Your ground work has to be able to influence your riding!
Take your horses slow but be effective with them which means we are building their confidence all the time, we are wanting it to be their idea but also to be able to have some structure and some guidance and leadership along with that, where they don’t take over, so at the point where they get nervous or insecure that they will look for our leadership.
You want your horse to be sensitised with a thought process that’s linked to becoming relaxed -not desensitised to the point where they have given up in their thinking, their reaction, their awareness. It’s ok for them to be afraid they can learn not to overreact.