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Jewel's Second Ride -The Ground Work FirstAs you can read on the introductory page, I didn't expect to put Jewel's progress on the website when I rode her the first day. So the few photos taken the first day were just keepsake shots of the riding parts. There was much ground work done in the 2 hours prior to riding Jewel for the first time. Fortunately, all the ground work should be repeated the second day, so we had a chance to get these photos. This page shows some of the ground work done on the first and second days.
Before putting a saddle or yourself (especially yourself!) on an unbroke horse, the horse should be calm with all kinds of things touching him and over his back. You do NOT want to be the weirdest thing the horse ever saw on his back!
I sacked Jewel out with several objects, starting with easy things. Once she could handle seeing the umbrella over her back, a saddle and rider was easy!
Now it's time for a saddle.
As she was trained to do, Jewel stood perfectly still to put the saddle on. Why am I saddling her from the right instead of the left? One reason is because we teach the horse to handle everything from both sides. In some situations, it can be very convenient to saddle from a certain side. Another reason is there is less stuff - girth and possibly a breastcollar and flank cinch - to get caught underneath the saddle when you saddle from the right side.
Jewel was so relaxed with the saddle on the second day that not only was there no bucking, she found a toy to play with during a break.
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