Faline's First Saddling

Faline is coming right along with her ground work and pre-riding training.  Today she wore a saddle for the first time, and it was a total non-event.  I let her sniff everything, and she knows that if she touches new things with her nose she gets a treat (usually a small piece of a black licorice twizzler).  So she is usually eager to investigate as it often yields candy.

Once she was saddled she spent a little time looking at it with her ears sideways, but then decided it wasn't any weirder than the pool noodles she's been carrying around.

In this first photo you can tell she's looking at the saddle because of how her ears are directed towards it.  In the second photo she's decided it's all ok, she's looking at me with her ears pointed towards me and the camera.

We went down to the arena and lunged a little bit at the walk and trot so she could get used to the sensation of a saddle on her back instead of just the surcingle.  The dogs were of course there to assist and attempt distractions.  Faline mostly ignores them, every once in a while she'll jump around a little playing with them.

Next we reviewed working on the bridge.  Faline immediately walked over, and was well behaved for standing on the bridge so I could play paparazzi.

I added the tarp to give her something new to think about (the saddle, even though it was her first time wearing it, didn't seem to matter at all).

When she lifts her head way up in the air she's looking behind her, in this instance at the tarp.  It wasn't much of a challenge, so we played with draping it all over.  When I totally covered her head she started to wander around looking at the ground, but otherwise handled it no problem.

I added the hula hoops and walking over the mattress (it's from a futon and filled with foam, so I don't have to worry about springs in case a hoof tears it).

Faline didn't really hesitate at the mattress, though she did spook a little when she put her head down to sniff it and the hula hoops fell down over her head.  Not a big deal, she just jumped back and then came over to me for comfort.  

Once we were all done playing I took her back to the barn, untacked, groomed one more time, and put her back in her paddock.   I did add a purple fly mask just to let her get used to the idea, but after all the nonsense in which she participated in the arena this last piece of outerwear was merely fashion with no reaction.

She is such a fun youngster, I really do enjoy the baby horses.  Faline is incredibly intelligent, and wants to learn.  As long as she is introduced to new things in a calm way that makes sense to her, she takes everything in stride.  All this playing with props and toys as a baby is good for her, not because she'll ever need to wear hula hoops in her dressage career, but because it teaches her how to think about new things calmly.  I don't care if a horse never learns to walk across a mattress, what I want is for her to learn to look to the human when she faces new things, and to face new things bravely.  So the props and toys are teaching her how to handle new stimuli while looking to the human for direction, a valuable trait in a riding horse. 

So as typically happens around here, one thing leads to another and before you know it you’re wearing a tarp on your head while you walk over a mattress…