02/06/2026
When starting a horse under saddle I don’t usually like to give them time off but sometimes it can help. I typically like to do 10 days in a row of work. This filly was having a hard time accepting the saddle after 3 days in a row. I had to work for two days at the vet clinic so there was no choice I couldn’t work her. The break did her good and she was much more accepting of the saddle today. I also used a cinch that was more like a roping cinch and wider in the middle. Sometimes the narrower cinches can be like a thin belt and pretty uncomfortable for a horse that might want to be a little cinchy. I changed saddle pads, pretty much the same one but a little softer and bendier; other one is getting stiff with all the years of use. I also didn’t bring the flag out for desensitizing or moving her feet today. She has a bit of anxiety around the flag and I noticed that anxiety they have for an object can transfer to other parts of the training session if that object is used.
