well.. i think you did the RIGHT thing personally.
we were at a 4-h show a few weeks back and this little girl was over-horsed (and a BRAT) so her mom tried to ride her horse down a little bit.. but he kept acting up.. so they took him to the trailer and he came back a dopey mess... i mean LITERALLY standing there with his nose touching the ground.. made me SO mad!!!
THEN another girls horse tossed his head while he was going in the arena.. she promptly jumped off, lugged him to the trailer and he came back just as dopey as the other one.. and it was common knowledge at the show that they had aced them.. i think its stupid.. if your horse is acting up and you cant handle it then you shouldnt be riding that horse.. (especially a 10 year old kid on a BIG a-hole gelding.)
I really think you did the right thing, for you and your horse, you can work thru your problems instead of covering them up and pretending they dont exist.