hi Kim
do you have access to a round pen or a schooling area?
I would recommend you stop trying to ride him as he does have issues in the saddle and take it back to basics on the ground.
What video's have you managed to watch so far on the Uni?
Mel x

Hi thank you for your reply, not many as only just joined today. Yes we have a round pen. when i take him in there he kicks out at me but then does settle down and joins up perfectly ( in my opinion) . but seems to change drastically in the school xxkim

I agree with Mel, go back to basics, I would also suggest trying to long line him in the school the old fashioned way, so that you are behind him (@ a safe distance), then you can send him forwards possibly get a driving whip. I'm the school I usually leave the excess on the floor to drag, only because I can't be dealing with handfuls of line!!

Sounds like a young pony who's not had proper handling & no education, so yes, you need to go right back to the start.
Does he lead well, or hang back?
Start watching the lessons from the beginning & work through them, don't forget to click the tab that says Monty's challenge to answer the questions about the lesson afterwards, there are also extended notes to read through on each lesson to explain different points if you don't understand things & of course, ask questions on the forum.
Good luck, let us know how you get on.

yes he leads fine also hacks fine really forward just when he gets in the school hes just like i don't think so. I've had him 2 months now so don't know what education he had before me if any at all. so will see how long lining him goes thanks for your feed back :) xx

Hi Kim, great advice by all. I wouldn't hesitate to jump around and find all the lessons on spooky, mistreated horses and Join-Ups. My Alex is an off the track race horse. A winner until he broke his sesamoid bone. Thank goodness the owner gave him a chance before sending him off to the slaughter house. As a race horse he can run, sidepass, change leads and the such. But he is a saddle horse now. So here's how I did it. The first day when leading him, he got right behind me and tried to drive me into the ground when leading. No problem, I garbed his neck and held on. On the 2nd day, I started off with desensitization. I used a long stick just like Mr. Roberts uses in his video lessons. I only had a regular halter that day. He was rearing, bucking and trying to stomp the stick with bag on the end to death. The stick and bag kept his mind off me and I was at a safe distance. But my hands took a beating. I did everything Mr. Roberts shows in his videos. Oh... and this was after a successful Join-Up. Day 3, I got the Dully Halter in the mail. It made a world of difference. I started schooling him with the Dully and moved on to more desensitization. I contained with stick and multiple bags. As well as working from behind where Alex could not see me. That was another great technique. Day 4, we moved to Mr. Roberts blue tarpaulin (tarp) method. Day 5, I was putting the tarp in fold manner on Alex. By day 6, I could cover him completely with the blue tarp. Then I started from the ground up as if he was an new colt that had never been started. I think the desensitization first built the trust we need to begin working together over and above Join-Up. I think the stick and bag stuff is like a metaphor for all the other equipment we use with horses. You will hear Mr. Roberts say time and time again. When a horse sees your, bridle, halter or lead rope wiggling all around. The horse thinks its a snake come to kill him or her. Its been about 2 months now and we are starting our first rides. The short answer is as everyone has suggested, “start form the ground up and watch the lessons”.

Hi Kim - I'm wondering what reason they gave you for wanting to sell him and what history you have (if any) for him. As he has been fully checked (great stuff) it would seem behavioural rather than physical and he is clearly trying to communicate his unhappiness with something. It may be that he has been ridden very "messily" in the past and been given mixed signals and given unfair and inconsistent treatment (classic one is squeezing legs to go forward and pulling reins which means stop - very confusing for the horse!) or he has been worked round and round a school till he is bored to death so he associates ridden work with being thoroughly miserable. Doing all that is suggested above will give you a really firm grounding and a clear understanding of exactly what upset him. It gives you a platform to start showing him that all is ok under saddle. It may even begin with getting on, sitting for 1 minute, doing absolutely noting, get off, put him away. Next stage.... getting on asking for one step forward..get off finish. Incremental steps. Sometimes, doing very little can have a massive effect. This is not about him being "dominant" - this is about him trying to communicate. Just a quick additional point - the concept of "left brain introvert" is a Parelli concept, not a Monty concept (Monty does not support this idea) and I, having studied both methods, am fairly sceptical about the concept however it can be a useful metaphor for understanding the behaviour but is not a literal idea. I only mention it for information and to avoid any confusion and accidentally give more mixed messages to the horse. Keep us posted :-)

Great advice from everyone here so I do hope that helps. I agree with Vicci it does sound as if he is a bit stale and fed up with everything so starting from the beginning and keeping the lessons short and interesting for him seems the way to go. Just spending time with him will help to build your relationship. If he hacks fine out of the school and is safe to ride out then perhaps give him a rest from riding him in the school and just take him out for fun rides together? In the school concentrate on ground work with plenty of variation and lots of encouragement. He is only young so starting over again will allow him to relate to you better and it will also give you a chance to find out what he knows and what he has done already. If you can possibly find out more about how he was handled before he came to you that will also help you to understand him better.

I agree with MaggieF, stay out of the school for a while for his ridden work & try to make groundwork fun for him in the school, keeping it short & being very generous with the praise when he does try just a little for you.
It's meant to be fun for the horse as well as the rider & you can still school gently while your hacking out by asking for transitions keeping it all fun with lots of positive praise.
He may not have been taught how to try to work out what you're asking for & so freezes up cos he's scared of getting it wrong!