Wednesday, June 25, 2008

More Day 3

Going by the calender and time stamp on these pictures (and I will credit the man who took them, as soon as Kim tells me again) these were taken Day 3 of having Jackpot. He was trailered home Saturday the 14th, given Sunday the 15th as a day of rest, and then started on Monday the 16th. These are dated the 18th, so Day 3.

A lot happened on Day 3!


There was a lot of this

Jackpot says "WHAT is THAT?"

Buddy introduces the saddle slowly


They walk it around

Notice here what Buddy's doing with his body?

His hips are leaning out in case this horse
 blows up and/or kicks out

If that happens he's got control of the head 
to pull it into him and push the hind end away
and his body will swing out, hopefully avoiding a kick



Adjusting, feeling the saddle

Learning to move with the saddle


*Very important*

BOTH SIDES
You should be able to saddle a horse from either side

Jackpot says "Oh-kay"


There's the goat!
He'll make a few appearances as we go along

He must really have a thing for Jackpot

Saddling again from the off side
but a different saddle..

Buddy has switched from the old
 "can get kicked 1,000 times and drug in the dirt" 
stripped down saddle for first-timers,
to a saddle that he rides in
with full gear - front and back cinch

Jackpot's fine with this part


The cinching up process
done very slowly and gently


Buddy says to Jackpot
 "That's excellent"


A moment of reflection....


Partners

4 comments:

Heidi said...

what a great horse he seems to be.. I love that you want to put a saddle on/off from both sides. So many people fail to do this and its IMPORTANT - ya dont always have to option of getting on/off on the same friggin side!! LOL Good to hear from you Mikey!

PaintedPromise said...

way cool!!!

Midlife Mom said...

I really enjoyed this tutorial Mikey. I've never trained a horse myself, well unless you count the one we raised when I was a kid. That one was more like a dog then a horse, she followed me right into the house one day! My mother shooed her out with the broom. One day I just hopped on her and off we went. Poor thing, didn't know much but we had fun!
Thanks for stopping by!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Buddy,
Jackpot is a lucky horse and we are lucky to be able to watch you two go together. I doubt if any of the other mustangs are any happier than Jackpot to be in kindergarten.
This will be a fun ride.
Kim and Jet, HELLO
Richard Degnan
PS- I have been trying to comment before but wasn't smart enough. Bet that doesn't suprise you