Riding Aziim

Last night I went to get Aziim. I walked a ways into the pasture calling him and when he finally looked up I called "whoever gets here first can come & play!". Lucky for me Aziim came up before Khol!
Aziim was a tiny bit "up": windy, festival Open Mic, no reason in particular, who knows?! But, man, he comes down quickly. In the cross ties for the groom & saddle and the attempts to bridle. Tried three times and could NOT get that thing over his ears this time. Shrugged and went to the outdoor anyway.
Attached the reins to the his halter and climbed on. Lynn is working with Spirit on the rail and I am probably pretty obviously a bit frazzled but he's fine. I ride him inside, just walking until I feel Ok. Can NOT get a left turn out of him. Well, if I lean forward and slide my hand inches from the halter, I can. I don't love that, so I eventually manage to convince him that it's not a request - he doesn't argue, just says "well, alright then".
So I've got him going and stopping and standing still at the walk and some short trots. All is well, I'm starting to relax. He's been relaxed for most of the time.We move out on the rail. Concentrating on "looooong legs" and loose rein and balance and enjoying watching him watch EVERYthing. One "shy" of his was four-legs-out and SINK. and look. and then move on. Another was: glue ears in direction of that big black music box while you walk out & by. That took a few more "stop & look"s and "get going, Aziim"s before he walked straight by. A couple more, maybe, little "shy"s - not really spooks - I may be getting used to them. What a good boy!
Lynn is doing some very cool things with Spirit which was fun to watch, probably for both Aziim as well as me. My favourites were the canter, stop and watching them canter the rail with no hands, hands out, hand above head. Reminded me of Marie on Ginger and Mister. I want to get there too!
Lianne came in with Summer and they looked to have fun as well. Aziim was very interested in Summer but again, he went back to work/play very quickly. Summer is a very shameless flirt, so he can't be blamed for his interest.
Because Aziim didn't love that black music box, we carted it back to the barn with us. Box rolling on the ground on my left and Aziim on my right. He did NOT think that was a good idea at first but he was really very awesome about it, nothing major. Good boy, Aziim!