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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]She’s 12, and is actually riding on both horses - at both barns. She vastly prefers the responsive horse but it may be good for her and help her riding to also ride on the lazy horse. But she hates it. She’s currently doing cross jumps, small circles in canter, etc. I do t know about levels, if there’s a link where I could look this up, I’d be very grateful. She’s been riding for 2 years about 2x per week.[/quote]

9:07 again. Good on your daughter for sticking with it. And good for her instructor for not giving her an easy way out. It sounds like your daughter is in a good place, long-term.

Three thoughts: 
1. Being more conscious of her body position and her seat is going to help. It sounds like she has the basics down, but keeping her shoulders stacked over her hips, and making sure she’s using her seat to encourage and allow the energy to flow forward will help horse and rider get in better sync.

2. Develop the habit of ask-tell-demand. (Rather like how we talk to our children.) A soft aid first, followed immediately by a stronger one if there’s no response. And if she’s still ignored, then she needs to get after that lazy beast — hard!

3. Related to #2, and with her instructor’s permission, she should carry a crop. Again, always ask softly first to give the horse a chance to offer the correct answer. But now the demand stage comes with spank! Then once the horse is moving forward as asked, come back and try again, starting softly once more. (So it goes “Trot please. Hey, I said trot! TROT! NOW!!! Ok, walk. Now trot again, please…”) I guarantee that by the second or third cycle, that pony will be moving off her leg with newfound motivation and purpose.

Your daughter is discovering the hard part about horses. They are not machines; it’s more like trying to do pairs figure skating with a partner who doesn’t speak your language, has a different reward and priority system, and isn’t too sure about the intentions of that terrifying plastic bag in the corner of the rink. But the magic is that you’re constantly improving and adding to your bag of tricks. And every ride teaches you something you can apply to the next one. She will ultimately be a better rider for working through her challenges with this horse. If she needs proof, have her ask her instructor to jump around on him for 5 minutes while she watches. It will likely be eye-opening. [/quote]

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