I tied him to the trailer with a hay bag (he's used to eating out of bags) and began grooming him. He was very mannerly for grooming, after he had taken a good look at his reflection in the trailer and determined that it was another friendly horse. The mirrored sides of the trailer are always interesting to horses who haven't seen mirrors before!
Once I had him all cleaned up and brushed, with hooves picked, I went into the barn to get a saddle. Huck looked for me when I disappeared around the corner, and watched me carefully as I came out of tack room with the saddle. Because I have no idea what his history is, or if he's ever been ridden, I approached him in a relaxed way, but carefully. Huck backed up a little and gave the saddle a honk-snort.
I stood there quietly talking to him for a minute or so to see if he would decided it was ok for me to put the saddle on him. He did take a step or two closer to me to touch the leather saddle with his nose. Upon further examination he decided it was unwise to allow me (a predator) to put a dead animal hide (a leather saddle) on his back. I can't say I blame him. It is a strange thing from a prey animal's perspective to have a predator put a dead animal on his back, where a predator would jump onto him to attack.
Because Huck looked so concerned I decided we better back up a little and assume he hadn't worn tack before. He may still have experience as a riding horse, but it may be far enough back in his history that he doesn't have a good understanding of the routine. He also came through a public auction where my client purchased him several months ago, and we don't know how he came to be there, either. All this information leads me to be careful and gradual in my approach so that I don't push him too hard too fast and frighten him.
So as an alternative, Huck and I went down to the round pen with him wearing his halter and lead rope, while I carried a saddle pad and surcingle. When first starting horses under saddle I like to begin with this fairly benign piece of equipment. It's made out of nylon so doesn't smell like leather, it's lightweight, and introduces the idea of pressure around the horse's barrel without putting any of my expensive tack in a position to be damaged.
We got to the round pen and I put him on the lunge line to see if he knew any voice commands or even how to lunge. Turns out he was familiar with that process, and responded appropriately to my voice cues of walk, trot, canter, whoa, and reverse. He was polite and mannerly on the lunge line, had good balance on the circle regardless of size, and was able to get the correct lead in front and hind ends in both directions.
Once he had shown me that he was relaxed and comfortable with lunge line work I began introducing the saddle pad. This one was a neutral color (horses see black, white, and shades of green and yellow, so I tend to avoid my neon pads during first sessions). Huck was attentive and watchful as I approached with the pad, but as soon as he realized touching the pad with his nose would earn him a small cookie he thought it was pretty darn cool. He's very food motivated, so it didn't take more than a couple tries before he was standing quietly for me to rub him all over with the pad as well as place it on his back and leave it there. I did everything from both sides, as usual, so that he becomes accustomed to all kinds of handling from both sides.
We took a small walk around the round pen while Huck wore the saddle pad, and when it was boring and he didn't care about it anymore I introduced the surcingle the same way. He quickly realized that the rules were the same with this piece of equipment: if he touched it with his nose or stood still while I rubbed him with it he would get a cookie. It's a very efficient way of getting a horse to LOVE new things when they are introduced paired with something tasty!
Lastly, once Huck was comfortable wearing the pad, surcingle, and it was girthed up without any concerns, I put him back on the lunge line. Sometimes horses are fine with wearing tack while standing still, but it feels funny once they start moving. That change in sensation can be triggering for a horse who's either never worn tack or has negative associations with it, so I let the horse figure out what it all feels like on the lunge line in a safe confined space like the round pen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFkgGS-Zg9Y
Huck was able to walk, trot, and canter both directions wearing his gear, and only had one little moment of scooting when the pad flapped his back at the canter. I was pleased with his thoughtful way of dealing with everything, the fact that he looked to me for reassurance, and that he was so accommodating of my weird human stuff. This could mean that he has had significant training in his past, or it could mean that he is just a super good sport about things. It's too early yet to say for sure. However, I feel like this was a very positive first training session, and I'm looking forward to seeing what else this new kid has to tell me!
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