Nice combination...NOT.

We have gales,sleet and its extremely cold..lovely:(
I brought them in tonight as they looked like they'd spent most of the day standing in and around the shed,figured they may as well be in their stables tonight.

AliG's had a hack and two schooling sessions this week,one ridden one in the longreins.
He was pretty silly on the first hack granted he hadnt been ridden for two days or been along this particular way for a while but he definately was trying it on.He left the yard perfectly happy then I cut along the field where we'd done alot of the longreining in the beginning.Trotted him along the bottom where he tossed his head so he got a boot which resulted in a bouncy canter so I kept him going along the bottom then all the way up the side..if he's got energy for attitude he's got energy to work!
At the top I could feel him wanting to go right towards home,some piles of old tyres dumped didnt help, but he went past after having a look and sniff at them.I rode him alone the lane as far as it goes then turned and trotted him steadily,his ears were very mobile and he felt a bit unsettled still but then as we got back onto the field his attitude changed completely and he was lovely for the rest of the way home.
So ive pretty much decided he's being nappy but not out of nerves/fear I think its purely opinionated laziness.Strange why it always seems to be when we turn off left on the hacks,when we go straight on or along the lane to the right he seems happier?

Anyway I rode him in the school the following day and any sign of napping to the gate or him using other horse's as an excuse to be distracted resulted in a boot and a wallop.This may sound harsh but if I think the napping on the hacks is exactly the same as him napping to the gate and switching off in the school..he's lazy and basically trying to do as little as possible.
He tried setting his jaw a couple of times so I did lots of serpentines and loops which helped soften him.One of the girls from the yard was leading her horse to turn it out which he tried to use as an excuse to grind to a halt so he could watch, I gave him a sharp kick and a smack to which he bounced into canter from walk.
By the end he felt great soft, forward(ish) and more importantly listening to me.Its difficult because I dont want to bully him but it seems like he's the type who only respects you if your tough with him!

Spoke to the vet the other day about Polo,she's still convinced its arthritis which im not anymore.I told her I was giving him a month off to see if that helps,she said if its muscular,ligament etc then rest would help which would answer a few questions if not then we'd chat again and decide where to go next.