>>> Another option if she continues to want to go to shows and gets discouraged because she isn't competitive is that she could ride a school horse for the shows for awhile and Gat in her lesson or between lessons.
I'd go along with that idea IF I thought the problem was with Gat. However, if the coach is going to enter her in classes that she (Alex) isn't confident to be in, it's very likely the school horse will refuse too - many times (probably most) refusals come when the rider isn't confident. (Believe me, I KNOW that one. Emily and Thunder tended to be at the top of the ribbons, or were disqualified, at least at first. As her confidence grew, he proved fearless, and the refusals disappeared. I simply can't see that Gat has had enough of a chance to prove herself one way or another. The main thing that Emily gained from showing was the great feeling of taking Thunder from an unconfident "bully" of a horse, that we should have never bought, to a horse that was totally confident and almost push button. I think if Alex gives up on Gat now, she will always be robbed of that. Gat isn't dangerous...although if her coach continues to overload her, he could easily make her dangerous. Refusing jumps is a bad habit, but I don't think Gat has done that much before. Virginia, how high are the jumps in these classes. You need to find out these things yourself and not trust someone else who's made bad decisions for you. Karen Thomas [EMAIL PROTECTED]
