First ride on Jet in a saddle
This is how Gabrielle prepares for her first ride on Jet in a saddle. I know this blog is mostly about her current mustang Faith but it all began with Jet and I thought it only appropriate to include this momentous occasion on here.
Jet has been saddled several times and has walked, trotted and cantered with it. He has also been ridden bareback by Gabrielle, me and a young friend named Abby. However he has not been ridden in a saddle before today. So first Gabrielle put him through his paces with the saddle.
He moved very nicely both directions willingly and only troubled once or twice in the beginning. However the more he moved the more comfortable he became.
The very moment Gabrielle turned her back, Jet was ready to come in and be with her. There is no problem with him wanting to hook-on.
So next she made sure the cinch was on tight and began to climb on.
The first time the saddle slipped on Jet's side, which can be concerning; but not for Jet. He just stood there and looked at her. She readjusted and tightened the cinch again.
Keeping his head turned and her weight in the stirrup she watched for any signs of concern on Jet's part. He never moved a muscle.
She sat in the saddle for a little while and let him feel her in it.
Then she dismounted on the off side. He was a champ through the whole thing. Next she will start asking him to move with her in the saddle. I imagine that will go just as smoothly, but am excited to see it.
Second visit from the Tri-City Herald
After working with Jet, Gabrielle turned her attention back to Faith, and Jacques from the Tri-City Herald arrived for his second visit. Gabrielle has been brushing Faith and trying to get the last few tuffs of fuzz from under her belly. This morning she resorted to trimming them off with scissors. This was a good time to desensitize Faith to the sound and feel of the scissors. Gabrielle used the approach and retreat method to get Faith used to the sound scissors make under her belly. When Faith would stand quiet, Gabrielle would stop making the noise and rub her neck. Then she would go back under her belly and repeat. Soon Faith was able to stand and allow the tuffs to be cut off.
Next we all went into the arena area and Gabrielle worked on some obstacles but mostly leading, stopping and turning. These are the things she has really focused on this week. Faith has gotten pretty consistent at following willingly and stopping on her own when Gabrielle stops. Faith and Gabrielle both move more as one on forehand and haunch turns than they did a week ago. Also Gabrielle is able to pick up all four feet briefly. It was wonderful to watch and listen as Jacques asked Gabrielle questions about pressure, and lightness. She did a fantastic job of explaining that the goal is to use the least amount of pressure to get Faith to move. Then when Faith does move she gets a release of the pressure and that is where learning happens. Jacques also asked about some of her plans for the competition and Gabrielle shared that she would like to lay Faith down but knows that many other competitors will be doing that as well and so she wants to do it in a unique way. However she feels that she won't start that training until the last month. At this point Jacques got to hear that while Gabrielle is a great trainer she still has a mother with other ideas and that she should begin that training now just in baby steps like everything else. (Later we figured out that we had more similar ideas than it originally appeared. Of course that probably is the way most often in differences if we only took the time to figure it out every time.)
After Jacques left Faith got to play in the round pen with our other yearling that is stalled next to her. It was nice to watch them play and groom each other. She is after all still a herd animal and I'm sure desires the companionship of other horses.
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