Training - First Saddle

Chasa had been living with me for about a month before I got it into my head to to saddle her up. This was partly because I was more concerned with getting her settled in, and partly because it simply didn't occur to me. At least, not until Meera casually dropped the question on one of her frequent visits to my farm. You see, we were both standing at the paddock fence, watching Chasa lounge about in the noonday-sun with her new herd, and up until that point we'd both been pretty absorbed in our own thoughts. Then Meera turned to me and just blurted it out: "Ridden her yet?"

The question caught me quite off guard, and my friend could tell, though she simply let out a cheerful laugh and waved off my surprise. She couldn't believe that I hadn't tried it yet! After all, Chasa was partly mine now, so it was within my rights, and she was a beautiful animal with superb conformation despite her prior abuse. Meera went on to talk about how she'd loved riding the mare - before it became clear that she wasn't happy on the ranch, she'd even dreamed of entering her in a show or two. Not just for fits and giggles, though. No sir-ee-bob! Showing the mare would have been serious business. See, if Chasa did well in a show, it would have brought attention to rescue animals everywhere by demonstrating to the public how they could rise above their circumstances and do great things.

Then maybe more people would give them the second chance they so badly needed.

That evening, after I'd seen Meera off, I sat in my kitchen and set to work rearranging my schedule. The woman had been absolutely right in one respect: even if I had no ambition to show Chasa myself (though she could still go for it if she wanted to), it would be an absolute crime to let the mare get out of the habit of being ridden. She was a beautiful animal and I didn't want her backsliding! However, the exercise riders I hired from time to time to help keep my other Nera in shape wouldn't be of much help. There was no way Chasa would ever accept them soon enough to make it worth-while. Which meant that any riding would have to be done by me, and only me.

I chewed on the end of my pencil as I stared at my planner. If I moved this there, and this there... the room was suddenly filled with the soft sound of pencil on paper as I erased and re-wrote furiously. I could do THAT on Wednesday instead of Thursday. And that on Monday! Then all I had to do was reschedule a shopping trip and... I was golden! Triumphantly, I lowered my pencil and leaned back to admire my handiwork, doing my best to ignore all the eraser crumbles that now covered my table. I wouldn't let them spoil my happy. You see, I had managed to create at least an hour a day, every day, to work with my new mare, along with all of Saturday and Sunday. Barring unforeseen incidents, of course. And the usual chores. Grinning widely, I dusted my planner off and got to my feet, intending to search up a crumb-broom so I could clean the table.

The first round of 'saddle-Chasa' 101 began Tuesday after I completed my morning rounds.

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Before even trying to lay hands on Chasa, I fetched Monk into the arena. Monk was a beautiful black, green and white stallion that I loved to bits despite his occasional bouts of grumpiness, and he just so happened to be the head of Chasa's new herd. He was her leader. More than that though, and most importantly for my purposes, he was her friend and her protector. Indeed, I'd been watching the herd very closely as of late to make sure my new mare was fitting in properly - I was ready to remove her from the group without a moment's hesitation if I saw any signs of friction at ALL - and it was clear to even the the thickest-headed dunce how quickly and firmly the pair had bonded. Any time I went looking for one of them I'd find them together. Each and every time the other herd members got too rough for Chasa, Monk intervened. They were also constantly grooming one another, which was doing absolute wonders for Monk's skin condition, believe-you-me! In fact, if it hadn't gone against everything I knew about Nera and their ways, I'd have bet you a million dollars that Monk and Chasa were completely, utterly, totally, head-over-heels in love with each-other!

At the very least they were best friends.

As I mentioned earlier, this was great for my purposes. Chasa had never seen me Nera-back before, and given her tendency to intensely dislike/distrust new situations, I wanted to get her used to the concept as gradually as possible. And Monk was going to be my ambassador! I was hoping that once she saw me tack him up a few times, she'd realize that his lack of fear meant she didn't have to be afraid either. The same went for my hopping into the saddle and taking Monk for a couple laps. After giving the stallion a good pet and turning him out into the arena, I returned to the paddock for the real object of my attentions.

