Follow up to: Lesson on a WP horse UGH!

The quality of the video isn't great and I am sorry for that, my camera's not that good.
Also after looking at it on screen, she's not 4 beating as it was suggested, she is loping, I'm just having trouble trying to get in sync with her. Her headset could be lower but bear in mind I am still learning. Please don't slam me or the horse she's a tolerant teacher and I'm still learning.

You don't look to bad the main thing I see is you need to get you legs back but that will feel really wierd at first. But it will make it easier in the long run.

Thank you! I will keep that in mind when I ride next.

You look like you're trying really hard. You almost seem to be trying too hard, you just need to relax your legs so you can feel her sides.

Try doing some deep breathing and leg and arm stretches at the walk (during warm-up), so you can loosen up your muscles for jogging and loping (and as a bonus, stretching while riding will calibrate your balance and help you feel more self-aware as you ride).

Is it me, or is the mare flipping leads in the rear? I know for a fact that is really uncomfortable and is hard to ride.

If she is it may be her thing or it will improve as you improve your balance and seat.

I looked again.....she's all over the place with the rear leads.

Thanks, I'm glad I wasn't the only one who noticed she seemed to be doing something strange with the back legs, she's also spur trained and I could have been at fault and may have inadvertently bumped her with my leg(s). I am guessing that as I ride her more I will be able to hopefully correct her in some way, but it's funny how my instructor didn't notice that, and she used to own the mare.

But thank you for the input. Thanks to everyone who responded.

To relax your legs, pull them back where they should be, sort of... well it'll feel like you're breaking at the ankles so your foot will feel more in and it'll relieve that squeezing with your knees and help you relax your leg.

My trainer would be telling you that you ride like a trail rider. Most of the time trail riders are just a passenger vs. being a rider. This mare looks like she needs a little help from her rider (you) in order to be consistent at the canter (she's not what I would consider loping).

A little change in your riding position will start to give her the help she needs. Scoot yourself forward in the saddle so that you are sitting in the middle - between pommel & cantle. This should let your leg drop straight down from your hip. Shoulders - hip - heel all need to be in line. It will also cause your leg to be closer to her belly, which is ok. You want to feel like you are giving her a gentle hug with your legs. The spur training should allow her to accept this light contact without having her rush forward to go faster.

She is falling out of the canter several times throughout the video. She may need a chiropractic adjustment, hock injections, or other medical attention. In the meantime, you will need to push her forward into the bridle to help her maintain her gait. A spur trained horse has a button that you squeeze to make her stop, but she will also have a button that you squeeze (or probably bump) to get her to move up & hold herself together. This part of western pleasure riding is a lot of feel & timing, which takes many hours/months/years of practice to learn & perfect. For right now, just be aware of the feeling of her good lope vs her falling out of the lope. Your reaction time will be slow right now & it won't make her look her best, but you will develop your feel & timing so that you can help her more & more to get her looking her best.

She is really flipping her rear leads.