Slow Down!!

There are a couple of ways to go about this and you will be able to tell which works best for you and your horse very quickly.  The only problem is that you have some things working against you, its a mare which nature intended to have excess energy to take care of little ones and the fact that she is 7.  I have found that the older horses learn to rate thier speed much slower than a youngster which tires more easily.
 
When you take out to trot does she imidiatly just "take off" or does she start out slow and build speed?  If she just takes off I would imidiatly bring her into a tight circle and let her trot the circle for a couple of turns then let her out.  If she takes off again circle her again and when you let her out be facing and heading back the way you just came.  You may not get very far in the first couple of days, but that is ok because you wnat her to think that just because she is out on the trail doesn't actually mean you are headed out.  If she has been worked in an arena before and does ok in there it won't take long for her to realize that no matter where she is its just like the arena.  Work her in this way until you feel her relaxe and she should slow down for a few strides.  When she does let her walk out and go down the trail just a bit farther then ask for a stop and let her catch her breath.  Just because the trail is in front of you doesn't actually mean you have to follow it to the end!
 
 As soon as you feel her going faster than you like, one-rein stop her and flex, flex flex till she is so bored you think she is going to fall over.  Now ask her to move off again and repeat again and again.  You will find that she not only stops better but she is softer and much more relaxed at all gaits.  I use a D-ring snaffle for this and remember to only use pressure on one side of the mouth.
 
I usually use both methods starting out with the one-rein stop or bending them to a stop in first the arena and then outside.  You teach it in a place where the horse is more likely to learn without distractions and then build on it outside.  Then as the second stage of the training I use the circles to really enforce the idea that they can move thier feet but it just might not be in the direction they want to go.  I have found that it really builds a horses confidence when they know what is expected of them and when they know how far they can go before they get shut down.  Also doing it this way eliminates the use of both reins and the constent pulling you described.  If you have noticed the more and longer you pull the duller the mouth gets and the higher the head usually goes.  Using this helps soften them up by bringing them back to basics.
 
Hope this gave you some new ideas to try.  Good luck and have fun!

We always called that "doubling". It's the first thing my mom taught me when I started riding, and it's one of the first things I teach kids...if a horse is getting away from you or going too fast, use one rein to bring the nose to your knee and push them around until they get tired of doing it. Then start out again. It is VERY effective. Loose outside rein,  you don't want to pull them over on you.
 
Loping circles works too. Start out fast in a small circle and lope them until they start to slow, and  then make them lope past that. Then walk and blow a little, and ask them to lope again. They  might start out fast, just lope them in a circle until they want to slow, push them past it a little, then let them get their wind. A few sessions and they generally are much more interested in conserving energy than they are in sprinting.
 
A word to the wise...it's really hard to get a horse collected and really focused if you're just riding short periods of time here and there. Also, a horse that is in good condition may take 5 miles to settle down to business, so to speak. My mother's walker in his prime....well we rode all weekend every weekend, adn almost every night. He was well trained when we got him at 5; she trained and competed in endurance on him, gathered cattle, went on long, long trail rides....and for the first 5 miles you just had to ride him. He'd go where you wanted him to, but he was spooky and moved fast...under control but you had to be on top of things. After 5 miles he got into his stride and could go forever. We'd blast past the stables and out onto the trail, just pretty much getting it behind us so we could be on the trail, then just let him go (walking, of course, but my horse had to trot and lope to keep up..and he was 16.2 hands and no slouch himself in the walking department). At about 4.5 miles, when he'd just had the edge off, we'd lope for about half a mile...then we could get down to riding at a more sedate pace. These rides were among the mesas of New Mexico, above Sante Fe. Not flat country. The point being, I think I have one...oh yes, doubling is a wonderful tool and will teach your horse to stop taking off. But for her to consistently be collected and under control you're going to have to work her as well, tire her out, until she figures out it's not in her best interest to waste her energy right when you start out. And you might have to accept at some time that this is a horse that might be a tough, spirited horse that needs to work a little steam off before coming down to earth.

