Tuesday, September 12, 2011

Today, I decided Julie and I needed a little one on one time. I brought her into the round pen and just spent some quiet time brushing her and treating a few little scrapes then I worked with her a little on the lead just to see where her mind was today. The good Julie had come to play today so I went to the tack room to get my old saddle.

I have taken Sweetie to a young Amishman to put the first rides on her. Everybody does things different and I realize that. he ties a horse to a hitch rail before he saddles them. I like to just put a long lead on them and then saddle the horse without too much fuss. My experience has been if they get nervous but can move their feet, they are fairly easy to control. They don't panic like they do if you have them restrained. Sweetie had a rough time fighting everything when the young guy saddled her and she couldn't move. I made up my mind I would prepare Julie better for this whole new experience.

My old saddle is lighter than the saddle I normally use and has seen a lot of young horses in its day. I hate to think just old that saddle is but I was a teenager when my father bought that saddle. It is still a good old saddle. It is just the thing for Julie to start with. I swung the saddle pad up on Julie's back and let her think about that for a bit then I put that old saddle on her and quietly went about adjusting the cinch and the rigging for Julie. Everything was going well so I tightened the cinch for the first time on my red roan filly. She took it like an old pro. Normally if they are going to blow up it happens when you ask them to move. So I moved her around the round pen for about a half hour and she was calm and easy going. I even used the flag on her and she stood like a rock. I am really proud of her.

Since Julie did so well with the saddling for the first time. I got her feed bag out and gave her a little oats and alfalfa pellets. I think this is the part of the round pen session she likes the best.

I will ground drive her next time while she is saddled. I want her to get used to the saddle and moving under it. After a few ground driving sessions with the the saddle I will progress to ponying her with a saddle on.