Slow and Steady Wins the Race...

... but Nox is sure that sprinting is the only way to go. 

I've been riding Nox every other day for two weeks now, although we missed a few days because of crazy thunderstorms and rain, but I've discovered that Nox simply will not walk calmly.  He won't walk on a lead, and he won't walk under saddle.  I tack him up and as soon as I swing into the saddle, he is ready to go!  Just asking him to walk a few steps gets him so excited that he jumps around and tries to trot.  It's ending up a constant battle of wills!  As soon as I ask him to stand still though, he relaxes and his perfectly happy to stand and watch the outside world around him.  If I ask for a walk, he jumps around and has nearly launched me off his back twice.

So!  Once again, I can't fight him and win, so I need to outsmart him.  The past two rides, we've done a start/stop method: I make him stand calmly until he is fully relaxed, and then ask for two or three steps, and then stop him again just before I feel his muscles tense and he jumps.  Once he's relaxed, we start again.  It takes us a full ten minutes to get around the ring once, but he hasn't jumped or misbehaved since we started this, so I think we're back on the right track.  It will take us a little more time in the recovery phase, but we're not in any hurry.  It's just nice to sit on my own horse!

I also gave Nox access to his smaller outdoor paddock.  Penny and I didn't think he was ready for the large paddock, because we don't want him running around yet.  Even in the small paddock, he managed to get a little rowdy.  Here is video of him as soon as we opened the paddock door:

 
Once he got that outburst out of his system, he was fine!  Now he just enjoys the sunshine with his new bunny friend.

Chillin' outside.

A domesticated but free roaming bunny hangs out with Nox - she likes his hay and grain.

They are just too cute together.

Onward into summer!