I found the perfect horse, there only one problem.... please answer right away!!

The Horse: A gorgeous 5 year old paint, compactly built, lovely neck arch, wonderful jumping form, beautiful mover, perfect lead changes, alert, curious, yet collecting in his surrounding, a total sweetheart, 16 hh, and his owner was willing to drop the price to what we wanted to pay

The problem: I have a firm seat and an increbley tight leg, which his owner does not, and every time I asked for the trot, he assumed I wanted him to canter, and did so, although he slowed back to the walk once he realized I was asking him to.

The question(s):

Could he be taught to adjust to my firm seat? How much would it cost? How long would it take? Is it worth the time and money (I think so, but if I was 100% sure, I wouldnt be asking online, now would I ? :) )

Thank you for your patience and answers!

yeah it just takes practice. try riding more and doing excersizes with him and by yourself. it's worth time but you're going to be spending time riding him anyways right? just practice while you ride and eventually you'll get better! i don't think it costs money unless you want a trainer... but yeah good luck and have fun with the horse :D

answer mine please?:

I personally think that it would be easier for you to adjust to the horse. While I'm sure that the horse would learn to adjust to your riding style over time, it would be much faster if you would try to ride more softly. As far as a cost, the only cost would be some riding lessons with a good instructor (and maybe you already have one, you just need to tell them what you want to work on) to teach you how to soften up. Other than that, I think the horse would just adjust to your riding style through time, not necessarily through training costs. You will still do fine, and probably better at your shows. Your seat doesn't need to be "firm", it needs to be soft and move with the horse. The judges will also like that you can cue your horse so softly and invisibly when it come to pleasure classes.

this isnt a problem with the horse.... it's a problem with you. a correctly trained horse is SUPPOST to be light and responsive. you need to learn to loosen up and not over-cue. relax your seat and be light in the saddle. the lighter you are in the saddle the more responsive your horse will become, and the better rider you will make.

i would say you should change your ways instead of the horse changing his. he sounds like an absolutely fabulous horse, but the fact that he's so sensitive is a great thing! its a great quality to have in a horse-being soft. take a couple lessons to learn to loosen up a little, it isnt too hard. have fun with him! he sounds great.

i believe its worth the time and money. not saying you're a bad rider, but you shouldn't have to ride with so much leg. maybe you've gotten used to riding a horse where you have to? you should learn though to loosen up. most horses will require it. just ask about lessons in your area. with lots of practice, it shouldnt take more than a month.

Frankly you should be able to adjust your seat to the horse, not he to you. A good rider should be able to adjust their riding style for each horse they ride. This is one of the benefits of riding many different horses...you learn to be sensitive to each one. A good trainer should be able to help you learn to soften your seat without too much trouble if you are experienced. If the horse is perfect in every way, then you should get it. Most likely he'll learn what you want, but with such a sensitive horse, why ride with such a strong seat and leg. It's like screaming at him instead of whispering. If you were to get on my horse and do that, he's be off and running or go into an extended trot. He's very sensitive to the aids and doesn't need a lot to get him to move. You should always ride softly and increase the aids when necessary, not start off strong and have no where to go.

Owner/trainer/riding instructor for more than 30 years

As others have said, you should be able to change your seat to suite him. He seems incredibly responsive which is what you want out of a good horse, also as another said you should start of nice and light then increase your firmness or grip to suite if you are where you are and cannot show any light and shade it will make it very hard to successfully ride lots of horses.

Good luck with your (hopeful) new purchase, you will be fine :)

Edit - I doubt that riding with a lighter grip on your legs is going to, ah, loose you, grand champions. I don't think anyone is suggesting completely changing the way you sit on a horse, just to be lighter with your aids and adapt to this new bloke more. In the show ring it's actually nice to see a horse and rider that are nice and responsive towards each other, without a vice like grip...

you need to adjust your seat to fit the horse, you need to learn that he just needs light cues, its the same thing for people moving up from local to breed level WP, they don't realize that all you need is the tap of one spur to make the horse pivot or lope. so you should get the horse, and just ride him a lot, and learn what his cues/responses are. you should still have a firm seat, but it shouldn't be driving the horse so far forward that it is anticipating your cues. and all you need to do is practice, and the judges will see that you have a nice responsive horse. though you did buy at an odd time. for me the show season is just starting back up again this month, but it could be different for you. just take a month off from showing, and take lessons on this horse, and learn how to get it to perform for you.

GOOD LUCK!

I would try and adjust yourself to the horse other than the horse adjusting to you

Ok first off I hate it when people just assume that it's them that are winning grand champions. NEWS FLASH. unless you are only competing in equitation/oversaddle classes it's the horse. It's your fault for overcueing the horse. It's not the horse that needs to be retrained it's you. until you get into this frame of mind you shouldn't buy this horse. The horse I bought gave me a big reality check he's 4 years old and still being trained. I was used to pinning blues all over the place but with him because of his lack of experience we are not always winning. in 2 years he's going to be pinning more blues but for now I had to learn that he is still learning and I have to be patient. You need to deal with the fact that after only 5 years you may need to change your riding style if you want this horse.

you should be adjusting your seat to the horse and not the horse adjusting to you. a good rider knows the difference between horses and can adjust to ride each one. if the horse is more sensitive then you need to ride with a softer seat and go with the flow. if you get on a horse that requires more leg then you would use your firmer seat with that horse. it is not always easy to know how much leg/seat to use when you first ride a horse but you will adjust in time. having an instructor give you a few lessons would probably speed up the process and that shouldnt be too expensive

Yeah of course. It is probably just a habit the horse has, he will get out of it with your consistent training.