Ace- a complex character

Ace is turning out to be a very complex horse to ride. He is incredibly sensitive and when you have done an exercise once he anticipates dreadfully and just keeps trying to do what you have already done, without waiting to be asked. He frequently sets his back, but when sent on he then sets his neck and becomes rigid in the neck and unyielding in the mouth, and he overreacts to the leg, dashing off into a stiff and ungainly transition.  He's not above napping badly to the gate with a violent spin on the spot  when he thinks he has done enough. It is very difficult to ride him without wanting to be constantly pulling him back together, but I know that will be a quick route to ruining his paces. So I have been struggling for a little while now to get really nice work out of him.

The last couple of days I think that we have made a lot of progress. I have insisted on him going forwards, and I have made a point of allowing my seat to go with him and resisting pulling him back. When he sets, I have sent him on instead, and then steadied him again, and finally he seems to be accepting the contact instead of trying to flick his head upwards.

He did some super trot work this morning and some lovely canter left. But when we turned to canter right he was anticipating the aid and running into the rein. I gave up trot to canter as a bad job and tried walk to canter but he was flinging himself violently into my hands, which I refused to release. It is hard to balance between not pulling back but not allowing him to rip the rein away from me and he got very angry. The tail was flailing, the body was twisting every which way and he tried a buck or two as well. He has, though, completely given up rearing, thankfully.

I stayed calm and stuck to my guns, because I know that he can step quietly into right canter from walk, we have done it often before. I was trying to hard to give the aid with my seat, so I changed to a flick with the whip so that I could keep my seat steadier, and that definitely helped.
 
If he took the wrong lead, I made him carry on and realise how difficult it was to counter canter the circle.  In the end he realised that my hands were going to stay where they were and that he needed to work within the framework of my seat, legs and hands. I felt his change of attitude and let him step forward into the canter, which he did nicely for a few strides and then set, went disunited and threw his head around. I stopped, keeping calm, and did the exercise again and this time he cantered a whole circle very nicely and I rewarded him by ending the session and giving him a lovely shower which he seemed to thoroughly enjoy.

I am trying to find a trainer for us both but having no luck in getting someone whose style will suit mine. I'm thinking of trying Stephen Clarke for one lesson. He's our number one dressage judge and I think he will be very "directive" and not "collaborational" which I would prefer, but I really do need some help soon if Ace is to reach  his potential in a few years time.

C