training/conditioning question (long)

["guest@endurance.net" <guest@endurance.net>]

Sam sgivens12@home.com
here's the scoop with questions to follow:

i got a 15 year old gelding in october and worked with him all winter in the arena getting him to listen to aids and go the speed i ask. and he does great with this. now that it's spring time and i'm taking him out down the road more often i've run into some questions. i always do lots of walking warm-up in the arena and get him focused and listening before we head out on the trails. and then....

on the way out:

his eyes are bright and his head is up, most of his energy is pushing us upward instead of forward so we are doing some weird bouncing jog/trot. he spooks at the same broken-down tractor on the side of the road and shies around the same cows he sees every time. he weaves back and forth across the road ignoring my leg aids and may want to start walking if he can get away with it. if i try to drive him forward we canter and bob along kind of crow-hopping. it is the same routine whether i have contact with the reins or not.

on the way home:

i don't like to have him always race for home and he'll walk if i ask him to, but if i ask for a trot he does this beautiful rhythmic long-strided trot with his head down, covering a lot of ground in a straight line. if i put a leg on him he cruises smoothly and diagonally in the direction i ask. he doesn't bat an eye at the cows and he would run up and over the tractor.

so my questions are:

1.) do you guy's let your horses run for home? i feel like it's wonderful conditioning but a bad habit.

2.) how do i get him going forward and straight on the way out?

i would love to get him to do the exact opposite of what he's doing now. so we could race out and get done with the conditioning part and then have a nice leisurely stroll home.

thanks for any help!