A little golden riding horse

[glenatron]

Now that Cash is settled and starting to feel sounder on his feet, it seemed like a good time to get him thinking about working again. After some nice groundwork the last couple of days I thought it might be good to get on him today.

It still took a while to get him ready to wear the saddle - with him you can't take anything as totally read, so it's safer to do some work with a rope around his barrel than to have him get anxious when you girth up and risk tangling in the saddle. We did most of our groundwork with the saddle so that he would be accustomed to it. Also because the girth had to go up a whole lot once he had breathed a bit.



Just got on. Because I'm treating him as a restart I'm effectively going through the mounting process much as I would with a baby, making sure he is comfortable with each step, taking nothing for granted. Once I am settled in the saddle he gets a pony treat, which helps him settle and over time will give him the idea he waits before he goes.


He was finding it a little hard to flex to the rein. He's obviously done enough riding that he has learned to pull. We can fix that easily enough.


He doesn't look as ridiculously small with me as I though he might. He seems to carry me quite comfortably.


I'M RIDING A SPARKLE!!!

It was only about five minutes riding but he did really well and I think it gives us a nice foundation to build on. Cash is a very clever little horse and I'm very proud of him.

Comments

[http://users.livejournal.com/_acerbusangelus/]

are those Rice trailers in the background?

Cash looks great!

[glenatron.livejournal.com]

They are Ifor Williams (http://www.iwt.co.uk/), who are one of the biggest UK makers.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_acerbusangelus/]

Ah. I have a Rice that somehow made it over to the states from the UK. Pretty much no one here has ever seen or heard of one. But I can see from the link you sent me they're similar in design and style.

[glenatron.livejournal.com]

I think that's kind of the standard design over here. They're not brilliant, but they're inexpensive and solid. Transport here tends to require more wiggly roads and less distance than in the US and they work well for that.

[herecirm.livejournal.com]

Sparkly vampire Cash! :D Watch out, before you know it he'll be standing in your bedroom watching you sleep.

You both look fantastic in that third photo. Cash is so cool. :)

[glenatron.livejournal.com]

Thank you. He is actually 100% supercool.

[jacketeer.livejournal.com]

Man is he gorgeous! Loving the frequent photo updates of this beautiful boy. And I think you're right, he's not too small for you at all.

[glenatron.livejournal.com]

It surprised me but I'm happy with it. He really is only pony size so he's certainly little, but most people here ride horses that are bigger than they need anyways.

[chancetoflyy.livejournal.com]

He is a cute little horse! Yay for his good ride! :)

[glenatron.livejournal.com]

He is, and thank you :)

[puddleshark.livejournal.com]

Big contrast in horsey body language between first and last shots! It's lovely to see him with ears forward and tail relaxed.

[glenatron.livejournal.com]

He's the type of horse who thinks that pretty much everything is the end of the world for the first thirty seconds and then realises it hasn't killed him and does well. I think he'll get a lot better with it, but it will always tend to be his nature. I expect our first few rides out to be somewhat snorty.

[penella22.livejournal.com]

:) Good ride. And so much more to happen from here.

[glenatron.livejournal.com]

There better had be, you'll be riding him in a couple of weeks :)