Saddle Up Hombre.....

Her second and third rides were largely the same uneventful experiences for Sage. I actually got on her myself, briefly, and she walked right on when verbally cued. There is much maneuvering the bit in her mouth and her turns are not quite there yet. Direct rein, brace rein and outside leg have been replaced with a neck rein cue with the reassurrance of a direct rein, seat and a bit of outside leg pressure.

Here is a shot without her" human escort" on the second ride....

The third ride we added a crop, with a plastic bag tied to the end....I am not quite sure why, she is not phazed by plastic at all. When in New jersey, Robin had demonstrated her immunity to plastic: she stuck her head in the bag to see if there were, perhaps, any treats inside. She was disappointed, just some miscellaneous stuff from a shopping trip. With a very gentle tap of the crop to remind her that walk~on means to move forward, she was, as usual, compliant.

This ride, the third, Steven shed the helmet....instantly losing 6" of height.....much better.

After the third ride, removing the reins, but leaving the saddle, bridle and halter on Steven took her to the open practice area for some longing with tack. She was a bit slow to understand the concept with tack, but caught on quickly. Again, she moved very well to the left, and Steven even encouraged her to trot up a bit. The word " Trot" means something to her. The transition was smooth, a bit slow on the uptake, but consistent with encouragement. The right side: not so good. Again. Finally getting her to walk on to the right, Steven tried to get her to repeat the trot....after a bit of head tossing and one mini tantrum which said to me " I am SO done with this, I wanna go back to my BOYZ" She did comply, briefly. I think maybe her foot could be bothering her a bit. I do see a small crack and a slight divet near the toe on the sole....could be one of those gas pockets Robin spoke of, that will take some time to grow out. The farrier said her feet look good and not to worry....so will just give her time.

Steven wanted a pony ride back to the barn....he had saddle and bridle, but no reins....which I recall thinking later: was a good thing. Since there is no mounting block down there, I placed my hand in the right stirrup to keep saddle movement to a minimum as he got on. I guess, where Sage comes from, that may be a bad thing, having a person on each side, maybe reminiscent of branding, capture? I don't know. She bucked once and braced for what looked like it could become a rear. I just held her and we both reassurred her with "eeeasy". She calmed down, Steven stayed on just fine and we started to walk up to the house. She was a bit hurried....I and Steven, in unison, paused her with a whoa twice, and she was her usual compliant self.

Finished off the session with a brief walk, without tack, into the woods across the street: she was angelic....no calling to her Boyz....nuthin. Good!