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Day 1.... The saddle. :D

8K views 60 replies 16 participants last post by  Erin_And_Jasper 
#1 ·
Well, started with Kathryn's Arab gelding today. I just let him kinda calm down a bit yesterday and the wind was terrible (40+mph with almost 60mph gusts). It is more bearable today (20-30) so I started with him. He took the bridle well, a little high headed and backed up a bit when I tried to bit him but nothing terrible. The saddle was a little more difficult, he kept wanting to move forward, so I just kept the inside rein short and let him walk until he stood. I'm not a big fan of tying solid when I saddle unless I have to. He responded well to the cinch, a little sensitive but no offer to hump or buck. He is currently standing with his head tied to one side while I wait for him to supple a bit. I haven't decided yet whether I will ride him today or not, I am here by myself and I will just have to see how he acts when I go back out.

Anyway, just thought I would share that bit of progress and a couple of pictures. :D





Here, he is resisting the bit just a touch. I tie their head around to teach them to be supple and give to the bit. It is not a solid tie and they can get loose if something happens but it takes a fair amount of pulling. That way it frees up some of my time to work with other horses or do chores while he learns. You have to know exactly how long to leave the rein, too short and he will learn to brace, too long and he won't learn to give.


Here, I knew it was time to tie to the other side cause he was just standing with his head to the side and the rein hanging. When he would move, he would turn in circles without pulling the rein tight.


So, on to the other side. A bit of resistance due to confusion but he figured it out quickly.




I am so glad that I bought that shorter cinch. It is way too small for Dobe but it is nearly too long for him.

Anyway, back out to check on him and do some more work. :D
 
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#3 ·
Okay, well. Just came back in from riding him and he is an absolute dream. He moved a bit when I mounted but that is to be expected at this point. Normally, I have a problem getting forward motion out of a young horse for the first few minutes but within about 30 seconds, he was trotting circles in the pen like he had done it his whole life. Got a few more pictures but none with me on him cause I am here by my lonesome. He took a little longer to desensitize to the movement of the stirrup leathers before I got on but he eventually stood like a champ. And goodness he moves nice. Nice smooth extended trot and he is already trying to do a running walk. He is super soft in his mouth and even has a respectable stop for the first ride. Getting off was a little tricky cause he doesn't like it when the saddle moves but that will get better with more days like today.

Anyway, on to the pix. :)

Here he is showing he is soft and relaxed with the bit.


Moving him out a bit to warm him up before I get on.












And here he is after our ride. He worked up a decent sweat but he did very well. He was a bit stiff to the right so we spent most of our time trotting circles to the right until I liked how he felt. He did pretty darn good.












 
#7 ·
Nice pony! He looks so foalish! Suppose that's one of the attractions of Arabs.

Sounds like you might do a lot of starting & know what you're on about. I'm guessing this may be your general or breaking saddle, not specifically for him, & it could also be the perception from the pics & not quite so bad.... but in case you don't see it, it looks huge on him & way over his shoulders.
 
#9 ·
You stated that this is your first arab?? You might find that you really like working with the breed? They seem to learn quickly and are gentle by nature.
Nice job Smrobs:)
I imagine it won't be long before you 2 see some open trailers.

One complaint.
You got on him all by yourself, no one around? What if you got hurt?? Who would be there to pick up the pieces or call 911??
Be safe Smrob
 
#10 ·
Yep, RD. He is my first, I have never even really been around the breed at all. I already really like him, he picks up what I want him to learn really quick and seems pretty darn willing. I can't wait until I get to take him out on the trail, he has got a trot that I could ride all year :D. He is pretty spooky but not nearly as quick on his feet as some I have ridden, thankfully.

I really do appreciate your concern but if I had even the slightest feeling that he would try something, I wouldn't have gotten on today. I normally have either my Dad or Step-mom around but they are out of town and won't be back until tomorrow and I just didn't feel like I could waste such a beautiful day being out of the saddle. I brought the horse in to ride and I just kinda felt that he was ready for it today.
 
#12 ·
Congrats on your first day! Sounds like everything went really well. Will you be starting a journal for this guy? Or just updating this post as you go?
 
