Huge Personal Success! Update On Breaking In Our Horse: Today Nayyerah Wore A Saddle & Girth For The 1st Time & Completed A Walk Up The Hill Comfortably & Happily

This afternoon was a huge success for us. We decided it was time to try our mare with a saddle and girth for the first time. She's the grey horse. The chestnut you can see in the photos is our gelding who is a great teacher. We are in the process of breaking her in slowly and respectfully which is quite unconventional in the horse world, sadly. The rewards that come from taking your time with horses and allowing them the space and time they need to process new experiences are breathtaking and unfortunately something that not many people get to experience.

Very first time with a fastened saddle. Cool customer!

We started out with low expectations, which is important. We just see what we can achieve with any given lesson. It's a game of steady improvement, not goals or targets or anything that requires pressure to meet a deadline or some arbitrary objective. Nayyerah has only had a saddle on her once before when I placed it on her while she was grazing 3 months ago. See the pictures here. She hardly flinched. You can of course move quicker than this but we only have so many resources and we've been obviously working with her in other areas the mean time.

Scarab and Nayyerah being cuddly before their trip out

She's only felt a girth once before when we put a roller on her for a bush walk. Although she's felt these things once before, it's no guarantee that she'd be fine with subsequent tries. Horses are like that. Add the extra complication of joining the saddle with a girth and the fact that we were off for a walk on a new road that both horses have never been on before and I was expecting that we'd be turning home sooner rather than later.

Personal space?

As is often the case however with Nayyerah, she blew us away with how she accepted the new experiences. She didn't even really notice the saddle or girth, turning around to sniff it when on her only once. She walked in a stimulated and alert yet respectful and considered way, listing and watching for my signals and being aware of her environment which is textbook! We ran into dogs, vehicles and other horses along the way, all of which she handled with control and grace.

A stop at the top of the hill and the end of the road. Very relaxed body language.

You could tell she was processing a lot, she constantly sniffed and was obviously keeping a keen eye on her surroundings but that's fine, that's what we want. The top of the hill (which is also the end of the road) provided for some lovely views so we stopped to take a few pictures before heading back.

She wasn't bothered by the saddle & girth at all.

I'm blown away by how simple mutual respect can produce some amazing results. I've already been bareback on her twice. In fact those who are interested can watch the video of me mounting her for the very first time. She'd never before had a person sit on her and I think you'd agree that she was extremely calm and trusting of me. That video with a writeup can be found here.

Enjoy the rest of the photos and thanks for reading!

Not a bad view, worth the climb up the hill.