Help... before I give up!

[Katie92]

I am having real trouble with my horse in he arena, to the point I feel like all my hard work & 20 years of riding has been for nothing!
I've had him since yearling & he had no contact before me so I know his history & what he has/ hasn't done. He is 110% on a hack- absolute dream. His saddle has been checked & was made for him, teeth& back are fine & a recent bit change solved my previous query!
His right rein is the better one (this is also my preferred rein) change to the left & it's as though he forgets how to use his back legs. feels like he's dragging them but I fact he's just doing very tiny, tiny strides when he normally does huge ones. I try to push him through it but if this is done on a corner he wants to canter & gets very confused when he is half halted back to trot. Some days he is amazing- Saturday just gone. Yesterday & today I have ended up crying because I have got so frustrated with him!!! What can I do? I don't want this feeling of dread wondering if today will be a bad day please send help!

 

[Mary Poppins]

How old is he? How much previous work has he done in an arena? Is it a case of he used to ride in there well and has suddenly stopped, or has he never gone well?

 

[Katie92]

He has turned 8 this year. We've been having these same problems for around a year now I would say. Sometimes it could be that he goes great for a whole week, then he just drops back in to acting like he doesn't know how to trot around in a circle. I recently added 1 flat pole at every quarter to ensure he was stepping over them this worked for a while until he realised he could just jump them like he was Milton him self!!!
P.s "back man" is coming out Thursday.