Yeah the humping up isn’t what I’d peg a sensitive horse with. Unless somewhere they’ve learned that doing that = rider takes the leg off.
While forward with a light seat is a nice way to ride, he could just be training you to ride around on eggshells.
You don’t have to be a jerk about it but you are within your rights to purposely put leg on and tell him, kindly but persistently, “It makes no difference to me if you throw a tantrum but I’m ready for you to let me ride now.”
And then you can tease him about how abused he is while he gets over himself.
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There’s a TB gelding at our barn who is super sensitive. Not that he over-reacts to leg, but if you’re a novice rider and squeeze or kick him, he goes slower, not faster. I was helping his new lease rider by telling her this from the start. She didn’t believe me. She said she could get any horse forward and that he needed to respect her leg, which she used very strongly. In about 3 months he started crow-hopping, swishing his tail and eventually rearing a couple feet up.
When she got scared enough, she took a couple lessons with me and if she did exactly what I said, he was awesome. Then a week or two later I’d see her back in the same trouble. Although I explained it as “you are yelling at him with your aids - he just needs a whisper - you are overwhelming him”, she quit the lease saying he was dangerous.
He is now a lesson horse for little kids (who don’t have a strong leg) and I ride him now and then. He is fun to ride because he doesn’t need any leg, just a disciplined seat. Easy to ride and easy to jump - you just have to “get” him.
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My heart mare was very sensitive to seat, hand, and leg aids. She was impossible for my trainer to sell (in fact, she is still for sale and I would purchase her if she is still available after I move and settle into a new barn). I leased her for a while and found that using a rubber snaffle with a running martingale was the best set up for us. I am 175cm (5’9) and an athletic 140 (at the time was a CrossFit junkie). She responded well to a stronger handed half halt around courses with the very mild bit.
She eventually after a few months of getting used to me and my light seat / hand, settled and was still sensitive (think canter and almost no perceivable aid used), but could tolerate a supportive leg (WITHOUT spurs, hehe) to fences. I ended up doing some equitation tests on her and some low level dressage as well as her giving me the bravery to jump .90cm+. She was my first solid fence jump in 15 years!
This mare is in her early teens and has been this way her entire life with professionals, amazingly talented working students, and is COMPLETELY intolerant of anyone without tremendous body control. My trainer knew her since she was 7 or so. All of her sales-try outs have ended before [read: purposefully] cantering. Several ended before the mare was asked out of walk.
She’s tricky to sell as for the right rider, she is a 1.05 / 1.10 with rails packer, and needs to step down from the 1.10+ where more of her ‘type of rider exist’. But for anyone who isn’t her type – you’re done.
Crap, now I want to see if her price went down… I’m supposed to be car shopping not horse shopping.
My advice considering our animals display similar but not exactly the same behavior is time, work on building your fine body control, and really pay attention to how the animal relaxes when your body does a certain thing. The humping up is likely a clue that something is wrong vs just the way the animal is. My mare had chiro, massage, and full vet workups - physically, she was in great shape. The behavior she displayed under saddle carried to her in turn-out: either dozing in the sun or a prancy tail swishing performer doing bucking lead changes and sizing up fences to leap. She had an incredible work ethic and always was a ‘thinker and trier’. I also don’t want to stereotype, but mare was TB/Dutch cross from some hot lines (Storm Cat), I’d be somewhat surprised if this was a QH’s natural personality. I suspect pain for your guy.
Anything 1st level dressage will help identify ouchy parts if the vet can’t find something.
YMMV, but occasionally, mare and I would walk calmly for 5-15 mins, then hand gallop (with extension and collection, as well as counter bend and bend) in half seat, before trotting and settling into our lesson. We had a fan club (students lined up OUTSIDE the ring to watch).
Doesn’t seem like this would fix in your routine would address your current dilemma as he doesn’t seem “hot and sensitive” but “hurt and sensitive”
