Squealy Baby

I don't know what they'd been up to, but  both Anky and Remy came in this morning with a swollen eye, nothing serious, just a little weepy, so I left them in the stable and took Bonbon up to the school.  She was a little hesitant going up there, but we arrived wth no problems. In the school she was a really good girl. We started off by asking for walk and halt transitions, working on a small circle with me at her shoulder, then moving off around the school. Up the long side, across the short side and down back over the poles. We did this on both reins and she was brilliant. She was better on the right rein, keeping a nice distance with a good walk stride. On the left rein she wanted to come in to me, but after a few minutes she got the hang of it and started to walk out nicely. It was a good session. We'd almost got back to the yard, down the hill appoaching the gate when she started to trot, I was just about to ask for a walk when she squealed, started to canter and legged it towards the small paddock which leads to the main gate to the yard. I knew that I couldn't hold her so let go the rope. I hate doing this, but there was no way I could have held her. She cantered around for a minute or two as I followed her up the field, then went to stand at the gate. She was a bit hot and bothered, but fine, and calmed very quickly. I took her out of the field, back down the yard and through the far gate, back into the field at the same point she'd just run off from. We stood calmly at halt for a couple of minutes and she was very well behaved, so I led her out and back to the stables. I don't know what caused her to do it, but I'm happy with the way she dealt with it when I led her back there. I'm not sure what to make of this squealy behaviour.
It was slightly overcast this afternoon and a bit cooler, and when I checked Anky's eye it was pretty much back to normal so I decided to ride her. I took her up to the school and she was jumpy and distracted, usual behaviour when I take her out of her normal routine. I walked her around, lots of changes of rein, trying to keep her attention and get her to relax. It wasn't easy, and she was concentrating on everything except me, backing off my leg one second, scooting forward the next. I really needed to get her attention and wake her up to my leg, so gave her a couple of sharp nudges  to get her to listen and get her going forward. Once I'd got her attention, I slowed it right down and took it step by step, asking for a halt, flexion and then a walk transition, working on small circles asking her to move away from my inside leg and keep the bend, if she started to rush and fall forwards, I lifted her head and as soon as she softened, relaxed my hand and let her stretch into the contact. If she continued to resist I brought her back to halt and started the process again. I don't know if I did the right thing, but at times she felt to be in much better balance, with good response to my leg and soft in the hand. I was pleased with the session, it had started off badly, but I think we achieved some positive results.