05/22/2026
Long video of Denali
He learned to come to the mounting block so I'm using that cue here to get him working thru his fear of seeing someone on top of him and seeing me from his other eye (flexing him to the opposite side to help him see me and realize he's OK) he's not going into full blown panic mode any more. He had some obvious trauma with riding in his past , so its taking some time to get to a point of having enough control on the ground to feel ready to start working towards him seeing someone on top of him again and realize it'll all be OK. Also working through physical issues as well, but he seems to still have a good attitude and progresses a little each day 🥰
Also, personally I always feel safest starting ba****ck on the more challenging horses (ones that have had tramatic training /riding experince) , gives me a quick easy way to dismount and not tet stuck up there . 99% of the time i start youngins in a saddle and 99% of the time i start the ones like him, ba****ck, with the most success bc I don't get thrown off and loose confidence, I slip off and continue onward like nothing happened. Its always worked for me and so I go with my gut and I imagine you'll see us riding ba****ck before long , as long as hes able to stay in work 💜
He can bolt and be gone in a heart beat and its his go to move with stress on ground or stress of seeing someone on him, bolt then buck you off , so we have spent a good amount of time on ground work teaching him to think thru things and take bolting off the table for him , so its exciting to see him working thru a challenge without leaving me completely behind ❤️ hes been a lot of fun and hes just adorable !