Navi wears a saddle!

The past two days I have been working with Navi a lot. We break up our time through out the day so she doesn't get burnt out or over worked. Two days ago I put the bareback pad (stirrups attached) on her for the first time. I was not too surprised when she didn't care one bit! That tends to be her nature, not a lot bothers her. When it does she will let you know by swishing her tail, nipping, or lifting her leg, she is not one to try and run away from the situation. I like that in her, I think it will make her a great trail horse. She hasn't actually bitten or kicked at us so its something we can't manage. A little attitude isn't bad :) Needless to say we carried the bareback pad around and didn't even bat an eye. We lunged w/t it made no difference to her.

Since that went so well yesterday I tried an english saddle. It something light, but has a girth and a bit more weight than the bareback pad. My BO was nice enough to let me use her saddle. She helped me get it on Navi and off we went to lunging. No fireworks!! Again she didn't even bat an eye. No big deal to her. We set up some poles and a small cross rail for her to go over. She trotted over those wearing the saddle like a champ! She even picks up her feet better than Pixie does! This is one smart little filly. I love her! She is stubborn, lazy, and has some attitude, but she is the perfect fit for me :)

Besides desensitizing her to tack and other items we continue to work on our liberty work. Side passing on-line is going well both directions. Lunging on-line is also going well. We are starting walk/trot off-line next to me and around me when given the cue. We are also working on lunging off line. I want her to lunge in a circle around me at a certain distance without the lead line. She is starting to understand when she goes to the right, but going to the left she is still leaving. She will stop and turn into me after she breaks out of the circle, but its a stop and go progress. Slow and steady wins the race, so she will understand soon enough. I am starting to see her offer behaviors to get rewarded for. She is starting to become a bit more lively moving off and picking up speed without being asked. I like that she has figured out she has some say in what we do when we train. By her offering behaviors I can catch and shape a behavior I want. It is important to me that my horses aren't afraid to try something new as long as that behavior isn't dangerous to me.