First Saddle
"It was early morning when I went out to the barn, a brand new black leather saddle draped over my shoulder. Only the finest for my darling Jag, as on the other shoulder a freshly tanned albino coyote pelt hung loosely. Its plush white fur was to act as Jag's new saddle pad, and I had managed to stitch a soft velvet material into the underside of the skin. I even managed to fix myself up a new bridal, which I had beaded with amethyst gems and plated in gold. Even the tail cover had been beautifully braided with flowing tassels and beads. I had been working closely with Jag over the past few weeks, training constantly to make sure she would behave under the saddle. She had picked up some of the commands very slowly, though it seemed like she enjoyed working with me to a point. I praised her more often than not, and whenever she failed to follow a step my reprimands were light, to say the least. I called out to her as soon as I entered the barn, and watched as her nose sniffed around over the gate. I had almost forgotten to grab her a treat before I came in. I kicked the food bin open with my foot and grabbed a rat tail with my toes, tossing it up and catching it on top of the saddle. The splat of its cold frozen body sent the other neras into a frenzy, and all sorts of snorting and clicking commenced. I sighed, setting down the saddle and grabbing more treats for the rest of them. Pushing the tack towards Jag's stall door, I went around the barn and treated and loved upon all my neras. When I got back to jag, she was shoved halfway under the gate, sniffing down the tack. She seemed especially interested in her saddle pad, so I laid it over the stall door while I set everything else up. She licked the fur and spat, then went back to nuzzle the velvet underside. I chuckled at her and led her out of her stall, tossing the tack back over my shoulders and taking her out to the loading post. I tied her to the bar and brought the saddle pad over her back. She turned to sniff at it, but found it to be less interesting this time. I did the same with the saddle and began hooking and latching straps, again with little to no reaction. She seemed fairly calm on the matter. I grabbed her bridal and showed her the bit, and when she opened her mouth to lick at it and gently placed it between her teeth. Like most neras she was startled at the sudden coldness of the metal, but once I pulled it up over her head and seemed to calm down and adjust easily. I praised her, testing the straps and marking edges that needed a little clipping or restitching, and then removed everything slowly. She seemed relieved at having all of that heavy leather removed at first, yet also a little antsy, as if she had been looking forward to something more. I fed her the lower half of a rat and then re-saddled her, continuing the cycle a few times. When she was fully used to it, taking the bit on command, I decided she was ready for our next step.."