I had set myself a goal to start Serena under saddle this summer. It became more and more evident that she is still not ready to accept a rider. She still has trust issues, nervousness issues and issues with a rope dangling down around her or on the ground hanging from her halter. To me, this isn’t a safe situation and until this particular problem is worked through I wouldn’t even dream of riding her. Imagine if a rope or rein dropped from a rider..this would be a dangerous situation as she tries to get away from the rope.
So instead I decided to just continue with small things and building trust. It was just the other day when I finally reintroduced a saddling situation to her. I put a bareback pad on her back and cinched it up just tight enough so it wouldn’t move or turn. Then I turned her out into the corral. She bucked a bit and tore around some, then stood still afraid to move. After a few more minutes she was doing better, moving, but afraid to put her head down and it with it on. I caught her up and lead her around some with it on and patted it etc. Then took it off. That was a bit tricky as she worried about the cinch strap fluttering in the breeze. Slowly she became ok with it and I was able to take it off. I put it on the ground and asked her head down to sniff it. She did. Then I just laid it back on her back, making sure the straps were not going to be dangling. She was a bit nervous but accepted that ok.
The thing is…she had been saddled, led around etc with an english saddle and bb pad before “IN THE BARN” but not outside where she could move on her own. With Serena a new environment is a whole new experience. Makes me again realize I can’t take anything for granted with her.
Will I ever ride her? I hope so, but now I haven’t set a time frame for us. We will know when it is time. In the meantime I am just enjoying her. She is awesome.
My sisters Liz & Anne were over yesterday & hadn’t seen her for a few months. They were totally amazed how quiet and approachable she has become. In fact, when she was in the barn they couldn’t believe it was her. It made me smile and realize that we do continue to make progress, even when I don’t really notice it myself.