Does this saddle look okay on my 3yo

[ThePinkPonyClub]

Thank you all for the very helpful advice, even the advice that wasn’t the nicest to hear. Again, I’m really glad I asked this question and have learnt so much from reading it all, I’m very grateful to you all.

I would just like to add that before this point we have done months of training and getting her used to rollers, the feel of girths ect, ect. Everything I have done with her has been slow and steady. It may well seem like a ‘lighthearted’ post by someone that knows nothing about horses (and while that isn’t true in many respects, she is my first youngster). I have an incredible trainer who I have weekly lessons with, and everything is done slowly and appropriately, with grate care.

Again, thank you all for all positive and negative criticisms, but please do consider that there is much more to a story other than what you may see or read in a short snippet on a post.

The roller in the below pictures is loose and not perfectly positioned, but I’m not here just to train my horse in only what perfection is. I’m here to teach her that sometimes things might not be perfectly or correctly placed, but that she still feels happy and confident in whatever I ask her to do, because hey nobody and nothing is perfect all the time. I want her to be a well rounded individual, not one that just loses it because something isn’t perfect (although in the case of the saddle I completely acknowledge that it’s imperative that I do not cause her pain, in anyway, hence why I asked for advice from you all !)

It means far more to me that she trusts me with whatever I do with her, or whatever situation we face, rather than striving for perfection 100% of the time, because that’s not how life, or horses work I want my horse to be a well rounded individual, that doesn’t lose it because something one day is down slightly differently than the day before.

X

 

[Darcey69]

Thank you all for the very helpful advice, even the advice that wasn’t the nicest to hear. Again, I’m really glad I asked this question and have learnt so much from reading it all, I’m very grateful to you all.

I would just like to add that before this point we have done months of training and getting her used to rollers, the feel of girths ect, ect. Everything I have done with her has been slow and steady. It may well seem like a ‘lighthearted’ post by someone that knows nothing about horses (and while that isn’t true in many respects, she is my first youngster). I have an incredible trainer who I have weekly lessons with, and everything is done slowly and appropriately, with grate care.

Again, thank you all for all positive and negative criticisms, but please do consider that there is much more to a story other than what you may see or read in a short snippet on a post.

The roller in the below pictures is loose and not perfectly positioned, but I’m not here just to train my horse in only what perfection is. I’m here to teach her that sometimes things might not be perfectly or correctly placed, but that she still feels happy and confident in whatever I ask her to do, because hey nobody and nothing is perfect all the time. I want her to be a well rounded individual, not one that just loses it because something isn’t perfect (although in the case of the saddle I completely acknowledge that it’s imperative that I do not cause her pain, in anyway, hence why I asked for advice from you all !)

It means far more to me that she trusts me with whatever I do with her, or whatever situation we face, rather than striving for perfection 100% of the time, because that’s not how life, or horses work I want my horse to be a well rounded individual, that doesn’t lose it because something one day is down slightly differently than the day before.

X

Please use a breastgirth with your "loose" roller.

 

[Lois Lame]

Thank you all for the very helpful advice, even the advice that wasn’t the nicest to hear. Again, I’m really glad I asked this question and have learnt so much from reading it all, I’m very grateful to you all.

I would just like to add that before this point we have done months of training and getting her used to rollers, the feel of girths ect, ect. Everything I have done with her has been slow and steady. It may well seem like a ‘lighthearted’ post by someone that knows nothing about horses (and while that isn’t true in many respects, she is my first youngster). I have an incredible trainer who I have weekly lessons with, and everything is done slowly and appropriately, with grate care.

Again, thank you all for all positive and negative criticisms, but please do consider that there is much more to a story other than what you may see or read in a short snippet on a post.

The roller in the below pictures is loose and not perfectly positioned, but I’m not here just to train my horse in only what perfection is. I’m here to teach her that sometimes things might not be perfectly or correctly placed, but that she still feels happy and confident in whatever I ask her to do, because hey nobody and nothing is perfect all the time. I want her to be a well rounded individual, not one that just loses it because something isn’t perfect (although in the case of the saddle I completely acknowledge that it’s imperative that I do not cause her pain, in anyway, hence why I asked for advice from you all !)

It means far more to me that she trusts me with whatever I do with her, or whatever situation we face, rather than striving for perfection 100% of the time, because that’s not how life, or horses work I want my horse to be a well rounded individual, that doesn’t lose it because something one day is down slightly differently than the day before.

