Is it Summer yet?

We've had the shortest day now, please can the summer just hurry up and get here? The wind has been an absolute nightmare, and I'm hoping that it can explain away why Rio has not been quite himself the last couple of days. I'm really hoping that the troubles getting him out of the field are not going to continue into a bad habit...  Only time will tell if that's the cause though. It's difficult at the moment to decide whether he's genuinely scared/nervous in which case I want to reassure him, or if he is just being naughty, in which case he needs to know it's not going to wash with me!

After my fall yesterday, I've been taking the odd ibuprofen to try and prevent any swelling etc, but aside from a bit of an achey neck, I'm OK! I was so disappointed at coming off, but it all happened very fast. We have lots of work to do to try and get this boy more comfortable. Much more ground work to come I think, and I really need to get him in to a proper school to do some proper work with him instead of the grassy outdoor school we have on the yard... I'm not gonna lie and say that it's not knocked me a little - it's been a long time since my last fall, but in a strange way, I'm glad to have gotten my first tumble out of the way with him!

So, have any of you had any problems with getting your horses in from the field? I have no issue in catching him at the moment, but Saturday & Sunday saw us having a face off a few metres from the gate where he would not move an inch. Once I manage to get him through the first gate, he seems fine, but what can I do to try and prevent this from becoming a habit? I think I may have to start taking him up on a lunge line as he did run off to start with on Saturday, but Sunday just saw a battle of wills which I eventually won. I must admit, I will be a little gutted if the next few weeks see my main focus become getting him up to the yard... I'm looking into getting his saddle checked to ensure that it's not irritating him and changing his behaviour at all, and then will probably get his back looked at too...

I've not just been bringing him up to be ridden, I've brought him up just to be groomed, free lunged him, let him have a wander around in the indoor school, even just brought him up to pick his feet out to get him out of the field. It's not until this weekend he has really dug his heels in, and I'm just really crossing my fingers that the fact it's been really windy is not just a coincidence... If I know the cause, I can work on it. If I don't know why, what do I do next??

Ride safe x