> Do you think there was a reason the seller held his bridle while I > mounted?
Yes! That happened with my first Icelandic. The trainer and another person held him while I mounted. I noticed. When we went on a trail ride, I offered to get off to open and close the gate. "No, I'll do it", he said. I said, "No, no problem, I'll do it." This went back and forth with insistence several times, until I just got off and took care of the gate. I had noticed a tree stump that I could use to get back on. But.... gee.... the horse wouldn't stand for mounting. The trainer had to dismount to hold the horse, but it got the point across to him that I *knew* the horse had problems in that area. After getting him out of the icelandic saddle and into a treeless saddle, and clicker training at the mounting block, he was okay. Judy http://icehorses.net http://clickryder.com
