Introducing the Saddle & Girth – Just stand still & relaxed would you?

Introducing the saddle and girth to a horse can be a frightening experience for the horse. Horses are prey animals and don’t like feeling trapped which is what a saddle and girth can feel like because of the tight
pressure wrapped around the horse’s belly.

Even horses that have been saddled before and are not scared of the saddle or girth can developed nasty habits. If you rush when you do up the girth, you can make it a very negative experience and the horse can become
nippy and down right nasty when saddling.

The steps for introducing the saddle and girth for the first time, are the same steps you should follow if you are retraining a horse that has developed a girthy/nippy problem during saddling.

Before you get started with a saddle and girth, you need to cover your basics:

1) Your horse needs to trust you:

Develop trust with your horse through desensitization work and spending non-demanding time with your horse. Practice introducing many objects to your horse to show your horse that you can introduce many things to
him without him getting hurt.

Some excellent desensitization exercises include:

v Using a spray bottle

v Using a hand held massage on the horse (introduces vibrations & noise)

v Bathing a horse with a hose, sponge, and soap

v Walking over a tarp

v Walking through water (could be a puddle, stream, etc)

v Toss saddle pads, blankets, and towels onto your horse’s back

v Be able to lift and hold all four of your horse’s feet

v Be able to rub your stick/string/lead rope all over the horse

v Lead your horse while pushing a ball

v Lead your horse while hitting the arena walls, tossing hula hoops away, flinging your stick/string from side to side, up & down, and like a helicopter, etc

Remember the natural horsemanship principal ‘Encounter, Wait, Revisit.’ If the horse starts to look anxious or nervous then keep the scary object in the same position until the horse is standing still/ more relaxed. As soon as the horse is still, remove the scary object (or back up away from the scary object) and then re-approach the scary object. Repeat these steps until the horse can offer to approach the object and/or is more relaxed
with the scary object.

So for example, if you are touching the horse on the shoulder with your stick and the horse starts to walk away. Then keep the stick touching the horse’s shoulder while you ask the horse to stand still. As soon
as the horse stands still then remove the stick from the horse’s shoulder. This rewards the horse for standing still. Then try again and touch the horse’s shoulder.

Another example would be if the horse doesn’t want to walk over a tarp. Ask him to walk forward and when he stops nervous looking at the tarp, allow him to stop but keep him facing the tarp (you don’t want to teach
the horse that he can run away from what is scary). When his expression relaxes (lowers the tense head, or starts asking you questions by flicking ears toward you/looking at you) then ask him to back away from the scary object. Moving away from the scary object released the pressure and gave the horse reward.
Allow a moment for the horse to enjoy the reward and to think, then re-approach the scary tarp. You may have to wait, back up, and revisit many times, but eventually the horse will start to offer to touch the tarp and eventually walk over the tarp.

The difference between being forceful and inconsiderate with scary objects versus the ‘Encounter, Wait, Revisit’ approach, is that you will never provoke a horse to bolt, rear, or buck if you use ‘Encounter, Wait, Revisit’. This is because you will never push the horse beyond his comfort zone. You wait for the horse to be comfortable, and then start from the beginning again. This means you will never cross a threshold and overwhelm the horse causing the horse to feel the need to fight or flight away. Instead you develop a horse that understands you will be patiently be persistent until you get what you want – but you won’t advance the scary object/pressure until the horse is ready.

Having an experienced natural horsemanship horseman help you is ideal – timing is everything and you want to make sure you reward/release at the exact right moment (when the horse is still/more relaxed).

2) Your horse needs to understand your communication signals:

It is really important that both you and your horse understand each other. You need to be able to recognize when you horse is first feeling anxious or worried, you need to know what your horse is saying to you, and your horse needs to understand your communication signals.

Developing your communication and understanding of each other will strengthen your partnership and trust, but it will also mean that you have some cues and understanding of how to correct, reassure, and move the horse.

Before introducing the saddle and girth you should be able to do the following on the ground:

v Forehand turns

v Haunch turns

v Back Up

v Round Abouts/Circles (similar to lunging)

v Sideways

v Lift all four feet

v Send over a jump/pole

v Send in-between two objects (could be in between two jump standards)

v Disengage (Face up)

 

You should also understand the following communication signals from your horse:

v Frustration

v Anxiousness

v Asking Questions

v Trying to please you

v Angry

v Submissive

v Focused

v Distracted

If you are unsure how to do any of the above, you should learn from a natural horsemanship instructor to learn these communication essentials. You can also refer to ‘Natural Horsemanship: Answering the What, Why, and How for ALL Dis...

 

3) Your horse needs to be mentally and physically sound:

 

Before you introduce the saddle, make sure your there is no health issue, injury, or soreness that could make the saddle or girth painful for your horse. Also make sure your horse is mentally ready for the saddle (play with your horse on the ground before you bring the saddle out – if the horse is being skittish or anxious even without the saddle, you should work to relax your horse first).

 

Once you have covered your basics, it is time to introduce the saddle!