Am I understanding correctly?  She is rushing to reach the end of the trail so that we can turn around and head back?  That makes sense.  I have sort of tried what you mentioned, but not consistently.  So I now that I hear you all suggesting that approach I'll keep it up until I can't stand it anymore.  By the way, who are you?  You give great advice!!  A while back, You explained how to get my mare to take her correct lead.  By following your advice, she went right into it.  It was great!!  All of the frustration went away.  Thanks!!

You know, she dosen't get away from me.  She does stop and with constant reminders she will slow down and then speeds right back up again.  So the ride is far from relaxing!!  I think that I became really spoiled with my old mare.  I rode her everyday for almost 20 yrs.  and we just became a perfect team.  All of her gates were perfect, I thought it, she did it!!  But this little mare just seems to like to really move out and sometimes it can be fun, but not always.  Thanks for your help.

I forgot to mention that yes, she almost jumps into her fast trot, it is almost like yeh, its time to gooo!!  Her lope is the same!! 

My 4 year old mare does that in arena work, probably from barrel racing she thinks GO GO GO all the time, so I just work on transitions, lope, walk, trot, stop, and keep switching it every few strides so she never knows whats coming, keep it random, she'll soon find shes going to have to slow down and she won't race into the trot or lope because she knows shes going to either stop of come down to walk, etc...

i feel ya my mare was the same way..........What i did and has worked for me i would warm my mare up walking for about 5mins.......then jog on the rail for 15mins i like to do figure 8 it helps her flex and bed so that is a big help for my mare.....then i start on the rail at a lope well with my mare she likes to do a fast start if she does i&nbsput her into a good size circle at a lope  and i stay in that circle till she relaxes i will put her back on the rail  if she speeds up i put her into a circle right away and i keep her there till she slows way down....when she relaxes i put her back onto the rail and lope her some more if she starts to speed up i put her into a circle again...about a good 10mins of doing this  my mare gets tired and she will lope on the rail very very nicely.....i did this with my mare for almost a month (riding her 2 -3times a week )now i have her going very well she is at a nice slow lope now finallywith loose reins(my mare was a barrel horse before i bought her and slowing her down has been the biggest challenge) hope this helps

[quote=BuckskinsRock]

i feel ya my mare was the same way..........What i did and has worked for me i would warm my mare up walking for about 5mins.......then jog on the rail for 15mins i like to do figure 8 it helps her flex and bed so that is a big help for my mare.....then i start on the rail at a lope well with my mare she likes to do a fast start if she does i&nbsput her into a good size circle at a lope  and i stay in that circle till she relaxes i will put her back on the rail  if she speeds up i put her into a circle right away and i keep her there till she slows way down....when she relaxes i put her back onto the rail and lope her some more if she starts to speed up i put her into a circle again...about a good 10mins of doing this  my mare gets tired and she will lope on the rail very very nicely.....i did this with my mare for almost a month (riding her 2 -3times a week )now i have her going very well she is at a nice slow lope now finallywith loose reins(my mare was a barrel horse before i bought her and slowing her down has been the biggest challenge) hope this helps


That's what I do with my mare in the my avatar, because I also show her Pleasure in schooling shows and what have you and I can't have her racing around like were at a barrel race, but sometimes it takes longer than 10 mins for her to stay slow, she's in really good shape, better than me lol, and she just loves to run. And now I'm teaching her to completely stop from a gallop, in a snaffle it's quite interesting.

[quote=trailrider1234]

You know, she dosen't get away from me.  She does stop and with constant reminders she will slow down and then speeds right back up again.  So the ride is far from relaxing!!  I think that I became really spoiled with my old mare.  I rode her everyday for almost 20 yrs.  and we just became a perfect team.  All of her gates were perfect, I thought it, she did it!!  But this little mare just seems to like to really move out and sometimes it can be fun, but not always.  Thanks for your help.


I totally hear you on this, SO many days I just want to relax and ride, not work, and it hardly ever happens, unless she was worked really good the past few days, then she doesn't really want to move out as much lol. Just make the right thing easy and the wrong thing hard.