Ok so we're still having stopping trouble but I'm getting that one worked out. Now he won't yield his hind end under saddle, like last night he nearly took us both into the fence and when my friend was walking with us giving me pointers he'd throw his hip out towards her a bit. Not threatening, just not walking straight... I had to walk him along the fence to get him to go "straight" even though he's still a little tipped. Also when he lunges (yay he lunges!) he tips his head out instead of bending on the circle... I've been doing carrot stretches with him to get his neck a little more flexible but I'm not sure how to get him to "bend like a banana on the circle" as I read somewhere... any ideas?
I don't know about your horse but if you're riding him I'd try this. My mare used to do the same thing and my trainer told me she was looking for the escape; kind of going straight but technically in a circle. So she had me ride her in a circle and tighten the inside rein just enough so I could see her eye. When she'd soften and give to the bit/cue and keep proper position, I'd reward her by loosening up on the inside rein, but if she tipped back out and I lost sight of her eye I'd tighten back up until eventually she got it. I really doubt it's about not being flexible. That's not a difficult position for a horse unless you're doing very tight circles. So in my opinion, it's more about not being used to circling and looking for the escape. The above exercise will also help you have more control in the saddle as my mare used to fight the bend when circling so badly that she'd trot/canter diagonally at asking for the turn, w/ head pointed out until she'd slam me and the trainer into the fence, wall whatever, she didn't care. She just did not want to "give" completely to the circle. Eventually, (and it was ugly at first) she was very compliant and quit that other stuff. Hope this helps. If you can't ride her and do this, you might try another thing we did which was lunge him w/ an outside person who can use a carrot stick or some other pressure point to urge his head toward you whenever he begins to tip outward and you might match that with a verbal cue so he associates it when you're on him. Good luck.
