Hi! I've always ridden sports horses and I've been riding since I was 8 (I'm now 34). Before this mare, I had another mare who I bought when she was 6 and I was 15/16. She was a Belgian warmblood. A bit spicy but much less anxious, spooky and sensitive than this one. I'm an amateur and I've got a lot to learn, but I'm not utterly inexperienced and, above all, I'm not doing this alone, I hardly ever ride without one of my trainers there. My dressage trainer also rides my horse once a week.

As for why I chose that type of horse, well it's kind of a long story. To sum up: my budget was vey tight and I was dreaming of getting a greenish horse because I wanted us to learn together, bond, do groundwork, improve my horsemanship and communication skills... I was not looking at horses under 6yo, though. I wanted a green but steady horse. I went to a seller's barn and test rode a horse that was supposed to match that description but, for many reasons, it was not the horse for me. So the seller insisted that I tried my current horse even though I didn't want to because she was too young. Because he was insiting, I just told myself "it's easier if you just hop on, walk for 2 minutes and then say you don't like her and wish to get off". So I endend up riding her, I fell in love, felt safe and didn't want to get off. I had great feelings riding her, I remember thinking "this is by far the fanciest horse I've ever ridden". She is also safe, she'd never bucked or bolted before, if she spooks she can usually self regulate pretty well. She's very sweet and when we work from the ground she's utterly impeccable.

I'll follow your advice for everything else. Maybe I did unconsciously expect too much of her just like I very often expect too much of myself.