Naughty or uncomfortable?

The saddle fitting experience has highlighted something to me.  Before the saddle fitting, Lil was very girthy, putting her ears back and baring her teeth at me.  Of course, she wouldn't bite me, so instead, she used to sink her teeth into the hitching rail.  After the saddle fitting, this all stopped.  Now when I do up the girth she looks around, sniffs my elbow, and then gazes off into the distance.  Massive difference.  From this I conclude that when she is comfortable, Lil is relaxed and happy.

Now onto riding.  Firstly, when I try to get on, Lil tries to walk off.  Is this just a bad habit?  Or is she uncomfortable about being ridden?  (I will add here that I do not use a mounting block.)  Then when I ask her to trot, she sometimes throws her head up.  Especially on the left rein, which is her stiffer side.  Is this a sign of discomfort?  Or is she just being naughty?  Or, is she confused?  Not sure whether to go forward from the legs, or to slow down from the reins?

It is important to remember that, according to Dr McLean, horses are sometimes victims of their own habits.  That is, once they have acquired a habit, they just do things out of habit.  It takes a human (or some other factor) to actually come along, and train the habit out of them.

Walking off while I am mounting may well be a habit.  However, I don't think throwing her head in the air when being asked for trot is a habit.  It escalates when she has been ridden several days in a row.

The problem here is that I am asking her to trot on her stiffer side.  So of course, she is stiff.  Yes, that is uncomfortable.  But I need to trot her, in order to build up the muscle strength on that side.  Yet, every time she throws that head up into the air, she is building up a habit of head tossing.  The result is that in two months time, she might have the muscle strength to trot, and she may no longer be stiff and uncomfortable, but she will still be tossing her head!

Ahh, the fun and games of training horses.

So what's the answer?  Ask for trot, and don't allow the head toss.

Luckily, Lil is very keen to work with me.  So every time she tosses her head in disagreement, I ask her to lower her head (with a firm, short, sharp downward tug on one rein, followed immediately by a firm downward tug on the other rein, followed immediately by a slight loosening of both reins).  This makes her lower her head, carry herself, and relax.

Of course, I haven't really tackled the confusion theory so far.  Lilly may well be confused.  However, the two tugs followed by a slight release should also deal with the confusion issue.