This is not the first time Taser has worn the saddle. However, he is still initially fearful of any objects that approach him that has nothing to do with food. In this video, you will see me playing Catching Game with the saddle pad followed by the Friendly Game. I want to play lots of Friendly Game with Taser to help him overcome his initial flight responses to human interactions before riding him.

The Catching Game, according to Robin Shen of Enlightened Horsemanship, “is a process whereby a horse is taught that the cue to move forward without a lead rope, the safest place is near the rider, and that the whip means hurry up;” which in this case I am using the saddle pad.

Watch how Taser progresses and accepts wearing the saddle as I play the two games individually with the saddle pad and then the saddle. The saddle used is an old Western that we don’t mind getting beat up during the trainings.

Since Taser does so well with this exercise, we are going to anpt it up a bit in our next video by do all the same exercises but with the escalation of adding a plastic bag to everything we do. Stay tuned.

Please like or comment, we love hearing from you.

Monica O. Krause
United Mustangs of America