I have noticed for some time, particularly amongst eventers, the deterioration of ground manners as the horse gets fitter. Perhaps a lack of guidance by coaches? Are we so busy in the delivery of lessons that we don't see, or have the time to express the importance of affirming ground manners through the rising plane of nutrition . Obviously as the horse gets fitter with progressive training there are control issues that can get out of hand if ground manners are not dealt with on a daily basis. I.E. SIMPLE STOP AND GO , how many times have we all seen the young rider having trouble with the brakes? What seems to be the solution? A stronger bit. While this may fix the problem short term, there seems to be less long term strategies. Don't get me wrong , I don't have anything against stronger bits, but it must also be addressed with a revision of ground manners . As we all know there is usually a couple of problems associated with poor brakes, and rarely is there one fix. But how often do we see a horse with poor brakes ,also have poor ground manners, with both deteriorating with the increasing fittness of the horse.