Tonight, Xena wore a saddle for the first time in 3 or 4 years.

A friend at the barn has lent me her old English saddle, and while the gullet is too wide and generally the fit is not suitable for Xena, I’m planning to only use it for unmounted groundwork, so it will do for the time being.

The Saddle Blanket

I’ve bought Xena a mushroom-coloured English saddle blanket and began introducing it to her a couple of weeks ago. I began by using it to polish her nose — mainly because she loves having her face rubbed. Then I gently draped it over her neck, and slowly swept it along her body until it was perched on her rump. After several minutes of playing Friendly Game℠ with it, I finally placed it on her back. She accepted it fairly quickly, as I handled it much like the blanket, tarp and bareback pad we’ve played with in the past.

The Saddle

Last week I spent a couple of evenings in Xena’s stall, holding the saddle so she could sniff and explore it. I’ve decided to treat the saddle like an unusual object, instead of a piece of riding tack. I don’t know if this was necessary, but I do know the last time Xena saw a saddle it was an unpleasant experience for her. I want to somehow erase that memory by making her time with me as different as possible.

So, I made a hide-and-seek game of it, and within a few minutes she’d confidently rubbed her nose all over the saddle. I showed her the saddle right-side-up, then up-side-down and sideways. She sniffed and explored, and found the pieces of carrot I was holding under the flaps or around the next corner. She even snooped under the saddle to find a carrot in the gullet.

Next I began to touch her with the saddle. Again being unorthodox, I rubbed it on her shoulder, and let her sniff it. I rubbed it on her side, her rump and her leg , and then back for more sniffing. When she seemed confident, I began to swing the saddle up onto her back; pause for a moment, and then remove it.

Predictably, approach & retreat worked well for saddling. We played this game for several evenings, all without ever showing her the girth.

The Girth

I’ve bought Xena a dark brown 52″ synthetic girth for the time being, as my friend’s girth is too short. It’s possible that the 52″ will end up being too long, but I plan to be very gentle and patient with girthing and just wanted the entra length for now.

Just as I’d done with the saddle, I allowed Xena to sniff and explore the girth. I rubbed it on her, shook the buckles and then attached it to the saddle. For the first few sessions she was noticeably worried when the girth even touched her belly, so I didn’t attempt to buckle it until our fourth session. On that night, I tightened the girth in three stages, until it was snug enough to hold the saddle in position, but loose enough that I could easily get my hand under it. I want to be careful not to make her girth shy in these early days, so I’m deliberately under-tightening it — there will be plenty of opportunity to tighten it correctly in the weeks ahead.

Tonight, we simply walked around the arena looking very proud of ourselves.