Third prompt: tell me how they do first time under saddle and how their grooming went
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It was already hot when Silas pulled the trailer into the parking lot. He'd decided to leave it here for a couple nights, in anticipation of being able to take his wildie home after the carnival. So he had taken a little longer to arrive at the grounds this morning, and the sun was already beating down on the corrals. He thought that might actually be a good thing, given what he'd planned to do today.
His mare was awake for once when he arrived, knocking her food pan around the corral. The town hired folks to feed the morning grain to the horses, to prevent overfeeding or tampering. From the looks of it, she'd finished a while ago and was busying herself licking the bottom of the pan.
"Morning!" he said to her. Her head shot up and a loud whicker escaped her mouth. Silas laughed and handed her a piece of carrot through the bars. He'd had to start chopping the carrots into smaller pieces, just to make sure he wasnt going through a bag a day. She wasn't interested in commercial horse treats or apples or sugar cubes, but LOVED carrots.
After he'd refilled her water buckets and brought her some alfalfa, Silas brought a small bucket of tools into the corral. She'd seen it before and had even let him run a soft brush and his hand over basically her whole body, but she hadn't gotten the full experience yet. Today she would. He slipped the halter over her ears and let the lead rope coil onto the ground, as he would be teaching her to ground-tie. As usual, she didn't seem to mind.
He started with a rubber curry comb, first letting her sniff it and then gently introducing it to her shoulder. She didn't seem to mind, as long as he occasionally gave her a piece of carrot, so he started working in gentle, slow circles. She had mud everywhere and he knew he wouldn't get the full effect of her coat until she got a bath, but he was starting to see more of what she looked like. She had beautiful dark golden hair with flecks of white. Her long, dark mane was still tangled and dirty, but he'd take care of that today, at least somewhat.
Overall, she did really well. She didn't love her legs being groomed, but then Silas didn't have his full grooming kit so he only had the regular curry comb. Once he got her home, he'd give her the deluxe grooming experience with the tiny, soft leg-and-face curry he had. He didn't mess with her tail, but he got her forelock and some of the less-tangled parts of her mane cleaned up.
After she was as clean as he'd be able to get her, he offered a couple pieces of carrots, then left to grab a few things from his truck. The small jumping saddle and bridle would hopefully fit her, at least enough to serve his purposes. He brought everything inside and set it against the corral panel, allowing the mare to investigate. She licked the leather of the saddle.
"Alright. If you don't like this, tell me." Carefully, he introduced the saddle pad to her, first letting her sniff it, then rubbing it across her shoulder, then slowly laying it across her back. She stood like a rock. He repeated the process, giving her carrots each time he place it on her back. Then he did something similar with the saddle, slowly lowering it onto her back and then removing it. Again, she didn't seem to mind as long as she got paid in carrots. When he started tightening the girth, slowly, he expected a reaction and got only a flick of the ear.
Then he replaced with halter with a bridle with a soft leather bit. She chewed on the bit some, as if deciding whether it was food or not. Silas took the bridle off and on a few times, giving her a carrot slice each time he removed it. When she was all tacked and unbothered, he led her out of the corral and into the large round pen that had been set up nearby for training. Luckily, no one else was using it and there wasn't many folks hanging around it. Not that he thought his mare would mind.
When he had closed the door to the round pen, Silas took the lead rope off her halter and clucked to her. He had practiced this a few times with no tack so she walked off, going toward the rail of the round pen. He clucked again and gentle swung the rope end of the lead rope and she picked up a hesitant trot. The feeling of something on her back was magnified by the faster pace and she raised her head, unsure. He said a couple of soothing words to her, clucking again, and she seemed to relax a bit. After a few good, relaxed steps of trot, he cooed at her, which was the voice signal for stop. She did, then looked to him for her treat.
"You'll do just about anything for food, huh?"
A/N: Sorry I wrote so much!! I had sooo much fun with these prompts! Thank you so so much!!!!! <3 <3 <3