‘He fools me and therefore I have to tell him who’s boss’.
No, he’s not. Horses can be playful, excited, bored or tired. But they don’t make fun of people. They like to cooperate. If they only knew what you wanted…
Horses can react quite strong if you are unreasonable. But driving someone nuts on purpose is a human thing. Doing something wrong or not doing it at all happens because he doesn’t understand you. Or he can’t do it physically. He’s not fooling you.
As long are there is tension, he will not take in anything.
If something doesn’t happen, be more creative, avoid force and conflict. If a horse doesn’t want to leave his friends, work him amongst them or as close to them as possible. If he starts to realize that working with you is fun, he’ll be happy to do it everywhere. But first he has to relax while working with you. As long are there is tension, he will not take in anything. His mind will be focused on fleeing.