Bad behavior got her out of it once so she is trying it again. You gave her 2 years off and she liked it.

I haven't ridden any of my horses since Oct (broke my ankle) and can guarantee at least 1 is going to give me the same problem.

I have one that's very smart and the trainer said he'll probably always try me here and there to see what he can get away with.  After he finds out he can't get away with his behaviour or he'll really have to work hard, he quits.

I had a saddle that didn't fit well on this horse and didn't realize I had a bad fitting saddle until that saddle started putting a white mark on another horse.  The saddle was sold to me used by a saddle maker so I thought he should know what the saddle was.  He sold it as an extra wide and after calling the saddle company, I found it was narrow but didn't really look it.  After buying a new saddle with an extra wide tree and two chiropractor treatments, I have a completely different acting horse.  He's relaxed and doesn't have to go, go, go. 

Hounddog, excellent advice and I try to do most of it already.  I'm a big fan of Charles Wilhelm and have a few of his video tapes that I use on a regular basis.  She can be a little pushy, but not bad.  We have 4 foster kids in the house and 4 horses in the barn.  All the kids can go to the barn with me and I feel comfortable they will be safe around the horses because they have good ground manners.  I can't take the risk of having a "bad horse" in the barn with 4 foster kids.  We would lose our certification for foster care. 

Something that I keep coming back to is my saddle.  My wife and I have tried to reason this situation out with a "time line" on events concerning my mare's behavior.  I'm starting to think it's the saddle.  My western saddle is Circle Y, 16" seat and full skirt.  I'm going to ride my mare in a couple of different saddles in the next month and see what happens.  My mare was always good and this behavior didn't start until she had a couple of foals.  I'm wondering if her body has changed enough from birthing 2 foals that the saddle is causing her some discomfort?  Happy trails.

You said it

Naw

Derenger,

I can appreciate your predicament.  I have owned and bred Arabs and half Arabs for 30 yrs.  It has been my experience that most horses will tell you what the problem is if we all just take the time to listen.  Obviously we have a lauguage barrier so all the more important it is for us to listen and read a horse's body language.  Most people lose patience and get angry & upset.....they blame the horse right off the bat.  Horses do not go out of their way to cause conflict with us....most generally they are peaceful and even tempered.  Never accept what you think might be the obvious answer....if your horse is being worked successfully in trail and dressage 3-4 times a week it would seem to me she is getting adequate training and is being respectful. She is getting older, maybe her old tack doesn't fit her properly anymore, maybe she is in pain or discomfort from something you can't see.  Something is bothering your horse....you need to figure out what it is.  Give her the benefit of the doubt, listen to your horse.

Wow.Maybe a month away with a Moorman or Anmish family that works horses or a real cowboy and body and MIND may LIKE trail riding again.Got a good example of a older farmer gentleman and his mule that didn't like certain aspects of plowing or harness and would throw a fit for unknown reasons and a Moorman whom he and sons started and fixed such issues with mules and horses.OR ride that mare on a 10 DAY WAGON train and I bet its a differant animal half way through it.

Hi gemm, great question and the answer I'm offering makes me think you might be on to something. I gave my mare and my wife's gelding some 12% feed that morning, but only about one and a half quarts each. I didn't think that would make much of a difference, but evidently you aren't the only one that thought it could have an effect.  One of the other trail riders asked me the same question in a round about way that evening and suggested not giving them ANY grain, unless they absolutely needed it and they were already getting it on a regular basis. I had forgotten about that conversation until I read your question. Like I said, maybe you are on to something with the feed? Let me see what comes up with her behavior in the next few weeks after experimenting with the feed and seeing if I can duplicate the scenario on the trail ride. Now that I think about it, I fed her the same feed, the same way on the first trail ride a week before the Memorial Day trail ride. Hmmmmmm, guess I'll keep working on this and thanks for the input. Happy trails.

houddog, once again, I can't disagree with your logic and you bring it with a lot of experience and facts. Overall, I think you are right because my mare is "a thinker" and does not submit well. She has a lot of pride, is pretty and she knows it. I think you are hitting the nail on the head with your approach to solving my problem with my favorite mare. Plus the fact, that I'm probably thinking about the problem too much as well. My only fear is there's a problem physically with her being a pill and between me worrying about it and the neighbor doing an excellent job eliminating it, I think we've got that part of taken care of. I'm going to concentrate on the training part of it, take her out of her comfort zone, maybe box stall her for a few days, demote her from her position as "queen of the paddock" and move on from there. Thanks for your input houddog, I appreciate it. Happy trails.