[Claire1039]

Tolmu's stuff :3

[Claire1039]

First Saddle
1/18/15
[/center]//It has been one week since I bought Tolmu and we had our first touch//
I think it is finally time. Me and Tolmu have been getting along great, and since I have no other Nera's I'm spending all of my time with Tol. I bought tack the day after buying Tol, but I haven't been confident enough in our connection to try putting the saddle on him, until today.
I cleaned Tol off, which was harder than it sounds, because through our week of knowing each other I have learned of Tol's love for rolling. Whether it is in the mud, grass, or any other surface he happens to be on, he will roll.
I left Tolmu standing in his cross ties, but I only had one rope on, because I was feeling slightly giddy and anxious to get Tol's first saddle on. That was a big mistake. I had just come back with his saddle, fresh from his tack trunk when I saw Tol rolling. He had successfully walked off of the cross tie's floor, and was in the mud, still attached to the rope. I rushed over to him, worried that he might hurt himself, but luckily he was fine. I scooted him up and clipped both of his ties on, and made extra sure they were attached before rushing off and grabbing my grooming supplies. This was going to be a lot of grooming.
Of course a few days before I had put on the saddle blanket, which he had sniffed and promptly shaken off the first time he had tried it on. But after a little patience and many more attempts, Tol now readily accepts his blanket and is fine with it, but of course I still get a bit nervous when I put his blanket on.
Tol's grooming was finally finished, and he looked ready to go. I carefully set his blanket on top of him, since he was still new to the whole tack experience, and patted him on the shoulder when he responded nicely. I held the saddle closer to him and allowed him to sniff the new leather. It probably wouldn't be too comfy, since it was a brand new saddle and hadn't been worn in yet. Besides, Tol won't be used to the feel either. Tol sniffed the saddle for a long time, nudging and pushing it around with his muzzle. I turned it around for him to see all the angles of the saddle. He had always been very cautious about new things and this strange saddle was no exception. Finally, he turned away from the saddle, and stared at me, almost looking like he knew that strange object had to go on his back, and he may as well get it over with. I pet him once more before turning to adjust his saddle blanket, and then carefully lower the saddle onto Tol's back. I have never tacked a Nera before, but I had watched others around the facility getting ready for competitions with ease, their Nera's fully used to the feel of the leather being tightened onto their bodies. Tol jumped a bit, obviously startled, but he showed no other complaint and settled down fairly easily. I was very proud of him for handling the saddle so well! I gave him a treat, and promised him a bit of extra mesh tonight. He nickered, glad to hear that I sounded pleased with him. But, when I reached to take the saddle off of his back, he bucked (Or bucked as much as he could in the cross ties), and reared away from me, the saddle still on his back. I tried to sooth him, and offered him a treat once again. He took it, and after a while the tenseness seemed to leave him and he relaxed. I waited a few more minutes just to be sure, and then reached to take the saddle off again. This time, he just glanced at me. He acted a bit weird about the whole ordeal, but he acted fine as I took the blanket and saddle back to the tack room to put away. Tol officially had his first saddle, but he definitely had a ton of things to work on.

[Claire1039]

First Ride
1/24/15

//It has been a week of hard work and lots of training for Tol and me//
I think it is finally time. I walked out towards the field, running over all of my plans for today's training. I moved purposefully slow, but even then before I knew it Tol was in the cross ties awaiting grooming. I groomed Tol and tacked him, which we could now do in a matter of minutes very easily. Tol and I had improved with the bulky weight of the tack, and it is now much easier for both of us to work with. After bridling Tol I lead him to our riding ring. There was a slight slope, and then it flattened out and curved to the right. After one more slope, we had reached the ring. I had been walking Tol around the ring for the past two days with all his tack on, but I had decided today would be different. I walked Tol around the ring very slowly, still mulling over my plans. But after a few laps Tol was obviously bored of walking around in slow circles. I didn't know why I was so hesitant, Tol's training had been going wonderfully. I knew it was more me I was worried about rather than Tol. Or maybe it was both of us I was I walking so slowly for. None of that mattered any more though. I walked Tol over to the mounting block and stopped him next to it. I gave Tol a pat on the shoulder before pulling his reins over his head. I held them lightly in my hand so that they were slack and I wasn't pulling on them at all. By this point, Tol had realized that today was no normal training day, and that we were doing something completely different. But despite his growing concern, he stood still and waited patiently. I leaned about half of my weight on Tol's back for a good minute or so before leaning off of him. I pat him on the neck and talked to him reassuringly. He turned and sniffed the saddle before turning back to me. I leaned back onto Tol, this time putting more of my weight on his back. He grunted a bit, the new weight obviously different for him. I continued to lean on him though, and once I leaned away Tol still looked okay with the situation. I decided to finally put all of my weight on his back, and l laid across the saddle, my chin bumping into the stirrup on Tol's right. Tol did grunt very much at this, but that was all he did. I smiled to myself and after a good ten minutes I removed myself once again from Tol's back and gave him many praises and treats. But our training was not done yet. I felt confident we could have our first ride today. I lifted myself up and swung my leg over his back, fitting both feet into the stirrups and gathering the reins. Tol immediately whipped his head back and began sniffing and shoving at me a bit. I soothed him down though, and pet his neck when he turned back around. He just stood there, and for a moment I was in shock that we had actually done it. But then I gathered my senses and gave Tol a slight kick to get him going. He immediately began a nice energetic walk and seemed pretty perky about the whole situation. It was almost like he had known I was going to have to eventually use the tack I had been putting on him for the past week. "Your such a good, smart boy!" I whispered to Tol, leaning down a bit towards his head. He flicked his ears and I gave him a pat before tugging on the reins slightly to the left to keep him on the edge of the ring. We walked a few laps and trotted a few strides before walking a final lap around. Tol did the whole thing without any fuss, starting up a perfect trot and slowing down right when I told him to. I knew we were going to be a wonderful team in the competitions, I just knew it.