Do lots of ground work and play "games" with horses until it becomes fun again (PLEASE message me if you would like more info on how to do this, it is free and I am more than welcome to help =D). Once you start playing your confidence will come back. Also get with an instructor who specializes in confidence building. As an instructor who does specialize in this I take special care to go at certain paces for each student to feel safe and comfortable and engage certain exercises to build confidence.

HI! I have the same problem...what my teacher tell me to do is do a lot of twopoint....because it will help streach you heal musscles. And just concintrateing on it. I have the same problem when moving into the canter....so now before I do, I do a twopoint trot for a littebit then move into it.....hope that helps! feel free to add me!

Thanks for the idea. My instructer tells me to make a stack of books or you can use stairs or something and put your foot up against in so your heel is done and your toes are up because that helps me get a feel of it and also to stretch out those muscles. You should try it.
-Lou

i odnt know how to make you remeber. but i kbow how to make it easier on you. Stand on a staircase and make it so the ball of your foot is on the stair and your heel is coming of the stair and push your heels down. it streches the muscles and makes it kinda a habit. lol also practicing your two point will help with it. And now that i read the other respones you know about this but all well

do lots of half seat!!! i know it might seem tiring after awhile but it really will help. when i started i would put my toes on the stairs and force my heals down. of course it is a lot harder to keep your heels down if you have new boots so make sure they are worn in

think toes up because if you do heels down, your ankles will lock and they'll get hurt. just keep checking every few strides to see if they're down and it'll come to you soon.

My favorite imagery for my students is to imagine you have an anchor attached to each heel and it is constantly nagging at the heel of your foot while at the same time you have helium filled baloons attached to your toes pulling them towards the sky. I find using the imagery rather than the words is much more effective.

thats a cool name and i think its fine to chage their name it helps if theyre younger though

It is said to be bad luck but truly whatever makes you and your horse happy is what is going to work. Remember, it's your relationship and bond that is important. You speak not through words but with thoughts and actions!

Try lunging before you ride. Then she will get her sillies out then at the canter instead of during your ride.

A slow canter is actually very difficult for a young horse thats just learning to carry a rider. They simply dont have the balance yet. Lunging might be a good idea, not to tire her, but to improve her balance. As she gets better at carrying herself (and rider), it will be easier for her to slow down. If possible, do your canter work on long straight distances and not in the arena.

Lunging is good for the horse and rider. If she's green-broke and hard-mouthed, that means that she's probably pulling you and her weight forward so she doesn't have to contract her abs or use her stomach. She doesn't want to put weight in her haunches. If you back her up and ask her to jog/trot forward, then she'll have to use those muscles. She won't want to, but she'll be slower, lighter, and easier to work with. Saddleseat and western don't usually do that- at least, the people that I've seen don't, so the horses don't have that piece of the puzzle. Start with upper thighs together and think of sliding backwards on a rug to get her to move from her haunches.
Have fun!

Hi Rebekah,

I would teach your mare a one rein stop. Since every horse drives from the hind end, you want to disengage the hind end and that's what a one rein stop does. It's just like pushing in the clutch on a car - you've disengaged the engine. Pulling back on both reins will only cause your mare to brace against you and go faster plus it will cause her mouth to get harder. A horse can't brace against a one rein stop and it'll also help to soften up your horse's mouth.

You'll start teaching the one rein stop at a walk by taking one rein and pulling her head around to one side. Pull her head around far enough that her hip automatically has to move the opposite direction. In otherwords, if you pull her head to the left, her hip will move to the right. Her left hind leg will cross over in front of the right hind leg effectively disengaging her forward motion. You've basically put her in a bind. Keep her in this bind until her feet stop moving, then releaese her letting her out of the bind. Once she is doing a one rein stop well at the walk, move to the trot and follow the same steps. Then you can move to the canter. As soon as she starts to canter too fast, do your one rein stop. Eventually she'll learn that she has to travel at the speed you want, not the speed she wants.

I sell a video called "One Rein Stop" by Paul Esh. Go to my website at www.EquestrianResourceSolutions.com/products, click on the horse training video icon and that will take you to the "One Rein Stop" video as well as other multiple videos I sell.