X

PinkPony, I understand what you're saying, but just be aware that it isn't all about 'pain', it's very much about fear.

The trouble with fear is that it escalates quickly. One split second it's 'Oh, what's that!!!?? Cripes!' and the next split second it's mad dash, bang, crash.

Posters are trying to help you understand what can happen, and how it can happen as fast as a rocket.

I think the time for [bolded area in your post above] comes later. Much later.

 

[Tiddlypom]

Please use a breastgirth with your "loose" roller.

This.

If the roller slips back, which easily happens, it becomes a bucking strap, then you have a panicked youngster turning itself in knots and a major issue created.

 

[ihatework]

Cute pony!

 

[Landcruiser]

This is my girl a day or two before I sat on her for the first time last yr. Pink Pony, it sounds like you are doing the right sort of things, but there is a lot more fun to be had. I used an ancient treeless saddle, did loads of leading out wearing it, and some long reining. I added things to it gradually, first stirrups, then empty 20L water containers tied either side. The first time she clipped a fence with one she spooked. The second time she barely flicked an ear. By the time we got to backing I was doing all sorts of ludicrous things as in the pic, and allowing things to fall off next to her or fly over the top or between her legs. So far I've only fallen off her once (last week - ouch! - a big spinny spook that caught me off balance), I fell virtually under her and she stopped absolutely dead and just stood there. These foundations are so important.

 

[JBM]

Thank you all for the very helpful advice, even the advice that wasn’t the nicest to hear. Again, I’m really glad I asked this question and have learnt so much from reading it all, I’m very grateful to you all.

I would just like to add that before this point we have done months of training and getting her used to rollers, the feel of girths ect, ect. Everything I have done with her has been slow and steady. It may well seem like a ‘lighthearted’ post by someone that knows nothing about horses (and while that isn’t true in many respects, she is my first youngster). I have an incredible trainer who I have weekly lessons with, and everything is done slowly and appropriately, with grate care.

Again, thank you all for all positive and negative criticisms, but please do consider that there is much more to a story other than what you may see or read in a short snippet on a post.

The roller in the below pictures is loose and not perfectly positioned, but I’m not here just to train my horse in only what perfection is. I’m here to teach her that sometimes things might not be perfectly or correctly placed, but that she still feels happy and confident in whatever I ask her to do, because hey nobody and nothing is perfect all the time. I want her to be a well rounded individual, not one that just loses it because something isn’t perfect (although in the case of the saddle I completely acknowledge that it’s imperative that I do not cause her pain, in anyway, hence why I asked for advice from you all !)

It means far more to me that she trusts me with whatever I do with her, or whatever situation we face, rather than striving for perfection 100% of the time, because that’s not how life, or horses work I want my horse to be a well rounded individual, that doesn’t lose it because something one day is down slightly differently than the day before.

X

She looks stunning!
You’re going fab with her

 

[Exasperated]

Please use a breastgirth with your "loose" roller.

Be fair, there’s a hi vis neckstrap /martingale preventing that going backwards!
And she looks delightfully relaxed, snacking her way round.
We’ve had all sorts of stuff on young Welsh Ds, coats chucked across them, items flapping about, slipping off, from being newborns - if you’ve just got her as an unknown 3 year old, be sensible - but sounds like you’re both doing fine!
(Monty Roberts has them saddled, backed and riding away in less than an hour.....perhaps the fitter comes later?!)

 

[Darcey69]

Be fair, there’s a hi vis neckstrap /martingale preventing that going backwards!
And she looks delightfully relaxed, snacking her way round.
We’ve had all sorts of stuff on young Welsh Ds, coats chucked across them, items flapping about, slipping off, from being newborns - if you’ve just got her as an unknown 3 year old, be sensible - but sounds like you’re both doing fine!
(Monty Roberts has them saddled, backed and riding away in less than an hour.....perhaps the fitter comes later?!)

Yes there is neckstrap with girth attachment. Many apologies, I missed that in the photos.

 

[Tiddlypom]

Yes there is neckstrap with girth attachment. Many apologies, I missed that in the photos.

No breastplate/neck strap in the pics in which she’s wearing the roller when standing loose in the stable.

Sorry, OP, if it seems to be nit picking to mention these details, but things can go wrong very, very quickly in the starting process if the horse gets a fright. No one wants that to happen to your mare.

Good luck.

 

[Flakko2776]

Absolutely not ….that saddle is much too larg