I'm so happy! I just got my new horse a little over a month ago! Her name's Shy Girl. She is one of the best mannered horses I have ever worked with. Lucky I found her for my first horse. I've been leasing horses since I was 10 and riding since I was 5, but not until now (15) have I had the money to pay for the care of my very own horse. She's five years old and she wasn't trained under saddle yet, but I've already got the saddle and bridle on her, and she'll carry me, just needs a lot of fine tuning....and she doens't really understand the meaning of "whoa" I don't wanna ruin her mouth, soo..ne suggestions on how to get this big girl to slow down? I love her so much.

do you know how to longline , ground drive etc. i personally wouldn't be on a horse that didn't know whoa. i would go back to ground work.

that's exciting! pics?

With an untrained horse you have to take it easy, but not too slow as to bore her. Just a good, progressive pace. Patience is the key. When trying to stop her, I'd make sure you have a soft feel of her mouth. You shouldn't have a lot of hold on a horse that's just been broken in. Relax your leg, knee included. Usually when I help with the pony babies we use voice commands, and those really help. So if you say "whoa" firmly and softly while you ask her to slow, she should eventually catch on. Since we don't really know much about your horse's mind and what she does with a rider on her, our suggestions probably are not as beneficial as they could be.

Congratulations!!! Thats really exciting As for the advice part of your post.. If you dont have a trainer to help you with.. find one!! I think its a much better idea having a professional help you out with an untrained horse!

Congrats! I'd go back to basics. Do some ground work and round penning (or longeing) and use voice commands. She needs to know what "whoa" means before you get on her back. Also, try long lining to get her used to the commands of the bit before actually getting on her back.

Good luck!