Q. The horse I ride seems to know a lot less than an 11 year old trained horse should know. He tries to move when I mount or shift my weight. He acts up a bit more than he should, but we started over fresh. If you have any advice, just tell me!

A. Sometimes it takes starting over to get things off on the right hoof. It's very easy to expect too much from a horse when you're told he's well trained. Unfortunately, there are as many people out there who don't understand what "well trained" is, as there are horses who have never had the schooling necessary to achieve it. In far too many cases, a particular rider will consider a particular horse well trained just because the horse responds reasonably well to that rider's cues. A horse can easily learn how to interpret a single rider's cues if the horse is ridden consistently only by that rider, regardless of how unique that rider's cues may be. Unless, however, the horse has been trained to understand the "standard" set of cues typically used within his specific working discipline, it's unlikely the majority of riders in that discipline will be able to get much of a response from the animal. I have no doubt your mount is well trained for his owner. I have big doubts he's well trained for anyone else.

There are several reasons why this horse might be moving when you mount or shift your weight in the saddle. A few of the possibilities that spring to mind are: 1) his back is sore, and when you mount or get off-balance, you put extra pressure on the sore area; 2) he's particularly sensitive to his rider's balance and moves nervously when he feels you're unsettled (unlikely, given the picture you've painted previously of this horse being a pretty lazy, laid-back dude); or 3) he doesn't particularly want to be ridden and is taking advantage of these vulnerable moments to try to move away from you.