Still Hot To Trot

Went out to the barn last night around 5ish. Saddled Rio up, he's much more comfortable in the grooming stall now. No nervous poo's at all. Plus, Nike was also getting groomed, so it was like he had a buddy to reassure him that things were cool.

We headed into the ring, took a walking lap and mounted up. He's excellent at making his belly HUGE so that the girth barely fits, so the lap forces him to stop giving me "big belly." We pretty much did the same things that we did yesterday. Lots of walking, some trotting down the long sides. He was so tot to trot that I thought perhaps I'd let him work out some energy, so I let him trot into the corners and a short side a couple of times. So it was like we almost made a lap, but didn't. Then we'd walk a lap and trot some more. I barely had to ask for a trot and he takes off like a bat out of hell. It is a really fast trot. There were a couple of times when it was slower and really nice, but those moments were fleeting.

I couldn't tell if he wanted to go so fast cause 1) he was excited and the ground was comfortable for him to move on, so he had a lot of energy, 2) he was still a little scared about being in the ring, 3) he was trying to show off for Nike and Vinny (but he did this last time, so I think that this is unlikely) or 4) maybe his front left foreleg is still tender and it's more comfortable for him if he goes fast as opposed to a normal trot.

Anyway, since he seemed to really want to haul ass, I decided that since he had been a reasonably good boy that I'd let him throw in a little canter stride. So we trotted down the long side (tracking left) and I moved my leg back and told him it was okay to canter and he threw his head down and did a little buck! What a jerk! So after he was unsuccessful in getting rid of me, we went and tried it again, no buck this time, but no canter either...tossed head down and gave me attitude. We tried it once more, and then changed direction (now tracking right). We tried it again, and same response. Very rude! No more bucks, but was totally tossing his head around and making it very clear he didn't want to go. So, at this point, I thought that since we were fighting and battling for who was boss that I had to win and make him canter. I decided we'd try it one more time and as we turned to go down the long side, he stopped and started backing up. What a little snot. So we had a little fight about going forward and I won. So we walked around the ring one lap. I figured that since he was being such a brat about cantering that I didn't want to piss him off and risk him hurting himself and possibly me. In the end, no canter but we did keep moving. I think that we're tied in the struggle of who's boss so far.