Gently playing with the bit

 I started with Bonbon in the school today. She's not been up there for a while as we've been working in a small area at the bottom of the garden.
We did some groundwork at walk and she worked well although not entirely settled. There were a few things going on around us and she was a bit distracted. I delayed asking for the trot and concentrated on getting her relaxed on the circle, walking out nicely with good, even bend, also working on moving quarters and shoulders, lots of halt/walk transitions and some reinback.  I don't know if I'm transmitting some weirdy 'were going to trot now' vibes, but I swear I saw a little glint in her eye as I was thinking about the trot transition and she started squealing and first trotting and then cantering, all entirely without any form or balance! I stood quietly in the centre of the circle until she halted and stood to face me and then continued with the walk work to try to restore some calm and relaxation.  I changed the rein and waited until she was relaxed and then asked again, same thing although not quite as explosive as the first time and she did settle a little. We finished on a good note with a good forward walk, with stretch and relaxation through the body.
I'm not sure why she's doing it and I'm not sure how we're going to handle it, but I'll continue doing what I'm doing now and see if she settles. She's a funny girl sometimes, but I think we can come to some agreement one way or another.

It's been a good day with Remy today. I walked him to the school and started with a little groundwork, asking for even, relaxed bend on the circle, giravolta on both reins and a short trot on each rein. He was relaxed and soft and he kept this in the trot work, moreso than I've seen from him before.
I started the ridden work on a long rein, moving him around the school, letting him stretch out to the hand. He felt loose and active, overtracking really well. Then I took up the reins and started to work on small circles, keeping inside flexion, stretching the outside and trying to keep even bend round my inside leg. We worked on shoulder-in to counter in on the circle and then moved to shoulder-in and counter shoulder-in on the long side. Also some reinback and travers. When we started the trot work, I asked for the transition from shoulder fore on the circle, this seems to work well and he keeps the softness in the hand and relaxation through the neck. The trot lacks any power, but it's becoming more rhythmical and balanced, he's managing to keep his inside shoulder up  and keep the inside bend. Of course it's still very basic and not so good on the left rein as the right, but it's improving. What gave me the biggest thrill was the last five minutes of walk work before we finished which felt so well balanced and light. We were changing the bend and direction with ease and he was gently playing with the bit with a lovely lipstick of white foam. I just wanted to keep riding him and never get off!