I am also a firm believer in having a versatile horse. I want a horse that I can go on a leisurely trail ride with one day and the next, be running and gunning after some wild cattle, then drag calves the next day, then back to a leisurely ride. Some horses can distinguish when you need them to be super responsive to cues and when you don't and others simply can't. My brother has a gelding that my niece rides. When my brother rides him, he is quick-footed, uber responsive, and will stay with a cow come hell or high water. However, when my niece gets on him, he is mellow bordering on dull, he will respond to whatever she asks of him but it isn't the quick response he has with my brother. He is also perfectly content to just stand there and watch a cow run by him when she's riding.
I don't really have the problem that you do cause I keep my cues the same whether we are riding around town or working cattle. Even when we are relaxing on the trail, I never allow them to be dull to my cues. However, I don't show and I like my horses to have that long flat frame regardless of where we are at or what we are doing so I don't really have to worry about re-teaching them to get on the bit or shortened up.
I don't really have the problem that you do cause I keep my cues the same whether we are riding around town or working cattle. Even when we are relaxing on the trail, I never allow them to be dull to my cues. However, I don't show and I like my horses to have that long flat frame regardless of where we are at or what we are doing so I don't really have to worry about re-teaching them to get on the bit or shortened up.
