Several years ago, in an effort to encourage me to ride my Big Red Beast with a little more assertiveness, Dick told me I needed to give Chicago a cue he wouldn’t want to ignore. More to the point, I needed to “make him say, Damn!”

Two weeks ago, Chicago crossed back to the dark side of his younger years, and absolutely refused to take the left canter lead. We spent nearly 30 minutes trying every trick from his training bag, and the only cursing came from Dick. I was reminded of why he suggested we take up cart driving.

Last week, we worked outside; relaxed and quiet-minded, with a slow, stress-free, step-by-step plan of action. We started with the right lead, as that’s Chicago’s preferred side – set him up for success, start on the positive, right? So, I moved the hip, picked up the shoulder, and asked for the canter. His response? He took the left lead. Damn!

Today, we repeated our trail ride approach, with only a couple of canter departures, one incorrect, the other correct.

But here’s the thing – two weeks ago, the day after our dance on the dark side, Chicago agreeably acted as canvas for the artistic renderings of four Books in the Barn readers, allowing them to cover his coat with (pretty much) washable tempera paint, including “#1 Best Horse”, which spilled into the ticklish spot on his flank. And last week, he stood motionless as a 6 year old visitor took the shortcut under his belly to brush his other side.

On any lead, that’s a damn good horse.