Another important first!

Today, New Year's Day 2011, I saddled Rory for the very first time.  I hadn't yet put my saddle away after riding and once I had Rory on the crossties I wondered if it would fit Rory and what he would think about it.  When I picked the saddle up and walked up beside Rory he huffed at me a little and shifted away.  I persuaded him to sniff the saddle and walked along his left side.  He backed up a bit and shifted away again, then stood quietly when I patted him.  As expected he stepped forward when I lifted the saddle up over his back.  I moved with him and put the saddle down gently when he stopped.  After a few more steps he stopped and I patted him, gave him a bit of carrot and then checked the fit of the saddle.  Right now it's a tiny bit wide at his withers, but  otherwise it's a good fit.  I wasn't sure my girth would be short enough so I held it up to see what the chances were and it looked reasonable.

I took the saddle off, and saddled him up properly with saddle blanket, pad and girth.  Rory shifted a little when I took the saddle off, and regarded the saddle blanket with some uncertainty.  It's been a while since I had the saddle blanket on him so I went through a quick session of rubbing it over him, dragging it off his bum, and flipping it onto his back several times.  Very quickly Rory relaxed as he remembered the routine.  When I brought the saddle back, as he had the first time he moved away, and then forward as I lifted it up over his back.  I snugged the girth up tight enough to be sure it would stay in place if he jumped and there were still a couple of holes left to go even tighter.  All we did was walk up and down the barn, but Rory was comfortable enough to be looking around and ignoring the saddle on his back.  I considered taking him for a walk in the arena, but it was raining quite heavily and I didn't feel like going over.  One step at a time - there's no reason to hurry his training.

Happy New Year to all of Rory's fans!

March 3, 2010 – Unflappable?

He's been doing some arena stuff once or twice a week. Basic in-hand leading, halting, turning, backing, walking figure eights over a cavaletti while I stand in the middle, and so on. Last week I took him out and tied the saddle blanket onto his back with a lead rope round his girth. The saddle blanket is huge on him, covering him from withers to croup. I let him loose and he proceeded to run around happily. The rope wasn't tight enough and the blanket started to slip sideways. I called him in, but he kept cantering as it slipped further and ended up under his belly flapping against his legs.

Rory. Didn't. Care. Seriously!! He did one little sidestep as the blanket reached his side, but then he ignored it and cantered calmly around the arena until it got far enough down that he could step on it and pull it loose. Even then he just kept cantering normally.

I retrieved the blanket and then he snorted at it. I folded it a second time and strapped it back on more tightly, and let him go again. Rory still didn't mind it and had his running fix without a worry. He came back to me when I called him in and got lots of pats and praise for his level head.


Side note: Rory's big sister (by Rotspon) walked and trotted for the first time under a rider today. She was very good. I hope Rory is as sensible when the time comes.

January 24, 2010 – Saddle blanket introduction

This last week Rory came into the barn several times to repeat his star cross tie performance. The second time I introduced him to a saddle blanket. I have a heavy woven western saddle blanket (the kind that is doubled for use) and proceeded to flip it onto his back after allowing him to sniff it. From there I dragged it off, flipped it back on, dragged it up his neck and back over his bum. He wasn't too sure about the deal and twisted himself around on the crossties ending up with one tie over his head and the other under his chin. He didn't panic, but allowed me to rescue him and set him back up properly again before proceeding with the blanket business.

After a bit I opened it out from double folded to the single folded large size and repeated the flipping, dragging and sliding off. He rolled his eyes and wanted to scoot away a few times, but stayed put with very little effort from me. He got lots of neck rubs and reassurance and in the end he was wearing the blanket comfortably. I tied it in place with a spare lead rope and then we walked up and down inside the barn - I didn't want to take him outside in case he decided he needed to escape the blanket and slipped on the icy footing in the process. He found the tack trunk far more concerning than the rope and blanket.

We did the blanket and rope work again yesterday and he was just as good this time.