Good Luck,

Kim

This is a sign that your horse is not balanced (and probably not ready to) canter. Because she can't canter slowly and calmly because of lack of strength and balance she instead tears around the arena which is much easier. I would go back to doing LOTS and LOTS of trot work including hills (as long as she has no medical hock problems). This will build up her endurance, strength and balance and make the canter easier for her. You can also work her on the longe with side reins at the canter to give her more support. She will probably be a lot slower with the side reins because of the support they offer. After doing both these things, introduce the canter SLOWLY just cantering for about one long side of the arena and then going back to trot and reinforcing A LOT of transitions. Please feel free to privately message me if you are having any other problems, I would love to help you out some more!

Research the Parelli 9 step procedure to a back up. This is the best method I have found so far for teaching the backup.

Hi Annie,

I would start with ground work. Ground work is the safest way to work your horse and it'll build trust and respect. Your horse is spooky because he does not trust you as his leader so you need to earn his trust and respect. Start by introducing him to as many different objects as you can, especially objects that move and make noise like a plastic bag. Plastic bags are great because they do move and make noise. You'll have to start out very slow. Tie the bag to the end of a sturdy stick. I would start in a decent sized round pen or if you don't have a round pen, put your horse on a 12-14 foot lunge line. First find out what your horse will accept so you have a starting point. Enter the round pen with the plastic bag tied to your stick so your horse can see it. See how he reacts to it. If he runs from it, then you may need to start outside the round pen or depending on how spooky he is, you may need to start with just your lunge line and just continue to lop the end of the lunge line over his body, around his legs and all around him at both fast and slow speeds until he stops moving his feet and begins to understand the lunge line moving around him won't hurt him. You'll want to twirl the lunge line on both sides of him, in front of him, behind him and over his head. You'll start to see signs of him relaxing like resting a hind foot, licking his lips, putting his head down, or relaxing his ears in a neutral position. Once he accepts the lunge rope well, then you can try moving onto the plastic bag. Whether you're inside the round pen or outside the round pen, just hold the stick and bag quietly in your hand. Let your horse come up and sniff it or you can slowly approach your horse. If he starts to run from it, just stand there quietly. When he stops moving his feet, you'll retreat and back off for a few minutes. That's his reward. Then approach him again. Eventually, he'll slowly start to accept the bag coming closer and closer to him. Once you can get it close enough to him, let him sniff it. Back off again and then begin slightly waving the stick letting your horse hear the rattling noise and use the same process to slowly approach him again. Every time he stops moving his feet, you'll reward him by backing off. Eventually he'll start accepting the sight of the bag and the rattling noise. Once he's accepting the sight of the bag and the rattling noise, you can then begin touching his body with it. Start by letting him sniff it, then move very slowly from his head to his tail rubbing the stick and bag all over him. Don't stop rubbing until he stops moving his feet. Slowly you can start to introduce other objects to him like tarps, a deflated intertube, etc. You'll follow this same process with each object slowly expanding the size and type of object as you go. The one thing that has to happen with each object is your horse has to stop moving his feet. Don't back off until your horse stops moving his feet. If you back off before he stops moving his feet, then you're rewarding him for being scared and spooky. When he stops moving his feet, he'll start accepting the object. When he starts accepting the objects, you'll be earning his trust and respect. Once he is easily accepting multiple noisy and moving objects from the ground, then you can mount up and again slowly introduce the same objects expanding the size and type of object as you go. As he accepts more and more, do more with him like trail rides, shows, etc.

For more training tips, check out my website at www.equestrianresourcesolutions.com. Go to my products page and click on the Horse Training Videos icon. There I offer a video titled "How To Teach Your Horse To Conquer His Fear Of Those
Horse-Eating Monsters So You Can Ride With Confidence! You may also want to consider signing up for my weekly E-Tips where you'll receive weekly tips on training and riding. It's a great value at only $15.00 a year. Or my Solutions Center for only $24.99 a month for one-on-one riding and training support.

Good Luck,

Kim

dont tense up. dressage is all about fluidity and being connected with the horse so if you feel yourself tensing up just breathe and tell your horse how good they are and if your horse is mostly western and has slower gaits try spurs and a crop to help them speed up.

a good thing to do is practice on stairs. hang your heels over the edge and let your weight sink into them. eventually it will just be natural to have your heels down. you can also try alot of two point, making sure your weight sinks down to your heels. hope this helps :)