 

If you have done enough desensitization work, it should be easy to put the saddle on the horse.

 

First allow the horse to sniff both the saddle and saddle pad. We don’t want to be sneaky with our horse, so it is important the horse has a chance to know what is coming.

1. Make sure you can toss the saddle and saddle pads on from both sides. Do this a couple times. You want to be sure the horse stands completely still while doing this. If the horse is walking off, then it is a sign the horse could be anxious. Practice some ‘Encounter, Wait, Revisit’ until the horse stands perfectly still while you put the saddle and saddle pad on.

Once you can do this you can introduce the girth:

 

1. First allow the horse to sniff the girth. Remember, don’t be sneaky! Let the horse inspect the girth so he can understand it isn’t scary.
2. Do up the girth on one side. After the horse is satisfied the girth won’t bite, go ahead and do the girth up on one side of the saddle.
3. Now do up the girth loosely on the other side. As you are picking up the girth and doing it up, you need to watch for the first sign of tension or anxiousness. There will be a lot of ‘Encounter, Wait, Revisit’ while you introduce the girth. Watch for when the horse first tenses while you are doing up the girth (watch for raising their head, swishing their tail, taking a step forward, etc), when you notice the communication signal from the horse saying they are tense, you then need to wait and keep the girth in the same position/tightness until the horse relaxes their expression/is standing still. As soon as the horse is relaxed/standing still again, you need to immediately retreat to the starting position (completely loosen/ undo the girth). Then revisit and start to do up the girth, while looking for signs of tension – if the
   horse gets tense then wait, retreat, and then revisit. Keep doing this until you can tighten the girth so that it is snug enough that the saddle won’t slip backward or sideways (you can really scare a horse if you leave the girth too loose and then the saddle slips backward and/or under the horse).
4. Walk the horse forward. Walk the horse to let him get used to the feel of the saddle.
5. Tighten the girth. After walking, you should be able to tighten the girth a little more. Use ‘Encounter,
   Wait, Revisit’ if you notice any tension.
6. Walk the horse some more – you can even send the horse on a few round abouts/circles.
7. Tighten the girth again. Now the girth should be nice and snug with no worry of the saddle slipping
   backward or side to side. The saddle should be snug enough that it would be safe for a person’s weight.
8. Let the horse go for a canter. Horses can be comfortable with the saddle at the walk and trot, but at the canter the saddle can feel different and the horse may find it uncomfortable at first. Allow the horse to go out for a few circles/round abouts to do a canter in both directions. You can do this online, or enclosed in a safe & secure round pen. Don’t be surprised if the horse throws a couple bucks or jumps around a bit as they figure out the feel of the saddle. The horse should be able to canter comfortably in both directions with the saddle on before you move on to something else.
9. Leave the saddle on while you play. Now that the horse has accepted the saddle, show the horse that it doesn’t change your communication or trust. Play the same ground games with the saddle on – show the horse he can be comfortable performing all the same tasks you have already taught him. Spend some non-demanding time with the horse while he has the saddle on. The horse shouldn’t associate the saddle with work, otherwise the saddle can become a negative thing he doesn’t like.

Make sure you are using a proper fitting saddle and girth. If the equipment is hurting the horse then you will end up with a variety of problems and complications.

Follow these steps in a safe and secure area. A wooden fenced round pen is the best place to introduce the saddle (that way if the horse pulls away from you the horse will not get stuck in a corner, and will have safe wooden fencing to help prevent getting seriously injured if caught up in a fence). Make sure the working space has fencing in good repair (not wire, preferably wooden, with no broken or loose fence boards), and the working space is completely free from clutter or objects the horse could potentially hurt himself on (includes removing mirrors in arenas, water troughs, jumps, etc).

Doing the girth up in three steps will help your horse to think tightening the girth is comfortable. If you try and pull it tight all at once then the horse may panic or find it really uncomfortable. This can cause the horse to become girthy and being nipping or trying to avoid the saddle and girth. Remember to be slow, polite, and considerate.

Horses that are girthy/nippy when saddling up can also benefit from above steps. If you follow the steps above can safely retrain your horse to be accepting of the saddle and build the horse’s tolerance of girth pressure.

The most important principal with this task is ‘Encounter, Wait, Revisit’. For more information on this natural horsemanship principal and the other natural horsemanship principals please refer to ‘Natural Horsemanship: Answering the What, Why, and How for ALL Dis...

With time, patience, and consistency you will have a horse that happily accepts the saddle and girth. Remember – patient persistence leads to powerful, positive partnerships!

 

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By Lindsey Forkun

www.LFEquestrian.com

Lindsey is dedicated to promoting positive partnerships through humane natural horsemanship for all equine disciplines. Lindsey has started many horses, worked with ‘problem’ horses, and has competed in the show ring in many disciplines including English, Western, Hunter, Jumper, Dressage, Trail, and Speed Events. Lindsey specializes in retraining ex-race horses, and training/showing both hunters and jumpers. Free online advice and videos are available – visit her website at www.LFEquestrian.com!