Janus was confident enough that it wasn’t too long before he was ready for the saddle. Before I saddled him, I tested the waters, so to speak. To tried to get gauge on how comfortable he was. There are so many variables that go into knowing if a horse is ready for saddling, it would be hard to get it all in words. Suffice it to say, at this point, I really made an effort to listen to Janus. Unlike his older brother, who wears his emotions on his sleeve, Janus is more stoic. So I have learned to listen more attentively.

Janus was telling me, “What’s next, Boss?”

I stepped into the round pen, and Janus was right there, already hooked on. Ready. I didn’t really have a plan to saddle him on that particular day. I find that Plans tend to take on a life of their own. A Plan is something I might have in my head, but it certainly isn’t in his. I have found horses to be the best remedy to a well laid Plan. Instead, I listen. We still have a lot of groundwork to cover, but he can do that with a saddle on his back. Long before I ever get to put a foot in a stirrup, the saddle will become boring for Janus. Just another day in his life. That’s how I want saddling to feel.

After a few minutes of fooling, I could tell unless I introduced something novel, he was going to get bored. So I went and got my saddle and pad. I took the saddle and pad and just laid them over the corral panel and I walked away.

Saddles and pads are usually interesting things for horses. They have lots of smells, of other horses, their sweat and mine. Saddles taste interesting, the fenders are salty. Saddles have lots of textures, rubber maybe of a horn wrap, metal buckles that clink on their teeth, tooling that rubs on their lips, soft fleece lining on the underside. Altogether, unless a horse has had a bad experience with saddling, saddles are objects of unique interest to horses. So I let him explore for a few minutes.

Saddles sure are curious things

Janus was fascinated. I love working with curious horses. I enjoy watching them figure this world out. After several minutes, Janus started to really mouth the pad and saddle. However, before his curiosity was sated, I wanted to use that curiosity during the process of saddling. So I asked him out to the middle of the round pen. I took the saddle pad and started rubbing it all over him. Then I took the pad and placed it on is back. Shortly, I was taking the pad and in a great big swinging arc over my head, let it land on his back with a flourish… and he could care less. Yes. Next, I brought the saddle over and set it on his back. I repeated it, a little more cumbersome this time. Right then is when I needed to listen most carefully.

Was he accepting this process, but mentally he is somewhere else? Or was he still engaged, right there with me, still holding my handshake? I know if I’ve gone too fast, if a horse starts looking away, gets dull in the eyes or ears and tense in the mouth. A horse with that look is not sure about this, and is thinking about saving itself. Worse, in preparation for saddling, many horses are overly sacked out/ desensitized and have been “turned off.” When I think of this, I think of the slick colt breaking demonstrations in a big arena where in a short time, someone has a horse saddled and is cracking a bullwhip from their back. But look at the horse. In order to protect themselves, they will just. Shut. Down. A horse in that frame of mind will let you do this thing to them, but they are not a partner. They are not there with you. Their minds are somewhere else, somewhere protected, because it’s the last thing they have that you can’t take from them. I don’t want that, I want nothing to do with it.

Janus is right there with me. He gets a little uncertain, stiff in the neck. Like he might be looking for somewhere else, but then I ask him to be right there with me. Tell me it is okay. He turns to me, looks and blinks. He sighs. I rub him on the forehead. He is still curious, engaged, and in a learning frame of mind.

Not cinched yet, but there is a look that says, “What’s Next?”

Jumped right to the middle of this series? Here are the other parts, if you’re interested!
Part I
Part II
 

Thank you for reading this! I hope you find it interesting, maybe helpful. If you have any questions, or want me to discuss any topics you find interesting, fire me off an email or leave a comment below.