>Everything you said, Heidi, has been my
experience except that I think relatively inexperienced riders will notice these
traits better when the horse is conditioned. My older horse, Suni, has a
power walk to die for. But when I first got him, he either bucked or
stumbled every step as he learned to balance a rider. Also, once on the
trail, he bucked the saddle (with me in it!) up on his neck. In a couple
of years, his chest and shoulders filled out some. Once at a vet check, I
hopped off and loosened the girth. When I left the check, I just hopped on
without tightening the girth. A few minutes later, going down a steep
hill, I had this odd feeling that you get when you have a flat tire in the
car. I leaned down and felt the girth. It was hanging down about six
inches. Point is, Sun's conformation had changed and the saddle didn't
move going down that hill, just felt somehow a little odd.
Yes, certainly there are horses who may not "come
out of the box" this way but who have sufficient basics to "train into it" so to
speak.
