he is a 9 year old gelding that i am working with and he has came a long way in the past few months.. he just has a problem steering with both a bit and hackamore. i think he also just doesnt understand leg pressure..what could i do to assure these things with him?
when i first started working my horse in a bit the first thing i did after he was cool enough to stand in it was let one side of the rein loose and tighten the other side and as soon as he gave to the pressure i would release and praise him and after he got the hang of that i would walk him down the long ends of the arena and i would ask him to move towards the center of the ring by a little rein pressure and a lot of even leg pressure and after he realized the he was so posed to move away from the pressure of the leg i slowly decreased rein pressure until he just move off my leg this took me about a month or two though you just have to be Patience
Okay, get ready to do LOTS and LOTS of circles. As you turn him in these tight circles, remember to bring your outside leg into him and if you have to enforce it to give him the idea, thumb him with your outside heel several times as you are turning him. This sensitizes the area and makes his brain think, "Oh, she wants me to turn this direction, that's WHY she applies the leg!".
When riding in the arena at a walk, do the above excercise in EACH corner of the arena. Once he gets the picture at a walk, then increase to a trot and so on and so on...
Learn to sit straighter and apply your seat aids with more clarity,I am a great believer in not skull dragging a horse in the direction I wish to go ,but rather use the bit/hackamore as part of the whole system.
No matter if you are neck reining or direct reining, you need to kick his other side so he knows that's the way you want to go.
 Walking/Running Puppy - Advise needed
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How can i teach my horse to steer better?