When I ride her, I always lunge her first to get her loosened and warmed up.
Well, the other day I finally thought it was time to try the canter, transitioning from the trot. I tried her good direction first. She knew exactly what I was asking and pinned her ears straight back and threw her head up and balked going forward. When I persisted she then would buck a little and make a marish squeal and clearly made her opinion known. Ultimately, we did get to the canter but I had to get off her back to encourage her to continue to keep up the canter.(which made me nervous because I'm already in a less stable position if she bucks again).
She has occasionally done this at the trot before. She'll be trotting a long and suddenly and especially in a turn, she looses momentum and then just stops and pin her ears back. I ride english but at the trot with her I'm not posting because it is hard to keep her with a consistent stride at the posting trot. She speeds up down the "far side" away from the herd, slows down on the near side close to her pasture mates she can see in the nearby neighboring pasture.
I suppose she could have been a broodmare because she has had this disagreeable disposition or this is something she was allowed to do now she does it and it's not really due to soreness. But I suspect since she hasn't really been regularly worked and had foals, that it is a musculoskeletal and balance issue. The women I bought her from only had her for a year and rode her on trails maybe once or twice. That's it.
Anway, she doesn't seem sore if I palpate along her spine and back. How would I confirm this and what is there to do about it? Thanks in advance.
