How does Walter look?

He's coming home from the trainers on December 15.

^curious as to why we only get to see him in one direction?

I only video'd random parts of the ride on my phone- I put them all together for the video. I guess I missed the other side lol, my bad. I was just so excited to see him go!

How old has he? How long has he been in training? How much training did he have before this trainer? What are your goals for him?

He is 2 1/2. Started him in March- had 11 (1 trail ride) rides in the 8 months before he went to the trainers begining of November.

Goals? Breed shows, open shows. WP, Trail, EP, maybe some hunter stuff down the road. Mostly focusing on WP and Trail for this season, and halter and showmanship.

I think he's looking pretty good then. I'm personally not a fan of working them in frame too much as youngsters, but to each their own. He was a little heavy on the forehand at some points but at others he was really tracking up and using himself properly, so that's great. I wouldn't worry much about it at this age. 2 is the time to get basics down, not be nitpicky.

I do wish I could have seen some clips of him going the other way though, and more of figure eights or serpentines instead of the same tiny circle at a trot.

TBH, I'm not a fan of how the trainer rode him at a lope. She was very heavy on his mouth.

Agree with this post. There were some places where he was using his hocks really well....stepping up and under and other places heavy in front. I would like to see him not so overflexed at the poll all the time and given the chance to stretch out with his neck and relax/break at the wither, instead of being curled up in the neck and BTV.

Yes, I didn't really like how heavy handed the rider was either. Especially on a baby. The best thing for babies that are at this point in training is to do lots of long and low walk-trot transitions. That's what is going to help the most.

I love Walter. Walter has learned to evade bit pressure by coming down & overflexing, with a rider that uses more seat & bodycore, lower hands and more leg, Walter will melt into his gaits and be a winner for you. This trainer might have a training program I am unfamiliar with, but she flexes him very nicely, I love that.