Trotting Tempos and Fast Halts

Nothing like almost going over your horses head!!  Millie responds very quick to me asking her to halt or slow down.  I don't feel I'm asking for it any different than I have before or when I ride Divine.  I've been working on Millie with smaller circles trying to keep her trot at a steady pace.  The arena is pretty flat so I don't have that issue to work with but she still tends to speed up the trot and it's a choppy short paced quick trot.

I've been bringing her to a halt and she doesn't ease into the halt, she halts on the spot and I get thrown off balance.  I guess that is good practice for my seat but I still don't like the sensation. It's just going to take some time and work but hopefully I can do more trail riding to just enjoy that with Millie for the next three months.  My wednesdays which I was thinking would be good days for just working in the arena have been few and far between due to really heavy storms with lightning.  In Colorado you don't mess with that!

I found that smaller circles helped with her staying at a nicer trot and not trying to speed up as quickly.  Maybe I should work on posting though to that fast trot, it just seems so quick and choppy, not like Divine.  I'm not a good judge as to whether the gaits can be enhanced by collection so that's why I have such difficulty or if it's all me needing to work on better balance so I don't feel so much bounce and inconsistancy.  Maybe it's a combination of an uncollected horse and an unsteady rider?  I have two lessons soon with Laurie, I think Friday evenings will work out the best for both of us for now.  We'll see how things go.  I miss my Arabs and can't wait to go see them again!