i have a strange problem...

only_me

only_me

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I have ridden young horses for the past 7 years (have only been riding 8
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) and brought them on myself, so have gotten used to doing a lot and teaching them, whilst i have learned with them. and i have no problem riding other friends young horses, and have taken a few of them in for work and schooling with me for a month or so. i seem to have ridden only young inexperienced horses!
however, i was at a lesson last week and tried a intermeadiate eventer out after, and found that i found it really hard to ride?

i seem to have a problem riding schoolmasters and literally letting them do the work, or a horse that knows what to do - all i can ride is youngsters!
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is this a strange problem? and any advice or comments on how to solve this problem?
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I know what you mean! Years ago I went from riding ponies that you had to make work to a retired eventer and OMG I was petrified as I just had to think something and he did it - and it didn't always come together very well
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. I could easily get on a 3 yr old and bumble around, but I had serious communication problems with horses that knew the game.

I would say tho, that owning Beau and having legs that don't seem to want to work despite how hard I try I would be quite happy to have a horse that knew what it was doing!

But I agree with equiweb, you obviously like to be an 'active participant' in your riding. Maybe wean yourself off the youngsters and pick a little less clued up schoolmaster for a few lessons? I found that well schooled 8/9yrolds were the best as they knew what they were 'meant' to do, but weren't conditioned to snap to it at the mere thought of it.
 
schoolmaster's aren't always the easiest, sometimes they only go when given the correct aids, and if you don't give them they do begger all !!!
Riding youngsters all the time means you tend to develop your own style which isn't necessarily riding correctly.
Any rider can benefit from having lessons on more experienced (or even just different) horses, I've had 4 in the last month ranging from an 11yo novice to an ex-GP horse!
 
I've just realised that this is (or was) my problem. When I came off ponies i had a bit of a break and when I got a horse everything was awful, I had a real confidence issue and ended up selling her. I now have a pony again, who i absolutely love, but couldn't understand what had happened to my riding. My pony now is 7 and quite green. How strange.
 
I think it is true with any type of horse. I always rode youngsters and very sharp horses when I was younger and now can't use my legs! It is like the nerve that tells my legs to kick has just withered through lack of use. I'm fine on sharp or sensitive horses, but give me something that needs encoragement and I can't make it trot.
 
I had a similar experience - I rode an advanced dressage schoolmaster and the first time I tried for counter canter (which I normally have done with no probs on "average" horses) I ended up doing one and two time changes across the long diagonal. Which would have been great, had that been what I asked for. Instead I just bobbled around on top thinking "This really feels wrong
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"

Ho hum. Just goes to show how precise good riders must be. I can't imagine having that great a control of my body!
 
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