08/08/2026
Saint has been one of my more challenging project horses I’ve encountered over the years. He had a laundry list of issues when he came to me. One of them was bolting when you go to mount or once you’re on. We worked through that issue and then a stupid move by someone who was trying him set us back to square one (and worse).
My answer to regaining that trust was liberty work and letting him control the amount of pressure he is okay to deal with. I let him decide if he wants me to get on and ride. And it has made all the difference in his tension.
The moment we come through the gate, his reins go on the horn (so they won’t slip if he decides to run) and I don’t touch him. We walk around and I’ll get on the mounting block. I do not ask him to come to me, I instead offer the opportunity. If he presents for mounting, I will ask him to step closer if he isn’t positioned correctly but that is done either verbally or with a hand cue. I do not move him or touch the reins until I go to actually get on.
I ask him three times before I get on. Just to make sure he truly wants to ride. If he were to run off or not come to the block, I step off and wander around until he comes back over and we try again. Sometimes I’ll call him to me but I’ll respect his choice. Since we have actively restarted our under saddle work, he has opted in every time. Today he was more anxious because someone else was in the arena with us (one of his many triggers from his gaited show days) but still willingly and eagerly showed me he was ready to work.
Those hard project horses… they can be so frustrating but then there’s moments like this that keep you moving forward and know that the work is worth it, for the horse.
