Gen. Apollo McAuliffe

Well.   Said Sarah of Eventing in Color:   Maybe he needs to give himself a chiropractic adjustment with the help of a turnout and you with a longe whip.

Heh. Heh. Heh.   That is almost exactly what he got.  :)    Here's how the conversation went on Saturday:

To the Horse Commander:

      Come to Jesus. 

The Human Commander.

           To the Human Commander:

                 NUTS.

          The Horse Commander.

To the Horse Commander:

     Perhaps a longe line, longe whip, and side reins will make you change your mind.  I say again: Come to Jesus.

The Human Commander.

           To my Human Overlord:

                  I'm tight with Jesus.  Did you want me to come at a trot or at a canter?

           The Horse.

When I was longing him to the right and asked for canter transitions at first, he bulged as far left as he could possibly bulge and threw his head in the air.   I figured that he probably needed outside aids, so I busted out the side reins.  I didn't put them on tight, of course, seeing I had no idea whether he'd ever used them before.  But once he figured them out, the canter issues improved quickly.    That plus me insisting on forward motion at all times, and not letting him off the hook no matter how far left he went, did the trick.

After that longe lesson, I got quiet, polite canter transitions when I asked for them under saddle.  :)   

Didn't ride yesterday, but looking forward to tonight.  I do believe I'll longe him again before I ride, just to make sure he's still on the straight and narrow.