Plans Change

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Well, Dingus won't be ridden for another few months. He won't take the saddle (to be honest I don't blame him, but he's handled everything else with such ease that I was surprised), he's actually starting to thicken and grow wider, and his height seems to be improving.

He reaches his second birthday on July 24, and with all of his bodily changes and this roadblock, I've decided to reduce work sessions to twice a week, with a turnout with the saddle in the round pen on weekends to let him become accustomed to it.

We did do some work with him last week, turning him out in the round pen for a couple hours with the saddle hanging on a panel for him to investigate. One day he was really shy and spooky so we also worked him individually, my husband and I did, and once his mind was a bit better had him stand parallel with the saddle and investigate it. It's the noise the large piece of equipment makes that throws him off. Squeaking and clanking and banging is quite a lot for a young horse to handle - and all of that in one huge object destined to sit on his back.

Once he is thoroughly accustomed to the saddling process and stands quietly for it, we will discuss his first ride again.

I'm not expecting it to be until September that he's ready to be ridden, and I'm okay with that. We won't be doing any serious work until the spring, and then only a little bit at a time, for his body has a lot of maturing still to do. He'll be three next summer, and I don't expect him to be ready for hard work until at least that fall. Mentally, by then, he'll be beyond ready. But his sister wasn't mature until she was four, and didn't look anywhere near ready to ride until she was three, and seeing as they're full siblings I'm expecting Dingus to follow a slightly accelerated, but similar schedule. We will play it by ear for the most part and adjust when and where we need to.

Fortunately, Dingus is not anywhere near as gangly or flighty as she was.

There are huge changes right around the corner in our future, with our debt practically paid off and five more months to baby number two! I'm super excited and can't wait to share what's new and coming! Come back next Friday!

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