My horse wont walk once I get on

Question
I recently bought an 8 year old gelding that is easily lead on halter and was ridden bareback with a halter the 1st time my husband saw him, he bought him at an auction so we know nothing of his background.  He seems very loveable but has the habit of biting occasionally.  He saddles fine, doesn't particularly like the bit but will eventually take it.  Once saddled and you mount him, he will not move forward, right or left but will walk if someone is on the ground to follow.  He is very stubborn and will not follow any commands; pressure with legs or bit.  What should I do?

Answer
Linda,

Now you know the meaning of the expression "caveat emptor", let the buyer beware.  You are buying a pig in a poke at an auction, especially if you are not knowledgeable about what you're buying, in this case a horse.  He  needs some significant re-training which I don't know if you are up to or not.  

The biting is totally unacceptable behavior.  I'm sorry but if he did this to me he would get his worst  nightmare in response.  I yell at them, shank them; I've punched a couple in the nose, kneed a few others in the side!  It's a dominance thing and he obviously does not respect you as the person in charge.  You need to let him know, in no uncertain terms, that you will not accept this behavior, ever, from him.  I hope you can read horse body language reasonably well.  Then you know how far to go with your discipline here.  You want to wake him up and scare him, a little, just like a lead mare would.  He needs to want to NOT DO this again!  

The riding issues are very different.It sounds like he's barely broke to saddle.  You will need to step back a little here and do some basic groundwork with him.  Put him on a lunge line and work with him with vocal commands so that he learns what "whoa", "walk" and "trot" mean.  Once he's responding well to them then you can go back to the riding.  It's not a problem to have someone walk along with him to start.  You give him the command to "walk" along with the appropriate aids.  If he needs a little coaxing to get started, be patient.  Let the person walk next to his head, not in front of him.  Just walk around and let them gradually drift away.  Simply walk, stop, and walk more until he is responding.  Be sure to praise him a lot and encourage him.  He's learning right now.  Make a big fuss over him when he does what is asked.  Emphasize the positive, not the negative, when he's learning.  Treat him like a little kid and he'll be fine.  

He may be 8 yr.s old in actual years but he sounds rather immature so he's not been trained a great deal.  If he's a kind horse, and sounds like he is for the most part, then he'll be fine.  But you are going to need to spend time with him.  When you set out to teach him something new you will need to forget about time.  Each horse learns at it's own pace, some are slower than others.  You can't get frustrated or impatient, if you do stop immediately because you will accomplish nothing more and may well undo what you have accomplished thus far.  

Feel free to contact me if you need any more help.

Lyn