Horse Training Questions

I have a new mare, Spice, on trial for the week.  Traning her has been a challenge and interesting every day.  Well, maybe it’s more like her training me!  She is unlike any horse I have ridden before.   Day one: I had a tough ride.  She wanted to go, go, go, and I couldn’t keep her straight.  Every time I asked her to walk off she would swerve to one side or another.  I finally took it back to basics and just concentrated in relaxing and keeing my bellybutton perfectly in line with the horn and my body in the exact center of my saddle.  We talk a lot about taking our horses back to basics when things aren’t going well, but it’s often hard to remember that sometimes you, the rider, need to cut yourself that same break!  After a few minutes of focusing on my foundation, things went a little better, but it was still a rough ride.  I felt like Spice was frustrated with me because I wasn’t communicating exactly as her last rider did.  After about an hour I found a positive moment to end on and put her away.  Remember, when things aren’t going well with your horse you need to check in to make sure your riding position is not causing the problem.  Cut yourself some slack and take it back to basics for a few minutes!