Jasmine – 06/30/10

It’s been awhile since I’ve done anything with Jas thanks to everything going on around here this past month.  It was a beautiful day today and I found myself with some spare time, so figured why not?

I’ve longed her a few times since my last post, just to work more on forward motion instead of the lazy western jog she seems to like so much.  Today I introduced her to the saddle.

She quickly realized it was just another way for her to behave and get rewarded.  As I was putting on the saddle, she took a few nervous steps forward, but then stopped and craned her head around to me for comfort.  I scratched her head and let her know it was ok, then she stood still for me to adjust the saddle and tighten the girth.  I never cinch up a girth all the way on the first try, especially with greenies.  I put it up snug enough so it wouldn’t slide off, then walked her around the pen once.  Tighten another couple of holes, walk around the pen.  She took all of this in stride and the stirrups hitting her sides never phased her. 

Once the girth was tight, I sent her out on the line to walk and trot.  She’s still very lazy, but at least she’s trotting now instead of shuffling!  I smacked the saddle, shifted it from side to side, and put a little weight in the stirrup – she just looked around to see what I was doing. 

Next time I’ll introduce the bridle and do some long lining.  Hopefully, I’ll have her ready by the time the next person comes out to visit.  I don’t want to try getting on her with no one around to direct in the paramedics. :)