Starting ridden work

I took Remy down the track today and he gave me a lovely peaceful ride. He was forward going and soft in the hand. He looked at the scary garden but didn't hesitate and remained energetic but calm.
It must have been a chainsaw day, as, first our neighbour was chopping down a tree just off the track and then as we continued, we could hear chopping and sawing coming from the nearby wood. Remy wanted to have a look and stopped to peer through the trees, but, again didn't bother about it. We went down the the little fishing lake. We can't get through there so have to retrace our steps home. This is the track where the last couple of times we've trotted and then cantered and I could feel Remy anticipating this so I asked him to walk and he settled really quickly.
As we approached home I stopped on the field and schooled him for a few minutes. We've not done this before and at first he was distracted and wanting to look in all directions, but he soon relaxed and we worked on small circles getting him as soft and relaxed as he's been in the school. I'm chuffed to bits with him!
I then had a short groundwork session on the yard with Bonbon asking for good even bend and softness on the circle followed by moving her shoulders and quarters.  I then asked her for a few steps of giravolta, the first time we've tried it and she moved both shoulders and quarters nicely.
I then had a short sit-on, asking for the release then keeping it very simple with walk and halt transitions. I'm enjoying these early ridden sessions, she's giving me such a lovely soft feeling through the rein. Long may it continue!