A Couple Rides In

We've now had 4 brief rides together.  At this point, it's mostly "getting to know you stuff" and trying to gauge his sensitivity.  So far, he's extremely calm and unconcerned about most things (though he is curious and distractable and likes to watch what's going on elsewhere), and a bit on the lazy side.  So far we've been lunging some before riding, which he does quite well.  He is calm enough that I think it is no longer a necessity.  His trot is pretty smooth, and his pace is fairly consistent for a greenie.  He does ride like you'd expect a driving horse to, which is off of the hands alone rather than the seat and legs.  I miss my equine power steering and ABS!  So our main goals are to introduce seat & leg pressure cues, and eventually learn to submit to the bit and work in a frame.  The full cheek plain snaffle is our friend, as it helps with the steering by giving him a little "push" from the other side.  We also tried a sidepull with similar results.  We haven't had any huge "aha" moments yet, but as of our latest ride, he is starting to figure out how to yield his hindquarters to leg pressure and execute a crude turn on the forehand in both directions.  There's plenty of work ahead of us, but it's very helpful that he's extremely easy-going.