#13 ·
Great photos, looks like you really got his attention and he is listening to you.
How long do you have him, 90 days? I'm betting the rest of his time will just be getting some saddle time on him. He will probably pick up the basics pretty quick.
We have had the awful wind as well. Makes the horses (and me) a bit goofy :lol:
 
#14 ·
PD, I will just probably update this post as I go. Maureen, I don't have a set time as for how long I will have him. I will keep him until I am content with how broke and gentle he is. That may take 30 days or 120, it depends on him. :D

Anyway on to day 2.

He was really snorty about everything today. Took a while to get him saddled but finally got it done. Had a heck of a time getting him to let me put my foot in the stirrup after I warmed him up. He got to do a bunch of tiny circles around me until he stood still. Boogered a bit when I got on but not as bad as I was expecting. After I got on, he went on just like he did yesterday, no offer to buck and is softer in his mouth than I thought possible. Worked him quite a bit harder this time (mostly his own fault). When we were going to the right, he would spook every time my foot would bump the right stirrup so I tightened him down to a pretty small circle and just bumped away. He tried to lope a time or 2 and for going around a really small circle on the wrong lead, it has promise LOL. He finally relaxed and quit jumping when I would move my feet. I worked on his stop a bit more and he is getting quick to sit down when I pick up my hands. I even managed a couple of backward steps out of him. When I got him pretty darn wore down, I worked on getting on and off cause that's where he has the biggest problem at this point. When he finally stood for me to get on and off twice, I called it a day. He never moved a muscle while I unsaddled him so that's a good thing. Dad was back home so I was able to get some pix of me riding him. :D







He was pretty tired by the time I asked him to stop the first time and he was pretty content to stand still until I asked for him to move.






Anyway, I have to run some errands this morning and providing that it's not raining this afternoon (which it looks like it could), I will give him another ride.
 
#15 ·
You look good on him. Glad to hear that the second ride went so well. Can I ask how big your round pen is?
 
#17 ·
I need to be doing that RD, but between still trying to get all my stuff unpacked and there are some issues with water leaks going on in my house that I am trying to get taken care of, I just haven't taken the time to be on him twice. That is one tool that I will certainly be using in the future but since I just have him for right now, he doesn't seem any the worse for wear yet. We'll see about today though. :D

PD, I have 9 panels that are each 10 ft. long. I thoroughly dislike those pens that are 50 or 60 feet in diameter. If I wanted to ride in something with so much space, I would do the first rides out in the pasture. I like the smaller pens with at least 1 square corner so that they can't get to going really fast or bucking fast and hard. And the square corner, I will sometimes stick their head in that if they seem overwhelmed for just a minute.
 
#18 ·
Thanks for that info on the round pen. I keep wanting to make mine smaller too. I have it down to 10 panels and a gate all 10'. My husband says we need to add more, I say we need to take more out :lol: I like the idea of one square corner as well, I think I'll do that too.

Sorry you're having house trouble, I know it can be very frustrating!
 
#19 · (Edited)
No problem, Maureen. Most people would say that mine is way too small but I don't like the idea of a young horse having space to run sideways for 40 or 50 feet at a time before they come to a fence. I keep my young horses bent the first few times I ride them. Keeping their nose tilted to the inside just a bit helps wear them out faster and it helps keep them from getting their head down should they decide to buck. When we were putting it together, my Dad laughed and said "That's a nice 3 jump pen."

Just came in from the 3rd ride. He is being really snorty today. Of course, I bet the wind isn't helping, it's staying 30+mph. He did well for the saddle though, he flinched but didn't move. He was boogery about my feet again today, but he finally kinda relaxed and dropped his head a bit after about 45 minutes of trotting circles. He needs rode again so right now, I have him tied with the saddle on and will go back out and ride him for a while again here in a couple or 3 hours. But, despite the snortiness, he is progressing well. His turns are getting better, he is beginning to follow his nose instead of his shoulder and his stop is pretty good. He will even back 2 or 3 steps willingly. It only took one try and correction before he stood for mounting today and the first time I got off, he only flinched and didn't move his feet.
 
#20 ·
In for the night. Got back on him and rode him around for 20 minutes or so until he really relaxed. Today is the first time he has offered to walk around. Always before it was either a dead standstill or an extended trot. I wanted him to relax but wanted to see if he would slow down on his own. He offered me about 2 or 3 calm walked circles each way and a perfect stop followed by a 3 step back-up with a low-ish head. He'll never have the head carriage that I am used to cause he's not built for it but he's doing well. Perfect for mounting, dismounting, and unsaddling. I am very content with the progress we are making. :D
 
#22 ·
Thank you Stacie. I look forward to it as well.

