Rushing River Stable said:
We're actually working toward her being a lesson horse. She's been off the track for about seven years, I think. She does have a very nice jump at the trot, and occasionally canters after it, though she then gets confused and just paces, then trots again.
Hm.... I'm kind of able to relate. I have an Arabian who has been off the track for six years. He has some very bad habits about taking off and recently, he's been showing some anxiety with whips and certain cues. I've decided what is best for him is literally restarting him from the ground up. It's very tedious, but today, I hopped on him for some light riding and reinforcing our groundwork. He was an absolute dream! No speeding up, just a calm collected walk/trot, response to cues were phenomenal.
If she's having this much issue, I would really recommend restarting her with groundwork. Not just from an issue fixing POV, but getting her trained how you want and teaching the cues you want her to listen to.
You might even try long lunge sessions. Just get her doing transitions from walk to trot, getting her nice on those stops and paying attention to what you want her doing. If you have to work her hard, so-be-it. She might just need a firm workout to get her to listen up. ^^
Sunny
