Red is Much Happier

Just a short note this evening - I rode all three horses today and they were all just lovely.  Red was particularly excellent - he was much, much happier - we rode bareback.  He did some lovely, soft work at the trot.  I gave him a break from cantering, since I need to work on my bareback riding until it's more solid. I've discovered his problem with the secondary cue - a touch with the dressage whip if forward wasn't there - wasn't about the secondary cue itself, but about the cue being applied when he wasn't moving forward because of discomfort from the saddle.  He was complaining about the unfairness of it - and I agree.  When I'm bareback, I rarely need the secondary cue, and he doesn't object.  It just pays to listen to my horse, I guess . . .