I Out-Smarted the Smartest Horse in the World! :D

Well, maybe not the smartest horse in the WORLD. But, I was riding Thumper tonight, and no matter what I did, I could NOT get him to canter to the right/right lead. He stuck his head up and leaned in and against me, did everything he could to get out of it. After five or ten minutes of putting my leg on, staying back, even trying a dressage whip, I finally thought, "Okay, this obviously isn't working, so why am I still doing this?" Nothing I was trying under saddle was working, so I dismounted. You could see the triumph in his expression . He looked like he was immensly proud that he had won that fight. His expression changed when I clipped the longe line on, though! I lunged him both directions, walk/trot/canter. He did it fine, although it definitely took some encouragement! So I got back on, knowing that he COULD do it, grabbed my dressage whip, and off we went. He seemed to be finally giving in, like he was thinking, "Well, it seems like it would be easier to just do what this crazy girl wants." We had beautiful canters both directions before I got off! I was really happy that I got what I wanted and he didn't outsmart me again . And you get cookies if you read all of this!

Been there,done that ! LOL
Boy do they love testing our patience.

Good for you!! He may be larger but you've been proven to be smarter. That will give him something to think about next time you ask for a right lead canter.

Haha, good job.

OMG, good one! Lol, love their expressions when you do that! ;)

hehe nice. I remember having to do something similar with a horse that liked to side pass people into the gait when he felt that the workout was done lol. Then everyone soon had to work him at the end of the arena with the gairt and suddenly it was difficult to get him out the ring LOL horses are awesome. They get pretty clever though

well done,, you did the right thing, and now he wont pull the pee again

Good job!!!

Yay! It irritates me when horses just want to get THEIR way, but when we triumph over them, it feels great. The disgusted look they sometime give you is just classic!

Ha ha! I love it when they give in to appease the crazy stubborn lady. Good job!