Touch A Prince Has a Wardrobe Change and Loads in the Trailer

I ventured to one of our local tack shops in an attempt to find Touch A Prince a western saddle that might work for the reining and cattle portion of the Equine Comeback Challenge competition.  I have an elaborate system for taking measurements on my horses that will often get me close to the right fit.  It's important to notice that Touch A Prince has a very typical Thoroughbred physique in that he has very high shark-fin type withers, a long back, and he is very narrow through his topline.  Since the average western horse in our area is a wide Quarter Horse shaped more like a barrel, I was skeptical that we would find something that was just right, but I figured it was worth a try.  I took Touch A Prince's measurements and drawings to the tack shop, and describe what I need to the wonderful folks at Latigo Lariat in Loveland, CO.  They can usually get me somewhere in the neighborhood of what I need, and then I use my measurements to see which saddles are closest.  From there I take a saddle or two home with me to try on the horse because his opinion matters the most.

I found a Billy Cook reining saddle that looked like it might work, so I took that home with me.  When I put it on Touch A Prince, he immediately made it clear he was NOT a fan.  I've been talking to him about equipment and explaining I can change anything we are using if he wants something different, he just has to tell me. There's no need to bite me, just nudge the part of the equipment that he wants changed.  I don't know how exactly he knew what I meant, but he has obviously got the idea.  When I put the saddle on after letting him sniff it he tensed up, he turned his head around, pinned his ears, and tried to bite the saddle.  I wanted to check it a little further to see what exactly about it wasn't right, so I went to run my hand under the tree to see how it was fitting him and examine the gullet.  In the minute it took me to assess these and decide the saddle wasn't going to fit he kicked at his belly, humped his back, and actually bucked a couple times while standing tied, just in case I was unsure of my assessment.  When I removed the saddle he immediately made a friendly face and nuzzled me gently to say thanks.  A horse doesn't make it any more clear than that! 

I did torture him for just a minute by taking some photos of his "NO" response to this saddle.  It's very obvious from the picture that he is tense, you can see his lips making an unhappy face, with his ears pointed at the demon saddle, his tail held in an uncomfortable position.  

After removing the western saddle I tacked him up in the Australian saddle which I use for my trailrides on OTTBs.  If I had sat down on a block of clay, then asked someone to make a saddle to fit the impression of my derriere, I could not have gotten a more comfortable saddle for myself for long rides.  Fortunately it's also made for a high withered, long backed, narrow creature, and I have pretty good success with it on the retired racehorses.  Touch A Prince liked this one much better and stood quietly, only fussing a little when I tightened the girth.  I may do the western portions of the Equine Comeback Challenge in the Aussie saddle, or perhaps we'll just chase down a cow in my jumping saddle.  It would at least be entertaining to see a reining pattern and cow work done while riding on a postage stamp. 

We then rode out to the back of the property with Mahzi my lab mix.  Touch A Prince was even quieter on this ride since he'd seen the back of the ranch before.  When the jack rabbit jumped out from behind one of the logs his big spook was to stop and stare at it.  Once he had determined it wasn't dangerous, he calmly went back to walking along on a loose rein.  I foresee some very fun trail riding in this guy's future.

After we were done riding, having taken a good look up close at the neighbor's llamas just on the other side of the fence, I untacked Touch A Prince and left him standing tied to the trailer.  I prepared his mash for supper, then put his meal in a tub in the horse trailer.  My trailer is oversized and quite large so it can accommodate big horses, but I opened up the front stall anyway so he could walk all the way in and then out the front and he wouldn't feel claustrophobic.  Touch A Prince watched me get everything ready and it was obvious what I was preparing to do.  I wanted to give him time to decide how he wanted to respond to my instruction to get in the horse trailer, which was parked with the back side very close to the barn.

Once I had everything ready, I led him to the rear of the step-up trailer, and I asked him to follow me in so I could see what he would do.  He climbed right in with his front feet, so I gave him a cookie and thanked him.  He then inched himself further and further in with his front feet, leaving his hind feet just barely outside the trailer.  He got another small cookie each time he came in a little more.  Then he backed up out of the trailer and looked at me.  I let him back up, because I don't ever want a horse to feel like he is tied solid or trapped because that is when horses go into self-destruct mode.  He very quickly realized there were no treats outside the trailer, and he climbed in again with his front feet.  We did the Hokey Pony a few times (you put your left foot in, you take your left foot out...) and then he decided he wasn't going to do any more.  He tried to pull away from me, which didn't work very well.  He backed himself into the barn wall and tossed his head at me.

I then got out my long stick and began tapping him.  The idea is to irritate him just enough that he realizes Friendly Kim with the cookies inside the trailer is much more appealing than Irritating Kim with the stick outside the trailer.  I worked with him for perhaps five minutes just outside the back of the trailer, and he very quickly got the idea.  I then went back inside, invited him to follow me with a hand signal I've taught him, and he calmly climbed all the way in after me.  I gave him a handful of cookies, and then he started eating his mash while I praised him and took photos.  All told it was about a fifteen minute process to get him loaded, then when he was done his mash I led him out the front and put him away for the night.