A quick ride to check cows on the forest after a day of gentling wild horses turned into a spectacular light show.
It was 4yo Devil’s Garden Mustang gelding DG Littlefoot’s first “big boy” ride, saddled and being ridden the entire 8 1/2 miles rather than sharing the workload with 7yo Divide Basin Mustang mare Lacy (dun). The young bay gelding took to it in stride, without any buddy sourness or excitement. Better yet, he carried a rider he was unfamiliar with for the first 6 miles until we swapped horses, through a storm rolling in, with wind gusts and flying hats, without ever batting an eye. For the final leg of the ride I ponied Blaze off of him. He made some unsure ear movements the first two minutes, then continued trucking right along with the older, much more assertive gelding in tow. That’s what bringing young horses along under saddle is all about. With a solid foundation there’s no need for a rodeo.
This ride was also DG Blaze’s first outing since arriving at Wild Horse Outreach & Advocacy a few days prior. I gentled the now 10yo golden buckskin branded Devil’s Garden Mustang gelding back in 2019 through the TIP program. Blaze has the stallion look and battle scars from growing to maturity in the wild paired with an amazing disposition. Since his adoption he has been a pack and riding horse for a friend of mine who recently needed to rehome Blaze due to health reasons. The gelding has had the winter off and we are now easing him back into work.
Ponying is a great step in doing that so long as the horse being ponied has a basic understanding of leading and giving to pressure and you have a good enough handle on the horse you’re ponying off of to only need one hand in most situations. You have to be able to shut down any fights between two horses that might not know each other or not usually be that close to one another.
Once the initial ground work is done and we have established the basics of a relationship, pony, pack and ground drive are the steps I take before I ride a horse, even one that just needs a refresher. I’m a few years past the “looks like a horse, sure I’ll get on” stage. Breaking the process down into steps is so much easier for the horse too and gives them and me the chance to get to know one another better as we navigate the prep work together.
DG Littlefoot’s Best Ever Pads was kindly sponsored by Horse Show Mom , a wonderful, small horsewoman-owned business.
