Saffron First Saddle

To end the day with Saffron, Katarina thought that testing her out with a saddle and some weight would be an excellent test of her knowledge and comfort level.

Katarina lead Saffron to a quiet corner of a green courtyard away from the noise of the dig and orders being shouted across the ruins and pointed her towards a corner that encouraged her not to move forward.  She was careful not to make her feel cramped or pinned in.  Katarina didn't want Saffron to feel like she had room to move as there was no one around to hold her still, but also didn't want her to spook and hurt herself, Saffron, or even both of them.  She had already set up the courtyard with a small step ladder to use as a mounting block and she cautiously slid the saddle carefully onto Saffron's back.

Slowly she reached under and pulled the girth up to tighten it, and got everything safely attached, and then she stepped up on the step ladder while talking softly to the horse in soothing tones.

Saffron wasn't worried at all.  This was old hat.  She wondered though why the human was being so trepidatious.

Standing at the top of the step ladder Katarina shifted her weight onto her right foot and lifted her left into the stirrup.  She tried to move as smooth and calmly as possible, but her stomach tensed with excitement and she could barely contain herself as she leaned forward over the saddle and eased her leg over and rested her foot in the stirrup.

Aside from a slight shift backward when the weight was felt in the first stirrup, Saffron stood still as a statue, and sighed deeply.

As Katarina sat up slowly and looked out between Saffron's ears, she felt on top of the world.  She stayed there a few minutes without so much as a shiver from Saffron and then reversed the process to dismount.

As she untacked the mare and let her go free, she wondered if she would be able to work with her again, or if she was going to be gone forever.

Saffron's Veritas, Breeding, and Lineage page

Other pictures of Saffron
Other pictures of Katarina

Basic Training:
1. Groundwork. 
2. Lunging. 
3. Accepting a saddle/rider. <this image>
4. First ride. 
5. Worst fear discovered.
6. Good/Bad day.
7. Trailer work.
8. Visit from the farrier/vet.
9. Play time.
10. Final: Discipline training.

Dressage Training:
Rhythm:
 Energy- Is your horse moving or is it plodding about sleepily? Let's wake it up! Maybe ride to music?
 Tempo- Set the right tempo for your horse. Show us what it can do without you interfering too much.
 Circles- Ride some large circles and pay attention to your turns! If needed, you may lunge your horse!

Relaxation:
 Leg yielding: Leg yield across the diagonal, on the rail, do shoulder in, travers...
 Elasticity: See how responsive your horse is. Keep it in the same rhythm while you ask it to cover more or less ground. 
 Long and Low: Have the horse stretching its head and neck downwards as to relax the back muscles

Connection and Impulsion:
 Accepting the Bit: Combine your seat, legs and hands to keep a connection with the horse's mouth. It may resist it at first or not.. find out what it does!
 Working in an Outline: By now your horse should be able to work in an outline! Show us what you've achieved!
 Improve Energy: Whether you're on or off the horse, make it move with a little more impulsion but make sure it doesn't run away from you! Movement should be ground covering and not fast.

Straightness:
 Is your horse straight?: This one is really basic. Show us what your horse needs to improve. Is it leaning in or falling out in some paces?
 From the Front/Back: Show us your horse walking or trotting towards or away from us. If the horse is straight, ideally, we would only see two of its legs.
 Circles- Once again, we're back to circles. You can keep the circles to 10m and spiral out to 20m. Circles are a must in order to improve straightness.

Collection:
 Light Shoulders: How light is your horse's forehand? Raise it's shoulders in any gait.
 Head up, legs in: The horse must be straight while maintaining its poll as the highest point and moving its legs underneath itself. Show us how far you've gotten!
 Higher Dressage: Piaffe, Pirouette, Passage... anything that requires collection to show us what your horse can now do!

Reference for horse/rider pose from personal photo
Face for Katarina referenced from   by Elandria
Background referenced from  by Elandria

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