SueB, I channeled you last night as I had a sucked back, behind the leg, can't be bothered horse when we first got going, so we did a billion transitions and it worked into a forward, ears up, happy fellow. Thank you, ma'am! We had some very nice canter transitions and some lovely trot work and some pleasantly correct shoulder-in.
Then there was a very loud explosion from the next-door barn... HUGE boom, barking dogs, running horses, yelling children, screaming adults. Just a normal day at the barn, really.
Laddie was actually really good. Leapt about 15 feet into the air and danced around a bit, but came back to me and carried on working, though his giant ears were going like propellers and our canter departs were quite big... I should probably have used it as an excuse to work on our mediums but I will admit I chickened out on that
I shan't miss the bombproofing opportunities from the loons next door.