Second Saddle Tryout Take 3

Take 3 was much better! I was kind of in a hurry so when I brought Ava in I immediately tacked her up. I usually warm her up with no tack first. After she was ready to go I lunged her for a while. She did pretty good with lunging, got a little fast when a horse in training was misbehaving but she eventually calmed down.

When I started riding I could tell she was starting to listen again. Then towards the end of the ride she was definitely doing better. A couple things I noticed: she is nervous towards the far end of the arena (there are big doors with windows on them) and gets faster going away from them, the other thing is that her mouth may not be sore anymore, so she isn't quite used to it. It kind of makes sense. Someone told me that their horse had been injured but after she healed it took her awhile to learn there was no pain anymore. So, it could be the same with Ava.

I worked Ava for a little bit then went outside. Gorgeous day by the way. I could almost wear a short sleeve! Ava spooked and was nervous about this one area so we stayed there for a bit but then we made our way out into the huge field! The cows had been taken out and the gates were left open so what the heck! It was incredible. The pasture was so big it was hard for my eyes to adjust. I didn't really know where to go, there were so many places. We just ended up staying fairly close by. It couldn't have been better though. Ava lowered her head and was starting to relax, perfect.

After we were done I checked Ava's back for any rubs. Her hair laid flat. The saddle has also broken in a little more since the first ride and the stirrups don't squeak anymore. I'm liking it a lot more than in the beginning, a lot! I'm going to keep it until the weekend before I make a decision. We'll see what happens!