Who is or has been your most challenging horse?

[Srhorselady]

My most challenging horse is Mariano. He is also my safest and smartest horse. He is the one I put children and non riding friends on. He loves to trail ride on the buckle and doesn't believe in spooking. It takes too much energy and he is excellent at conserving energy. He just avoids things that aren't right or shouldn't be where they are ie trash in the desert, tipped over garbage cans etc. Equipment, vehicles, animals etc don't bother him. However, if a rider gets on him and wants to be the one making the decisions, be prepared to focus totally the entire ride! BTW Mariano has very nice gaits and was well trained through Prix St George and I always enjoyed watching my trainer ride him. However, when I ride him and on the trail like today... He tends to bulge his ribs to the left which dumps my right seat bone in a hole and makes my left leg ineffective. I can straighten him and me (it tends to be my default position also) but it takes work and one Minute of lost focus and we are back there again. He keeps the same contact weight on the reins continuously which is fine until you realize he has you almost on the buckle. I also find that when riding him gravity takes over and I drop my forehands almost into his mane instead of carrying my forearms. Elbows are usually okay. He has a nice long walking stride (big horse) and when walking behind another horse will push right up on him unless you watch him like a hawk. So I put him in front and that nice walking pace slowly almost unnoticeably becomes slower and slower.... So we go side by side and he drifts to the left toward the other horse ( remember the ineffective left leg ). So I straighten him and me, gather up my reins, and remind him of the pace we want etc. I love this horse to pieces, but I have two choices: let him do what he wants or work the entire ride!

[Ponichiwa]

I've shared my challenges with Kiwi in this thread (viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1408) and several others. There are a lot of good stories in that thread from other posters as well.

Kiwi's a bit the opposite of your horse in that I'm despairing she'll ever be 100% reliable-- there's a long way to go before she's child- or non-riding-friend- compatible. However, when she's great, she's great!

[Srhorselady]

Yes several of you have shared major challenging horses and training and I have found these stories very rewarding. They have helped me to realize that mine may be frustrating but they are minor and I'm lucky. Actually since I wrote yhis I've been thinking about it and I've realized that much of my frustration/problem with Mariano is me. I'm not focussing on him and the ride. Im letting myself be distracted by riding companions and scenery. I think I need to start a rider tutorial!

[kande50]

My most challenging horse was my mule, because so much of what I already knew about horses didn't work with him. That was one of those cases of if-I-only-knew-then-what-I-know-now, because a lot of what he motivated me to learn has served me well with subsequent horses.

As far as letting my horses do what they want vs working the entire ride, I mostly just let them do what they want because I feel like trail rides are for developing a more secure seat rather than for damping down the horse's movements so that he's easier to ride. In fact, up until a couple years ago I was still maintaining my log jumps so that I could jump them on the way out and the way back, although I did finally get so unstable in the saddle that I decided that it was time to be sensible and turn the jumps into firewood.

[piedmontfields]

The horse that was most challenging for me I leased for less than 6 months a number of years ago. I really liked his owner and farm home, but I really didn't understand him. He was a big guy (16.3) with a long neck. I will avoid stating the breed. It always felt to me like he had pieces of his spine and his brain missing. He was not reactive to the aids in a "normal" way--whether leg, seat or whip. After I started riding him, his owner was so pleased about how much better he felt and how much easier he was to ride (although he didn't feel like that to me). He did put on a ton of good topline with very basic work in a short period of time and was quite handsome and sociable.

One night I rode up to the arena and prepared to open the gate (he was good at gates) and the gate FELL DOWN due to rusted screws--thankfully away from us. He did not react. I was really surprised not to die. The last straw was when we were simply cantering a 20 meter circle and he suddenly flew across the ring sideways without warning or obvious provocation. I'm not sure how I didn't hit the dust, as at one point I'm pretty sure I was out of the saddle and perpendicular to the horse.

That was my last ride and he sold a few weeks later. I was very glad to move on to my next lease horse (a "super hot" thoroughbred who was very sensible and a great worker).