Houston We Have A Meltdown

Apparently poor Stinker could not life yesterday.  Everything started out fine, he was a bit resistant to my leg but that isn't uncommon at the beginning of a ride.  Typically lateral work gets him to soften and relax.  That was not the case.

This guy was not here

Instead we had an epic meltdown.  It was like time had rewound to last year.  Couldn't walk, couldn't halt, couldn't trot, couldn't bend... There was spinning attempts at bucking and bolting.  So much tail sass.  I got slapped in the face multiple times...

Can't. Handle. Life.

It didn't feel like he was being an asshole, it felt like he was legitimately panicked about something.  What that something was I don't have the faintest ides.  I got off him twice and did ground work both times he seemed to settle and then promptly went back to having a meltdown.  I checked to make sure everything was fitting correctly and he wasn't getting pinched or anything (it was all fine).

Back off bitch!

I took him to the dressage ring because that is where he is the calmest and the meltdown continued.  I finally got him to give slightly to the left.  It was quite ugly and he was totally convinced that he could not possibly do that.  And then it was like his brain clicked back into gear.  It wasn't great work, but he would at least walk and bend both directions.  So I called it good enough and got off.

At least he looks cute while being an asshole

Hopefully, it won't pick back up tomorrow.  It is really bothering me that I don't know what caused it. I am taking a lunge line with me tomorrow just in case.  If he wants to canter so badly he can do trot canter transitions on the lunge line and actually work correctly.