Naturally Chasa wasn't too sure about the whole situation - she could tell I was up to something, but didn't know what, which meant that she really didn't want to be part of it. For starters, she shied away when I went to tried to put her halter on. She hadn't done that in ages! It took a great deal of sweet-talk to convince her to play along, and even after I'd attached the lead she was painfully nervous. For most of the distance between the paddock and the arena, my poor mare's ears flicked back and forth wildly, trying to catch every sound, her head was raised slightly in an effort to see more, and each step she took was best described as 'mincing'. Once she realized where I was leading her though, and saw that Monk waited for us at the end of the journey, she relaxed considerably. I could almost see the tension melting from her!

So far, so according to plan.

I turned Chasa out into the arena so she could get used to the space, then made my way to the main barn to fetch Monk's tack. When I came back several minutes later, the two were simply hanging out. Neither seemed unduly stressed or worried. Chasa stood by Monk's side, snuffling curiously at the dusty floor of the arena, while Monk stood with his head raised, watching an oblivious trio of barn swallows play in the rafters. Smiling, I slid through the gate as quietly as I could and hung my armload of gear on the rail. Monk spotted me immediately and came over to investigate. Chasa, on the other hand, hung back. I just ignored her for the moment. Instead, I made a great fuss over the stallion, scratching the base of his tail and the ridge of his neck - all the places I knew he got the itchiest and so loved to have rubbed. After a few seconds of this, he leaned into my touch and began kneading the ground with pleasure. This was an odd habit of his - whenever he got really happy, he'd use his front 'hands' to alternately kneed things, like a cat is prone to do when you when you scratch under its chin. I'd always thought it was adorable, and it never failed to make me grin from ear to ear!

Slowly, gradually, Chasa became curious enough (not to mention jealous enough) to close the distance between herself, Monk and I. She crept up from my right. This brought her past the saddle, which she sniffed briefly, before she was able to nudge Monk with her nose. He continued to kneed the ground, but brought his head up and began licking at her ears. After a moment of this I stopped scratching Monk and turned to the mare, whom I stroked several times before I finally retreated several yards and left them to their own devices.

That would be all for today.

On the following day, after I'd gotten them both in the arena, I made Monk stand still and saddled him up. He didn't care one wit, having been through this before, and Chasa didn't seem too impressed either. Though she kept her distance as I did up the buckles. Once this was done, I led Monk around the arena a few times, leaving Chasa to do whatever. For the most part, she just stood and watched. After our third lap, I took the saddle off Monk and hung it on the rail. Now it was Chasa's turn.

I led her over to the rail by the place the saddle sat and tied her lead loosely to the ring set in the wall for this express purpose. Now it was Monk's turn to watch. As I hefted the saddle Chasa's ears went back slightly and she took a few nervous steps away from me, but she otherwise held her ground. Then I began to lift the saddle toward her. Again, the mare danced away. So I lowered the saddle and gave her a couple minutes to calm down. When I lifted the saddle a second time and she again danced out of the way, her loyal friend came over and began nudging at her shoulder in a concerned fashion. He had no idea what was wrong, but was worried all the same by her unhappiness! Speaking softly to Chasa I once more raised the saddle, and this time she merely shifted her weight uneasily. I was sorely tempted to do more. But haste makes waste, and all that - I didn't want to push her too hard. Thus I hung the saddle back on the rail and turned the mare loose.

Things proceeded in this fashion for another three days before I felt confidant enough with Chasa's progress to actually rest the full weight of the saddle on her back. Again - it wasn't like I was working with an untrained Nera, here. I just wanted to move slowly, at her pace, so as to strengthen the trust she'd placed in me.

I was hoping Meera would be around for the big event. Unfortunately, things were getting hectic at the ranch and she had to cancel her visit. Thus I was left on my own. Chasa's saddle went on without fanfare, and I led her around the arena to get used to the idea of it being there without an audience to witness her first steps. Unless you counted Monk.

I then began the process of hooking up and tightening the girth. Which took another couple of days.

Again, I was hoping Meera could be around to see me get that last notch on the buckle, but she had to cancel her rescheduled visit, and this time she didn't even try to guess when she could drop by. Apparently she'd acquired several new Nera lately and was thoroughly engrossed with their training, as well as the fact peak season for the visitors was beginning. She had a lot on her plate. I understood. But that didn't keep me from being disappointed! Nevertheless, when I reported my progress over the phone, Meera was overjoyed, and swore that she'd drop by as soon as she could to congratulate us in person. She was glad Chasa was doing well. She was glad I was doing well.

Then we said our goodbyes and the line went dead.