Day 5, ride 4.

Had to skip yesterday cause of the stinking wind. I was having trouble walking straight because of it so I just spent some time with him and rubbed him all over in hopes of getting him to stop being so touchy.

Today the wind is better but still blowing pretty hard. The change from the last ride to today is phenomenal. He was completely calm from the get go. I saddled him right up and had him trot like 2 circles each way just to see if he was gonna go saddle-bronc cause I skipped yesterday. No problems so I just went ahead and stepped on. He stood stock still until I asked him to move. He was following his nose much better today and since he was so calm, I spent a lot of time on slow work. We did a bunch of figure 8's and I worked on his stop and back-up. Not really consistent past a couple of steps but was much softer about it today. Did some walking and he has got an incredible long walk. Not hardly spooky at all despite the wind, completely comfortable with me moving my feet around and tapping all over the saddle. Is responding really well to leg cues, just barely a squeeze and he goes. His stop is really developing too, I can feel him stopping on his hocks and he is beginning to really tuck his nose into the stop too. Tomorrow, I am planning to take him out onto the trail. Wanted to wait until Dad had time to go with me that first time due to the spookiness and also wanted to really solidify his stop before going out. I am anxious to see what his lope is like, I bet it's wonderful.
 
#23 ·
Ride 5:

Went to the country today. Did zero warm up, just saddled him and got on with no problems. He moves way different than what I am used to, he has a lope that would fit a horse about 4 times his size, even when he's loping slow, he really covers the ground. I guess that's just an Arab thing, I don't know, one of you with more Arab experience would have to tell me that LOL. We made the 5 mile circle, most of it done at a long trot or a lope. Not very much spookiness, only jumped the first time a sagebrush scraped his belly. When we got back to the gate that is about a half mile from home, I still didn't like the way he was behaving so we made the circle again. About half way through the second time, he really relaxed down and felt really good. After coming out the gate, I spent the last half mile home working on his trot and stop. He is getting better, sometimes gets more interested in finding out where the other horses are at but that is just a colt thing. At least he will stop every time I ask. Rode a touch of rough country that is in the middle of the pasture and he hasn't found his feet yet but he will when he really slows down and starts thinking. All in all, I'm pretty happy with how he's doing. Also, another new experience for him, we got rained on a little coming home. A lot of times, a young horse will freak the first time they get rained on under saddle but he just kinda picked his head up a bit. He isn't nearly as spooky on the trail as he is in the pen. When he sees something that is scary, I just stop and let him look. So far, he has been curious enough to walk right up to whatever was scary and smell of it.
 
#24 ·
You will find that arabs ride alot bigger then they measure. My old guy was 14.3 hands, I am about 5.11 and never felt I had a small horse between my legs. He was a power house up hills and speed galore.

They do not ride small. I love the breed and will buy nothing else. No crosses either.
They are also brave regardless of what others say about them. After all they are war horses. You being a strong confident rider will make a confident horse. They pick up on the rider.
They also make good jumpers, my guy was impressive over big jumps.

You are just finding out what all us arab lovers already know:lol::lol:
 
#25 ·
Yep, Latte has a trot worthy of a 15-16 hand horse and she is a midget at 13.3 :]

She also has a good stride on her lope but we haven't done enough loping yet to really settle into it for various reasons.

And again agreeing with Riosdad - If they have a confident, assured rider they are about the bravest trail horses you can get. That's what they were bred for :]
 
#26 ·
Thanks guys, glad to know that he isn't just travelling funky. At a lope, he covers more ground than John does and that's saying a lot LOL :D. I am having a bit of trouble adjusting cause I have only ever rode stock horses and most recently done the majority of my riding on Dobe, who has a stride fit for a horse about 1/3 his size (little tiny short steps LOL) and it is a monumental difference.

For as small as he is (maybe 15hh and extremely narrow) I can certainly feel the power there, it isn't so much that it's more power than my stock horses, it's just different. Theirs is more explosive power where his is more like staying power. He isn't nearly as quick on his feet as what I am used to and I can feel him getting ready to spook seconds before he does, whereas some QH that I ride, you don't even know they see something until they have already jumped, spun, and are booking it the other direction ;p. I think he will make a really nice horse with some more rides.
 
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