Cob Jockey

Since I last wrote, Shae has
- Began learning to lunge.  Within one half hour session he was walking, trotting and halting with voice commands.  His laziness and lack of focus are the main impediments to this.
- Worn a saddle pad, saddle and girth.  I put it on cautiously, but he just turned around, looked at it, looked away, and that was that.
- Gotten lunged with the saddle on.  He bucked the first night I did this, but only in a show of annoyed exuberance, not to get the saddle off.
- Been sacked out to the stirrups banging on his sides, me standing above him, me banging on the saddle, me rocking the saddle violently...etc.  And by sacked out, I mean I did it and he looked at me like "Ooooh, neat game, what's next?!"

Today I asked Sara what I could have done better and she said that I need to anticipate what he's going to do next instead of react and obviously get him into a round pen, which is somewhat difficult since the mustangs are still living in the real training round pen.  He's lazy, and in the round pen I'll have the ability to make him move instead of chasing him around the indoor on a lunge line.  As far as her first comment, though, I'm feeling out where the fine line between anticipation and nagging lies.  I anticipate him breaking every stride or two because that's what he does: he's insufferably lazy despite being very agile and athletic.  But do I continually ask for more?  I think he'll learn to tune me out, and with a horse like him that is not what I want.

If the weather holds, we're going in the round pen tomorrow and he's going to work until it's MY idea, not his game.

Sara thinks I'll be on him by next week, if not by the end of this week.  I agree wholeheartedly.  My prediction is that he'll throw one giant corkscrew of a buck and that will be that.  We'll see!  I can't wait to be the first person on his back!