I wasn't comfortable with getting up and seeing how Wiley reacted, so I called in Christina to get him going again. She's confident with the horses, and I like how she works with them.

 

I'd lunged the day before, and Wiley might hesitate, but he doesn't do anything silly on the line.

He reminds me a lot of Thistle, but not so bulked up.

Christina brought Maggie out, and it was nice to see how little Wiley cared about having a dog around.

He doesn't have a huge trot, but once he relaxes into it it's pretty nice.

One ear on the trainer.

Doesn't look like he'll have trouble with lateral movements.

He's good about halting square and balanced.

When she first got up, Wiley acted like he'd lost his leader and needed to go back to the herd.

It didn't take long for him to relax and realize that she was still there, just not on the ground.

Maggie was always around, and it didn't bother Wiley in the least.

Christina pulled him back any time he decided to switch to a trot.

This time she just wanted a nice relaxing ride around.

He even started to relax into the bit.

I think this is when she was checking the cell phone as she rides the green horse. She said he didn't feel bottled up or tense.

A whoa and some praise for the brave horse. He just needed a little reminder that he knew how to be ridden. A little lack of confidence at the beginning of the ride, but after a circle or two, he was listening nicely. The last test was riding by the horses in the other pasture. Wiley just marched on and barely flicked an ear at them.