Maja got a ground-driving lesson yesterday, and did quite well. Neither Cary nor I were feeling up to working a horse this weekend, so Maja was the only one to get any progress towards riding. I got some videos of her ground-driving, but I haven't gotten any up on You Tube yet. I'll try to get around to that eventually.
Today, it was really, really hot again, so Maja got a quick session in the round pen doing a little ground work...and then my tiny friend climbed up on her for a very short ride around the round pen with me leading. Much of the time she was mounted, she was moving her legs back and forth quietly, wiggling quietly in the saddle, slightly leaning forward and back - all very subtly, but getting her used to more sensations from above, while she had weight on her back. Here are the pictures - Cary had it on burst mode at times, so some are very close together. http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=4jh0nhxz.5a84bki7&x=0&y=30nwrl Maja was quite relaxed about the whole thing. In the pictures, however, it looks to me that her head is a bit high. In actuality, I think it really wasn't - she has a higher set neck than some horses, and a big, blowsy mane to add to the illusion. Oh yeah, we did use a treed saddle today - that one is the x-wide Thorowgood pony saddle. We have been alternating the tack we use, sometimes a bareback pad, sometimes just a pad, and we will use one of the treeless saddles soon. But, in the process of exposing her, this saddle is a good one to throw into the mix - it has flaps that make a funny little noise and they flop a bit, and we like to make sure that the horses are exposed to that sort of oddity before we forget and get overly confident. This pony saddle isn't a bad fit for her, and my friend is so tiny and was only up for maybe 5 minutes, so it wasn't a big deal. Karen Karen Thomas Wingate, NC No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.476 / Virus Database: 269.11.4/936 - Release Date: 8/4/2007 2:42 PM
