also riding school horses can be very auto pilot and ignore the rider it's quite different from riding your own horse. Buddy for example hacked out this morning, when we got along the lane to go past the track up through the woods he chose it as his route, when we got to the top of the woods he could turn right for the short walk home or turn left for the longer route. No prizes for guessing which one he chose. I didn't have the heart to turn him the other way......I could have, he would have gone where I wanted, but whatever, let him have his way for once. Riding school horses aren't allowed to be assertive like that, they have to behave. They work harder than a leisure horse, so sometimes it is hard to get them to give.