Horse has a lot of "GO!!" and not a lot of "whoa"

I have a 4 year old QH who likes to GO. She doesn't bolt, but she does everything fast; walking, trotting, loping, jumping. You name it!

When she is tired (which is rare), I get that nice low-headset, slow walk. But in the arena she always seems like she is in a hurry. Her stride is short and she moves them so quickly underneath her that it looks ridiculous.:roll:

I am not going to say I have tried everything, because, obviously, I haven't. Pretty much the only thing I have thought of is to sit heavy in my seat, but that tells her to stop, when I just want her to slow down. If she starts slow, she won't stay consistent and eventually starts going faster. At that point I make her stop, take a few steps back and stand for a minute or two.

What else can I do?? I don't like pulling on her mouth so anything I can do to avoid that is good, but I am desperate!

How long has she been under saddle? Sounds like she could be nervous and unconfidant. How does she go when you work her on the lunge/roundpen? Is she still quick? Do you have a good basis of groundwork onher?

What I would start out doing would be circles, serpentine's, and transitions. In my experience, circles and such get them paying attention to you. If you are rising to the trot, slow your self down so he has to match your posting.

Otherwise, sit deep. You could also try to do one rein stops and have her disengage her hindquarters, flex laterally, back, etc. Get her really paying attention to you. I wouldnt jump her or even canter her until you can get her solid at the walk and then trot.

Spastic is right, lots of circles and serpentines. Unless she has excellent flat work manners, I wouldn't even consider jumping her yet as that can make the problem so much worse. I think you need to go back to the basics and remember to keep yourself slow and usually they will follow suit. I like to do small circles and keep their neck constantly bent, that will cause them to slow their gaits and keep their head low. Also, one other thing you can try is take her on a trail ride. Ask her for a jog then after a few strides, stop her. This will also get her more responsive to your cues. It won't take long for her to start travelling "with her brakes on" and will help control her speed and drop her head. Do you ride her on direct contact or a loose rein? Has she been properly introduced to contact? I would start her back at the beginning as if she was a newly trained horse and work your way back up. Good luck.

Couldnt agree more, lots and lots of circles, start small and gradually get bigger if she speeds up go back to smaller circles. It just takes a lot of repetition until she is comforatable you may do this for 2 weeks, it just depends on what it takes for her to be comfortable

I bought her back in May and she didn't know a whole lot. I usually ride her on a tighter (not super tight) rein. If I give her too much freedom she goes! (doesn't take off though). I don't know a whole lot about training but haven't found a trainer who I really like or respect.
We ride trail a lot so I will practice the walk to a jog then back down.

I have no idea what a serpentine is or flexing laterally. And how do I do a one-reined stop?

Lunging her she is still fast. I never use a whip because she becomes a crazy beast if she see's anyone holding one, but she always seems so panicked (that may be a little harsh of a word) when I ask her to move forward. I always stay slow around her and relaxed but maybe I am sending the wrong Que?
I don't know how long she has been under saddle.

What a coincidence! Lol I ride a 4yo QH too! Im going to lease her starting this sunday actually, but she's not nearly as crazy as your horsey sounds! She can be naughty....but does get quick when she's excited. Try taking her in really really small circles but keep your inside leg on. And some of inside rein but keep your outside rein firm. This tends to slow down my pony(sort of my pony,lol) hope I helped a bit! =]

Serpentine:





Lateral Flexion:


Get your horse to give to pressure and bring his nose to your knee. As soon as he relaxes, release and PRAISE.


One Rein Stop:



I don't have any sound right now (Im at work) so I don't know how well his lecturing part was. The second guy kind of showed it in work but I didnt really like his hands sometimes but you get the idea..

A serpentine is like an extended figure 8 where you weave to each side while moving down the arena and then back. Lateral flexion means that she bends her neck to the side when you tighten one rein. That is also how you achieve a one rein stop. When she starts to speed up, tighten one rein and let her move in circles until her feet stop. Don't ask for forward movement at any time when you do this because that sends mixed signals. If she has not been taught this before, sometimes she will turn in circles for what seems like forever before she stops. Just use your balance to help keep her balanced when turning tight circles. When her feet stop moving, then release the pressure off of the bit and just let her sit there for a minute before asking for forward movement again. Also, change up the direction of the one rein stop, don't always turn the same way. Turn her to the right for a couple times and then to the left for 2 or 3 then back to the right. Also, you might want to just spend some time with her on the ground working on desensatizing her because it sounds like she is pretty skittish and doesn't really trust you yet.

Okay, I was typing when the above videos were posted. Those are very good videos. The guy that was lecturing, there are some things that I don't agree with but that is just a difference in methods. It is still a good video to learn from.

Chucky use to be the same!!!! I did everything to try and slow him down but nothing worked! He wasnt nervous or anything, he just liked going fast!! Once I got so sick of it I just went for a full on gallop without slowing down at all to try and get it out of his system. I just kept going until he wanted to stop. We went for a full 3.5km before he started to slow!!! He was slow until he caught his breath then he jsut wanted to go again!!! Lol! The only thing that slowed him down was to go for a ride every single day. After a month of riding him nearly every day and doing exercises with him he started to go slow. And a couple of months after that he was the perfect horse! I almost had him ready for beginners to ride him then he developed corronitis!! That was about 5 months ago and I havent ridden him since. I can start riding him again in a few weeks. So back to the start for me!! Lol!!!