Should I keep riding this horse?

I don't know if this will work for you but it sure made a difference in my life with my horse. She was pushy, bossy, and disrespectful. Under saddle she would balk and crowhop if I asked her to do anything she didn't feel like doing. It was miserable and unable to afford a trainer I was ready to sell her. Then I found this article at Horse&Rider.com called Clinton Anderson's Lunging for Respect. It was a miracle. It's more about changing direction than just mindless circles. Its simple and easy to follow and I found it fun. In very little time my mare was a different horse. Before she could take me or leave me and actually treated me more like her slave than anything. Now she acts like my pal and is very interested in me. The balking and the crowhopping just went away by themselves after doing this program. She is much less moody and much more respectful. You should check it out even if you only spend 10 minutes before a lesson you will notice a world of difference. It's so worth it. You'll get results almost immediately.

If you're not enjoying it then maybe you should stop. Save up the money to have a lesson, say, fortnightly at the other stable. It sounds like you think it would be more worthwhile there. Although, riding a difficult horse can improve your riding so much and is so rewarding when you overcome your problems together- it will build the strongest bond. Good luck in whatever you decide. :)

No. If he's too much of a handful for you (which it sounds like) you should move.

Your paying to have a constant battle with this horse. Let someone else deal with him, someone who IS strong enough.

No. If you don't feel comfortable, it will make riding a lot less enjoyable for you

I think you should get a friend or trainer and have the work with you and your horse until you get you satisfaction. Also try to brsh your horse daily to gain trust and that should help a little too. :)

I think that you will more than likely learn MORE and have a much better time if you switch to the better horse every other week. A lot of times, students get the idea that more lessons are better than less lessons, but that isn't necessarily true. In your case, you can't learn that much because the horse you are on isn't a suitable lesson horse at all. I'm sure you also feel a lot of frustration with your rides since you can't trust this horse 100% and aren't always happy with your rides. The better trained horse, even though the rides would be half as often, will teach you far more and leave you much more satisfied with riding in general.

BTW I have quite a few students who only come every other week. There progress might be a little slower than other students that come on a weekly basis, but they are still making progress at a good rate. I have other students who come twice a week because they love having lessons, but they also recognize that having lessons more often doesn't mean you necessarily learn faster.

I disagree with Donna R- this isn't your horse and it isn't your responsibility to train him. His owner or your riding instructor are in charge of his training, and he should already be a good lesson horse before one charges money for lessons on him. It isn't safe and it is unprofessional to use such a horse in lessons.

i'm with Donna R, i watch his TV show on RFD sometimes. that man is amazing with horses. you should check out his site i believe it's downunderhorsemanship . com

If you don't feel safe riding the horse, then you probably shouldn't be riding it. That's not to say that you should only ride 'safe' horses and shouldn't take any risks, but if you think that you're not able to control him, then don't ride him.

That being said, you can't just stop riding a horse that's challenging. If you aren't taking lessons, see if you can ride with a trainer or at least with an experienced horse person to help you. If you want to be a better rider, you'll have to keep working with this horse and find satisfaction in the little victories.

no, not until you are confident and in control. you need to do more groundwork and respect exercises with him. once he respects you and knows that you are the leader, he will listen more to your commands and cues.

NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!