"Hey Fay!" I yelled as I ran up to the old rickety fence. Fay was munching on something, I couldn't tell what it was, maybe a small bird or something? Although she seemed to be sticking to more of a vegetation diet, she still did manage to grab a bird or two out of the air once and a while. Fay jumped to the occasion to see me, as if she didn't just see me the yesterday. I climbed on top of the fence, and jumped over into her field. She came running towards me, and stopped when she was right about to run into me. "Hey Fay," I smiled as I stroked her soft ear. She turned her head sideways, "That feels good, huh girl?" I asked smiling. Fay then proceeded to run around me in circles, and suddenly, i felt something struck me from behind. "Hey! I'll get you for that!" I yelled jokingly at her. We played "tag" for a while, although I was pretty much always it, since there was no way to out-run Fay.
Spending time with Fay really made me happy, and today, we were going to try to get her saddle on. Out of no where, Fay shot her head up us playing, and looked around, until spotting her tack. She tilted her head, confused, and I realized playing and stroking Fay all day wasn't going to get anything done, and I was bought back to reality. hmm... better start getting her used to that saddle... I walked back to the front of the field, and slid under the two rails of the fence, as Fay watched carefully. I ran into the shed, and came out with my hands full, Fay's large, bulky saddle rested on my arms, her shiny new bridle hanging from my shoulder, and a girth and tail piece draped over the other. Fay couldn't stay still, she was wagging her tail, prancing in place, and huffing and puffing at the sight of all the new stuff. She was overwhelmed with a mixture of curiosity and excitement to look at all the new stuff to her that I was holding. I trudged along to the fence gate, no way of getting all that tack between the fence rails, and I wasn't going to be able to climb over the fence unless I was empty handed.
Once I got into her field, Fay ran right up to me, and jumped back, startled by the clinking noise the bit and the stirrups make when they hit from the wind blowing them together. "It's alright girl, see?" I held out my arms with the saddle on them for her to see it was no threat to her. Soon, I got her starting sniffing everything I had to offer. Once figuring it out for herself it was not dangerous, she leaned in, and took a nip at the tail piece, "No, no Fay, this is no leaf! It goes around your tail!" I stated firmly as I pulled my shoulder away from her. She tilted her head confused. "Here, I'll show you." I carefully placed the bridle, girth, and tail piece on the ground, leaving the saddle in hand.
"Alright girl, time... to... get... this..... saddle...... on......" I stated struggling to lift the saddle up onto her back. Wait, I have an idea! Quickly, I ran over to the closest fence, and draped the saddle on the top rail, and called Fay over. Being her curious self, she gave it no second thought of coming over. I balanced myself on the bottom fail of the old fence, and then got onto the top rail, and plopped myself down next to the saddle. Being about the right height of Fay's back, I pat her on the back, which seems to startle her. Fay looks towards me, and seems a bit agitated and confused. It's unusual to have anyone taller than her, and she must not like it... She's just not used to people around her back, I assume.
Once finally getting Fay okay with the fact that I'm taller than her, she seemed cam enough to put the saddle on. Rubbing my hand up and down her back, and under her belly where the girth and saddle will go, she seems to not really care. It was time to put her first saddle on. I carefully take the saddle off the fence next to me, and I slowly bring it closer and closer to her back. When I am just about to reach her, I gentle place it on her back. Or, I was about to place it on her back, but she moved her hind legs back, and I fell flat on my face. Brushing the dirt off my pants, I pick up the saddle and untwist the tangled stirrups. I position Fay right where I need her, and I tell her "stay" firmly. Once again, I place the saddle on fence, and sit back where I was. "lets try this for the second time..." I say in a calm, soothing voice to Fay. She seems to understand this is no playtime, and I'm serious.
For the second time, I take the saddle and slowly extend my arms out to place it on her. Her low, relaxed head stays still, she seems not to care. I hop down from the fence, and walk around her to get the girth that I had left lying on the ground. I attach it to her left side, and once getting to the other side of her, I brace myself for what's going to happen when I tighten it. I put it on the first whole, and stand back, expecting bucking and rearing and running around franticly, with a few kicks at me. Instead, she did nothing once again. I tightened the girth up by one hole, and observed what she did. Nothing again. I continued doing this until the girth was going to be tightened to what I thought would be just the right size for her. As I tighten it, her relaxed, lazy head perks up as I tighten it, and I quickly back up. Nothing! No bucks, kicks, rears, running, nothing. All she did was bite the saddle a few times, but she really doesn't seem to mind the saddle.
I proceeded to place attach the tail piece, which still didn't bother her. Her tail twitched a few times, but no real negative reaction from her. I put the breast strap on her, and she really didn't mind it. The last thing was her bridle, which worried me. I picked up the last item of my messy pile from the grass, and I walked up to her face. I gentle asked for her head, and I pulled it down to a level in which I could actually reach. Fay was a bit finicky about the bit. After a while of trying to get the metal bit into her mouth, I finally got her to come to accept it, although I could tell she didn't like it. "I know girl... I wouldn't like bits either," I calmly whisper her. The rest of her bridle was a breeze, and once I was done, I was so proud of her!
by MustangKnight » Sun Jan 04, 2015 4:21 am 
