Steven and Sage's First Outing

When the 3 of us had finished the necessary barn chores, Robin's husband, Mike arrived. Ready to start his day at the farm: seeding the pastures. After the introductions and more discussion about Sage, who we learned was a favorite of Mike's, Robin again retrieved Sage from her paddock, and handed the leadrope to Steven so he could walk her around the farm. He was more than willing, and so was Sage.

When they reached the edge of the sand where it met the blacktop, Sage reacted. Oh my, she seemed to say, what is this? After a brief inspection and a 'walk on' from Steven, she obliged. He led her around for a bit, letting her stop to graze occasionally which she seemed to enjoy.

Robin offered to saddle up Skye for me so I could ride my first mustang, and Steven could pony Sage alongside. Cool! I thought, this will be fun. Robin suggested going down the street a bit and described the entrance to a park, across the street. She explained the rules of the park, which included helmets are a must. I am not a helmet wearing rider, but when in Rome.....I was game.

Apparently Mike knew that finding the correct trail may present a challenge to us, not being at all familiar with the area. He suggested Robin saddle up Reno, her first mustang: a buckskin as well, in her 20's and looked pretty darn good! She balked, had work to do.....but we ganged up on her and she relented. After passing Skye to me, fully tacked, she went to retrieve Reno.

I was thankful to see that the saddle she put on for me was an endurance Abetta. For someone who is comfortable racing around barrels and weaving poles at high speeds, the thought of an english saddle makes me nervous...this was good. I adjusted the helmet she handed me, placed it on my head, we both mounted and headed down the driveway for the road. Steven leading Sage behind us. It was then Robin told us: This was her first real outing.

Sage walked down the edge of the road completely uneventfully. Eyes bright and moving along nicely, even whe cars whizzed by, no reaction. My mother's eye, the one in the back of my head, kept watch from the saddle. Is she for real? I asked myself. Into a small path, well hidden by thorny shrubs, we wove, then entered a large grassy field. Skye was a very compliant mount, and I noted how well behaved she was amidst all that very green grass.....my guys would be tugging on the bit to get their heads free to graze.

We entered a nice trail leading into the woods where it was much cooler. It was exceptionally warm those two days for Mid April in New Jersey. Steven led Sage, who remained cool and calm, even when Robin and I broke out into a brisk trot. She had told me that mustangs, due to the short back are quite smooth.....I didn't think so. I mentioned it to her and she said to just wait til they warm up. Even with some distance between the saddled horses and Sage, she was being a good girl, no tugging or pulling, just a normal inquisitiveness as to her new surroundings and a couple whinnies. Steven asked her to trot to catch up, she obliged. So far, so good.

After a bit, I suggested to Steven that we swap places, I would walk and he could ride. While Robin and I were adjusting stirrups there was a rustle from Sage and Steven. She'd spun around and put a lead rope's distance between them, and was facing him, alerted, but not panic stricken. He reassured her, and they came back together. Apparently, he'd touched the end of the rope near the rear of her body and she was not sure what was coming to get her. She recovered very quickly, Steven mounted Skye after adjusting the brain bucket, and we were off.

I noticed that Sage was attentive to my speed. Never pulling me, never lagging behind. I adjusted my pace often, and she was consistent: good! Since we left the barn we'd passed walkers, bikers, cars, dogs, cut outs of dogs that Robin explained were an effort to keep the geese off the fields. All with no reaction. She was relatively unflappable: a testament to the ground training and exposure that Robin had apparently worked very hard to achieve. Good job, I thought.

I asked Sage to trot a bit, she hesitated and then broke into a nice easy jog, consistently and carefully matching my speed. We resumed our walk and I observed Steven on Syke. A bit too tall for her which was exaggerated by the height of the helmet. This was my growing concern about Sage and Steven, Sage is 5 and about 14.3 to 15 hands high. I made mental note to myself that I would ask about age and growth rate of mustangs.

I only had one instance of a bubble in her steadiness. An adult on a small yellow bicycle passed us, coming towards us. She was a bit startled, but I was surprised that instead of flight she chose to duck in behind me, not on me, but just behind. Could this be budding trust? I reassurred her with my voice and she once again, without fanfare, fell into step beside to me.

After exiting the shady trail and heading back to the barn, Steven and I again switched places. Robin suggested, that since all else was going so well and Sage seemed happy and relaxed, we try for another first. She wanted to pony Sage. I swung up onto Skye to watch after donning the brain bucket and adjusting the stirrup length. Steven passed the lead rope to Robin. Walk on she cued, and Reno started forward. Sage stood still, the lead getting straighter an Robin repeating: "Sage, walk on".......Sage walked. We all smiled....and gave her the appropriate praise that she well deserved....Good girl!

We continued for a short time, stopping in the field for a job well done grazing reward, and back to the barn with no issues. Steven and I had ridden a mustang for the very first time, no one died and Sage proved herself, to me, to be a very good candidate for Steven's first horse.