Back in the (Western) saddle again...

E threw her ol' Western saddle on Monte yesterday. After a few moments of confusion, they both remembered what they were supposed to do to make it work. One of the hardest things for E was to keep her bum in the saddle while Monte trotted; she much prefers posting to being bounced along. After working on slowing his stride down to a more respectable Western pace, though, she found that his gait smoothed out a bit and she was more comfortable.

It's really cool to watch her change the speed of his gait through her seat alone. The movement of E's hips/pelvis tell him how big of a stride to take. I think it is magic, actually, because the whole process is completely invisible to the people on the sidelines.

Neighbors

Monte got to move to a larger stall/run today out at the horse barn. And he now shares a fence line with Curly.

When E brought the little man to his new run he was very excited and immediately began prancing all around, head and tail held high. Curly was curious and excited about the new neighbor as well, and walked up and down the fence to watch the show.

Monte soon discovered that this new space is big enough to actually get up to a canter - as long as you're able to make a quick turn and immediately slow-down at the end. He also felt that he needed to assert some dominance over the other horses that border a small portion of his run. Again, he held his head and tail up high, snorting and striking out at the fence between him and "his subjects" (as I'm sure he sees all other horses!). They just mildly looked at him and eventually walked away.

E has decided that she wants to try competing in both Western and English at the fair this year. This could be challenging since she's still very much a beginner at English and hasn't ridden Western in many months - and never on Monte!

I think many riding hours are in her near future in order for her to even be marginally ready.