Lesson #1 under saddle

This afternoon i decided to work with my 3 YO gelding 'Roe' and begin with a lesson on saddling.I caught, haltered and brought him in from the pasture and tied him. Then i gave him a good brushing and then proceded in picking his feet. He stood still an manerly during all this and only gave a little trouble when i was picking up his right front foot he kept acting like he was wanting to yank it forward. It's very important to keep a horses hooves up until you are ready to set it down. Never ever let a horse, especially a young inexperianced horse, think that they're in control for even a second. That one second of him being in control could lead to many unnessesary hours of re-training to gain back that lost ground in his training. If you need to let down a hoove before you're done working on it keep your hand on it until its set back on the ground, then let go. Doing that will ensure that he still thinks that you are in control and that you are telling him "Okay! Lets set this hoove down now" and then you are still in control. Remember this when working with your horse's feet.After i finnished the prep-work of brushing and picking Roe's hooves, I went and brought out a saddle and pad. First i gently rubbed his whithers where the front of the pad would placed. Then i let him sniff the pad and sort of see what this new thing was all about. I gently set the pad on his neck and slowly slid it back into place to ensure that none of his hairs would be rubbed the wrong way, which could be uncomftable for him.Then i set the saddle on him. Be sure to never swing a saddle on a young horse. Doing this could scare him and make him jumpy the next time you try to put a saddle on him.Then i tightened the cinch, not too snug, just enough to let him 'feel' the cinch but not enough to nock the wind clean out of him. You should be able to slide your whole hand with a bit to spare inbetween him and the cinch.I stood back and just let him move his hind-quarters around some. It wont hurt him none to move when he's tied, just so long as he's not yanking on the halter, but let him get a feel for the saddle on him. Roe stood calm for about 5 minutes so i dicided to turn him loose in the stall. (it was about a 18'x40' stall, so there was plenty of room to wander around.) I left him alone in the stall for about 15 minutes or so,just to let him move around some. Then i tied him back up and unsaddled him before turning him back out in the pasture, and that was the end of 'Lesson #1' under saddle. I was very pleased with him, he behaved himself very well, and i was happy with the way things went.I took a few minutes to snap some pictures of him all decked out in his 'get-up' while he was saddled.^"what the heck is this??"
^Watching the 'goings on' outside.

^After he settled down and was standing calm with the saddle still on his back , I took off his halter and turned him loose in the barn and let him just walk around with the saddle on and get more used to the cinch being tightened up some.

Happy Trails!!

May all your rides be Blessed,

khr<><