I'm riding a mare and I'm going to refer to her as she. I took her to my place because I have an arena. At first she was worried and wanted to steer to the gate. She was constantly speeding up. I didn't try to slow her down. I just rode her forward and asked her to turn: big circles, diagonals etc. I waited. I turned her with my legs and reins aiming at keeping her body vertical and asking for some bend. She wasn't really bending and she was leaning sometimes in, sometimes out. I was still asking her because she sometimes aligned herself properly and my aids softened and at the end of the ride I got her turning with much more balance, she didn't try to run or steer herself to the gate. At the end she gave me a steady trot with good tempo, the trot I could work with. Next time I will wait for that trot. It may not happen until the end of the ride again. It doesn't matter. The most important thing right now is that she is better and calmer at the end of the work. A green horse needs time, patience and repetition.

She is a smart mare. I think mares are smarter then geldings and that is why it is sometimes hard to work them. They are less forgiving and demand better riding and better horsemanship. I find it fun working with mares. I now have two in training and I rode mares in Russia, so I'm not saying it just after a few rides on one mare.

Happy riding...