In the field he is leader of the gang, studdy mc stud, bossing his mares around who unfortunately let him get away with this annoying behaviour. He can be sweet and often watches over them while they sleep but he's never slow to reprimand one of them if they step out of line.
In the barn or pen by himself, aka away from his life source, the aforementioned mares, he is a trembling ball of anxiety. He whinnies like a dying donkey anyway, so when he's stressed it's worse. He dances, he paces, he chews, he frets. The first time I tried to ride him solo after he'd joined a herd, he took exception to me asking him not to step away as I mounted by pitching a for of rearing and spinning which I could not sit with one stirrup. So he threw me, for the first time. This sharpened me up somewhat and I spent a week longeing him hard and getting on and off, generally fussing him as he was wired up. In the interests of MY safety, I didn't ride him solo again after I'd finished the session after he threw me.
Which brings me to nice Toby. The Toby who has a companion while we're riding and is as nice as nice can be. Who will transition and pivot and side pass and stop and back and all that fun stuff like a total pro, until that other horse moves out of his sight or I move him to stop facing away from that horse. Then I get anxiety bundle who practically piaffes and frantically mashes his bit.
I'm taking him back to our trainer's next week.
