08.31.07
Young Horse Natural Saddle Training
Recently I put a saddle on 2 yr. old Glendale in his stall for the first time, and second time was in the barn aisle. Thanks to all the handling he has had, as well as to wearing a surcingle, he could have cared less about having a saddle on his back when he was standing around.
Glen first saddled in his stall, eating hay.
Add in a saddle-wearing session at liberty, and I felt he should be OK to pony out on the trail WITH his saddle on.
Liberty session, desensitizing Glendale to feel, sights and sounds of having a foreign object stuck on his back. He reaches his head around once to itch at it.
Just before this video he had gotten a little spooked by the saddle when he started running with it on and the sounds startled him. Here I let him move around by himself so he can hear and feel it. I flap the stirrups so he can hear the sounds in a non-threatening way.
For ponying, I had him wear his training bridle and an eggbutt snaffle bit. The halter-bridle makes it convenient to teach him to accept the bit…
Bridling and bitting Glen in his halter-bridle. Mouthing the bit is a way of dealing with it, checking it out, learning that he can’t get it out. Gilford did the same thing in the beginning.
Before we left the barn, I ponied him bridled and saddled in the paddock and trotted a couple of times to be sure he wasn’t going to get worried any more about the saddle. His lead rope was attached to a halter ring under his chin, and NO ropes or reins were attached to the bit.
All I really wanted to achieve was to put some mileage on Glendale with the saddle on. We rode out locally for nearly 2 hours on streets and woods trails, with Hubby riding big brother Gilford.
Glendale ready to start out ponying with me and mom Willy. I tied up the stirrups so they couldn’t slip down and flop around. Next time I will leave them down.
He didn’t seem obviously concerned about the saddle, however he WAS balky about trotting… he would either refuse or he would trot a few steps then stop dead, which I had to be cautious about to keep from losing hold of his lead rope. Whenever he stopped I was forced to stop his mom, then I would put very firm pressure on his leadline until he yielded and walked up to me.
He continued this behavior during our rideout and it was pretty puzzling to me, because he had always ponied like a dream previously (bare, with a halter) and had been very willing to trot and was light in hand. He got somewhat better as we went along, I practiced a lot of walk to trot to walk transitions and did not trot very far before walking again because I didn’t like him learning that he could just stop by himself.
However, he never did just keep trotting freely for very long spells at a time. I found myself anticipating when he was about to slow down and I would start walking before he did in attempt to keep him walking instead of dead-stopping from the trot.
Why did he do this?? If only he could talk… since he had never been balky when being ponied wearing just a halter, I had to conclude either the saddle or the bit was bothering him. I know the girth was pretty tight, perhaps it was pinching him. The leading ring of the halter-bridle because of its construction did not allow my lead rope to apply the same poll pressure that a halter applies, rather it put more pressure on his noseband. Whatever the reason, Glendale was either confused or uncomfortable or both. He walked fine but would only trot for short spells, whether on streets or in the woods.
I did not get after him about it, I don’t want to sour him to any of his training. I will give him the benefit of a doubt even though I didn’t understand what he was trying to tell me. If I get to pony him again soon, I will try a simple halter again with no saddle and see what happens.
Glendale will be mounted soon and start under-saddle training with Joann Gelinas Snow, Gelinas Farm in Pembroke NH, who trained his mother all those years ago (16!) and started Gilford 2 years ago.
While he is with Joann, we hope to get Glendale hitched to a training cart as well. His ground driving has gone well, though he will need some more mileage with that before we hitch him. As she did with Gilford, Joann will most likely get Glen dragging logs and things while working with him under saddle, as prep work for getting him used to pulling things along beside and behind him.
This is Joann on Gilford 2 years ago when he was first being ridden; she’s lassoed a log and has him backing away from it.
Joann is such a marvelous natural horsemanship trainer– she always has been. She is the type of trainer who will immediately see what areas a horse needs work in and will refine everything Glen knows, plus teach him any more basics he needs to know. She has an innate sensitivity to horses and can tune into how to communicate with each one. It will be a very interesting time now to see how he compares to what his brother did in this stage of training… at two Glendale is ready to start becoming a REAL horse!!
For RELATED stories, search Blog on:
ponying
saddle training
colt starting
ground driving
