There were some very large pigeon coos and chuckles. This coupled with all of the outside doors being open made it quite scary for Rob. We lunged in the center and he walked and trotted in both directions. He wasn't too keen on cantering so I didn't push it. I know this won't be a problem in the future.
I had purchased some long reins (shorter than long lines) when I visited Libertyville a few weeks ago. It would have been nice to simply hook them to the bit, run them through the surcingle and go. But they were cheap. You get what you pay for holds true here. I couldn't open one of the snaps large enough to hook around the little O-ring. ARGHHHH.
Skye came in and he's a baby too, only under saddle for 9 months. And he had a squeaky new saddle, literally. Eee eee eee. Rob wasn't sure if he wanted to follow him or run away. Oh the conundrum of my little buddy. I kept trying to open the second snap and finally got it. I put both reins through the surcingle rings and told him to walk. At first he put his head down and pawed (Rob auto-reaction when bored or confused). I tapped his butt and clucked and he moved forward. He did really well. I grabbed hold of his mouth and kept telling him to walk. He went in circles and stopped like a pro! Yippee! I don't know if it was dumb luck or if he's a quick learner, but I'm not going to question it. I flipped the reins over his butt and went on his off-side. He walked, circled and stopped and that was good for me.
Not bad little horse. Not bad. :)