Well, I went for a great ride on Tuck today! I think it was a bit of a breakthough for me. Within the first 5 minutes I realised what a slacker of a leader I am in the saddle. On the ground we are progressing, slowly but steadily forward. In the saddle I can't seem to get my brain to function, or to carry over all the Parelli principles I've learned. While I've been playing in Parelli for 2 years now, I just recently started riding, thanks to Tucker Boy. So my ground skills don't quite match my riding.
Having realised that, I was able to do something about it. Since I have a LBI I knew he was playing games with me, and had to figure out how to put that play drive to good use without smashing his dignity(which I had done before with Avery). And I think I've been a little afraid of turning him into a grouch like I did the Averyboy. So I picked a pattern, follow the rail. Anytime he thought of going faster(or slower) I said, "Cool!! Me too!" And went with him. "Cause your idea to become his idea, but understand his idea FIRST!". So I played with his idea of going faster and slower, and started using it to make full circles, half circles, stops and back ups. Eventually I got a nice walk ON the rail! That's where I hopped off and gave him big scratch and a treat. We finally felt in harmony!
It's no joke that you MUST have a sense of humor with this horsenality, because I have no doubts that they like watch you squirm with frustration. However, I've learned that they absolutely love to have somebody to laugh with ;)