Back in the Saddle

Since Calvin was so good yesterday, I figured I'd try to hop on today. The weather was nice and hot so he was mellow from the start. I then took him to the round pen to lunge and see how he was going to be today. He was very responsive to commands on the ground so I figured I'd try to mount up. Sure enough, I stood on the mounting block and he stood perfectly still even with me hanging off of him so I swung a leg over and sat down.

Once I was on he stood there very calmly, I patted him all over to reassure that he was a very good boy. So it was time to shove off and he took a lot of encouraging to move forward. Once we were moving, he would stop frequently wondering what was going on, but no bad behavior. Turning is a work in progress, he gave very nicely to the halter within a few seconds but his body wouldn't follow his nose very well. Also, the major thing with riding babies is that riding straight is near impossible. He was no exception, we walked all over that arena every which way. After a while he was so good with stopping and turning, I decided to trot a little. We only did a few steps as I'm only in a bareback pad and I wanted to make sure our brakes worked.

I rode him in a bareback pad and halter to "break" him for a number of reasons. I rode in the bareback pad just because I don't have a saddle yet! I sold my one from years ago because I outgrew it and haven't gotten one since. I'm looking at endurance saddles (because for trails they are seriously the comfiest things ever and western saddles feel too bulky after coming from h/j), but I have to buy one through a dealer and it's not the fastest process. As for the halter, it is something he's familiar with. We used it to ground drive and he understands what the pressure feels like. Also, I don't want to bit him until his teeth are looked at to avoid any unnecessary pain.

Someone was waiting for the arena so I figured what the heck, let's walk the property! So this was another challenge as he'd see horses in the pastures and want to go over to them and not leave. On the way back to the barn, he started getting barn sour and half-rearing/hopping (I knew he was a rearer! Luckily I've had more than enough practice with rearing horses) trying to get home. I would then hop off and walk him until he calmed down. He's an angel on the ground, he likely just doesn't trust me yet on his back. Then I'd get back on and walk him until he was a brat again, then I'd hop down and walk him further. He'll eventually learn that being a brat does not equal going home faster. But I understand how he could be herd-bound the first day.

 For a first day he was amazing, I only expected to ride in the round pen but he was just so good, he exceeded my expectations for the day and not bad for a "wild" mustang. He'll make a great trail horse soon!

Here he is right when we left the arena being so good! This is the only picture I took because I was trying to steer which was no easy feat.