even though I wasn’t afraid. Far from confident and effective. A lot of problems stem from over-managing the front end, and while it feels safer or more consistent or more rideable, it really doesn’t do any good at all.

I remember one time my trainer friend was helping me with my very difficult mare who does everything possible to make you feel like holding on to her face is the best option. She kept telling me to let go, and I kept thinking (and sometimes saying!) “yeah but you don’t understand how it feels” etc. Finally, I was like fine, eff this, you want me to let go, I’ll let go. I shoved my hands towards the mare’s ears, put a huge gap in the reins, and quit. holding. onto. her. face.

Was it perfect right away? No, but all the sudden I realized all the things I was doing with my hand!! The hand should be the last thing we use! You can make a horse look very “trained” by overusing the hand, but in reality, the horse is unschooled to the leg and seat and lateral aids and to improve, you must take the hand away and deal with the real holes in the training.

All the sudden, in that one ride, it became clear how much holding my mare up was holding us back. She had to learn to respond correctly to the aids. She had to learn to carry herself. And in me being a bit of a b*tch and overdoing the let go, I had to start correcting the real issues, and slowly the mare started really, really improving.

Now, I’ve taught this to 100 students and seen it in 100 more, but it still makes it hard. to. do.

So yeah, maybe the trainer could come up with other ways of saying it. But maybe she keeps saying it because it’s what you need to do.

Try it. Overdo it. Be a sassypants and get the heck off the mare’s face.

And when you say “See?? I can’t keep her straight now” or “See? now she runs off!” Just stop it, stop the excuses and take a step back, realize that you need to address those issues correctly, not by just holding onto her the whole time. If she falls apart, that isn’t reason to keep holding onto her. It means you have holes you need to go back and fix. Any horse should be able to walk, trot, canter, and jump small jumps on soft or loose contact. If you can’t, that’s a failure of a basic test of rideability. (and I say that as someone with a mare with which that is really, really hard. Not all horses come by it naturally).

Our entire goal in riding is self carriage. If you can’t let go, you’re doing something wrong. You have to make the horse more rideable and more responsive to correct aids.

And trust me, the wheels might come off for a while. But that’s better than just manufacturing a ride and ending up with a horse that really isn’t very rideable.

Feel free to send me video or PM me if you want further thoughts…I’d love to help!