Sounds like the doc was a quack!!!  I know alot of dressage riders and they don't use alot of pressure either. So whoever is teaching her is way off base!  Dressage is supposed to be subtle cueing just like reining.  That is why often times they call reining cowboy dressage!  Subtleness, softness, and cueining unseen by the naked eye is what they look for!  Sounds like this doc wouldn't know what a good horse was if it bit her on the keister!

Sounds like you have a great mare!  Great job on the training!  I am sure someone will come along who appreciates her!

I'm a person who got into horses as an adult.  Didn't know hooey at first.  I was amazed at the importance the horse/person relationship was.  It's not a machine... the horse is a living being, reacting to its rider. 

In your case the rider had no relationship & didn't know the right signals.  If the rider gives confusing signals, the horse just reacts as best it knows.  A well trained horse is like a high performance racing car.  It takes high skills to work it to its potential.  The prospective buyer wasn't up to standard of precision control input.  There is no overtrained horse here, just an under skilled rider.

To me overtrained means the horse has developed some bad habits due to being pushed too hard to fast--it's ring sour, or it evades the bit, etc.

It sounds to me like your horses are sensitive, not overtrained. They probably aren't suitable for every rider, especially people who have only ridden schoolies.  I myself tend to be heavy with my aids, a really bad habit.  I really have to be careful getting on a sensitive horse. However, I don't blame the horse for my incompetence as a rider if the horse reacts the same way every time I do the same thing.

I have finished several young horses that have been TWH show "culls". When I got them they were very sensitive and quick.  I worked hard to un train all of that.  My horses were trained with dressage methods, know how to back slowely, turn on the forehand, haunches, shoulder in.  They were not quick. 

I hate to agree with the Doc, but dressage horses are not supposed to be quick to respond.  They respond off of the leg with a slow good transition. 

If you are selling to a pleasure rider market, you need to have a nice transition from gaits and movements. 

I don't know what the reining market wants but i would think a reining horse would sell for more than $7500.  Your horses might be easy to sell in that market.

I myself would never buy a trained horse that had quick transitions.  I would either train my own or look somewhere else. 

One of the best complements I have had on a horse I sold was "  She is so supple."  Supple is not quick.  Supple is flexible and fluid. 

I have sold several trail horses for $8500 plus.  They were not hard to sell either.  I marketed them for the trail rider and what they want in a horse. 

It sounds like you are trying to seel the sports model to the sedan crowd.

My ads basicly say reining patterns down pat and ready for working cow,reining,trail etc.We get a lot of folkes that say they can ride.Basicly most are just a passenger.The DOC was mainly worried if she(filly)would get herd bound.I knew then.

Truthfully I wouldn't say overtrained I would say well trained. Most people just teach the horses stop,go left right and pick up their feet for you . Sad but true.  As for Doc...well all i can say is you advertise your horses as having the riening patterns down and such soo she should have done at least a little homework before visiting. As for a reining  horse not being supple and soft ...well they are to an extreme measure. Lighter aids is the key to having the responses not seem too fast. True dressage you are not really supposed to see the aids however an aid can be very strong without visually seeing it. A change in your seat by shifting your weight....an almost invisible pressure from the legs can in actuality be very strong. Point is  I think its a good thing your horses are so keen on the aids. Quite a feww young horses  end up needing strong aids just because they flat do not understand a light one. All I can say is good job!!

Lively

I agree with Beth, if this Doc was in the market to ride a dressage horse, she should have been looking for a horse trained in the discipline.

Don't let this experience with a pain-in-the-hiney seller get you second guessing your marketing or training. She was out of her element, and personally, when I look at and ride a horse for a client, unless there is an obvious training problem that will need further attention I don't pick apart a horse to the owner. It's unprofessional, rude and as far as the owner is concerned, that horse may have been perfectly siuted for their needs regardless of the reasons they put it up for sale. 

Remember, for every 5 people that will come look at your horse, you will be lucky if only 1 will be intelligent enough to even own a horse.