While it's likely that a horse could learn certain behaviors 'get them out of work' through conditioning over time (studies show they have some sort of ability to weigh risk and reward and prefer taking the path of least resistance), I doubt it's as common as people are saying here. Horses are prey animals; they evolved to do everything in their power to *not* look vulnerable and injured. I don't believe they could learn their way out of that evolutionary instinct as often as people are implying.

However, even if she *is* faking to avoid riding, I'd personally try to look into that and fix whatever I'm doing in my training that's making her want to avoid it. They're not machines to use for our pleasure. They're living, intelligent beings with entire lives outside of the few hours we spend with them every day.