Never ridden a horse like him... Help Needed!

Recently I started riding a new horse. He's a 6-year old 15.3 hh paint horse, and his name is Lucky. I've never ridden a horse like him, so I need a bit of advice.

Lucky is a very speedy horse, and he loves to go as fast as possible. However, he is also very sensitive. If I squeeze lightly or cluck, he'll move up a gait. If I do half-halts, he'll move down a gait. If I pull back, he'll slow to a walk or stop. If I squeeze lightly and do half-halts, he gets confused. It seems like to him, there is no fast or slow for each gait. There is just walk, trot, canter, and gallop, and each has only one speed.

I know he has been trained properly, because I've seen other people ride him before. So, how do I control him properly???

One of the mares that I used to ride was a lot like that. I think it's just the young energy they have :) But I did ground work with her a lot and that really seemed to help. It also helps to make a lot of turns and figure 8s. You want to keep them thinking, "Hmmm, what are we going to do next???" Then they start to slow down and think about their task instead of GOING. Hope that helps and good luck!

Thanks for the advice. :) Unfortunatly, I don't own him; I just ride him in lessons. So, I don't see him very often (once a week).

If he's very sensitive you're probably being too strong with your aids. What you think is a half halt to him might be a "full" halt. What you think is a gentle squeeze to him is a big one. So try toning down your aids and see how slight of a cue you can give him. Also try and ride off your entired body a little instead of just your hands or legs. Like slowing down your posting a little. Make sure your body is very relaxed. This is key, lots of sensitive horses get faster if you get tense, lots of riders get tense if their horse is too fast, it's a downward spiral!

The person to ask is your instructor while you are taking the lesson. If they don't know how to do it, change instructors. Your instructor should be expected to know each horse they use for lessons and what buttons they have. Failing that, and if for some reason you don't want to or can't change instructors, you might ask others who have successfully ridden this horse.

Riding in a lesson once per week is never going to be enough to change or even to learn a horse. Asking people who don't know how much experience you have or anything else about you or the horse is ever going to change a thing either. The proper people to ask are the riders who have experience with this horse or your instructor.