A Little More Progress.....

Harley seems calmer in a ring now.  I have to ride him on a very light contact, and when I ask for trot I can't use my legs, only my voice, but he has been trotting calmly in rings that before he didn't want to walk in.  We're also working in the round pen again, only now it's an open round pen, not the enclosed bull pen we used before.  He has thrown a couple tantrums in the beginning, hoping I'll feel bad and take him out.  But it's not working, and he eventually gives up and behaves himself.  He's a tester, an envelope pusher, and he has a strong spirit so he's not one to give up easily, but he's also extremely smart so I have to be smarter.  Baby steps.

Harley has also begun tormenting mares in the grooming stall next to his stall.  He mashes his face against the wire mesh and sticks his tongue through it, knowing they can't get to him and enjoying the ear pinning, teeth gnashing, hind leg kicking and squealing that he creates.  He thinks it's funny.  And considering that these are mares who try to bite his face off whenever he gets too close, it is funny :)  Never had a horse with a sense of humor before.  But then, Harley is special.....