Vegos first ride went very well. For the most part I just sat on his back Rachael directed him around the round pen. OK, so now for the second and third ride.

I lead Vego to the round pen and saddled him up. I put the hackamore on him and tied the throatlatch. I proceeded to do about 5-10 minutes of ground work. I lunged him at a trot in small circles changing directions frequently. I backed him up, did some single rein stops, flexed his head and yielded his hind and front quarters. He responded nicely so I decided that it was safe to ride him.

Vego and I walked to the center of the round pen. I mounted him and sat in the saddle flexing his head to each side for a couple minutes. I didnt want him to think we were in a hurry. I also dont want him to think that every time I am in the saddle it is time to move. I then yielded his hind quarters using leg pressure on his flank. All was going well so I decided to move to the next step and get him moving around the round pen.

The goal for this ride was to give more queues to Vego from the saddle and rely less on Rachael, who was on the ground, to direct Vego around the round pen. The sequence of events went something like this

To Move Forward

1. Rider: Squeeze with heels
2. Rachael: Point in direction horse should move
3. Rider: Make clicking sound
4. Rachael: Add energy and start to twirl lead rope or stick towards Vegos butt
5. Rider: Spank with end of reins

Note: If Vego moved forward at step 2 we would not continue on to step 3. In fact all queues would cease. If Vego stopped moving we would immediately start queuing him again from step one and progress as needed.

When we began Vego would start to move at about step 2 or 3. However, he would frequently slow down so we would have to queue him again. We walked him around the arena for about 5-10 minutes. Then we turned up the heat a little and had him trot. I would give the same queues mentioned above but would not release the queue until he was in a trot. For example, I would squeeze with my heels and he would start to walk. I would keep the pressure on and if he did not start to trot I move to step 2 and so on. Once he stared to trot I released the pressure from my heels and stop queuing him. Occasionally we would yield the hind quarters, flex his head to one side and bring him to a stop. We did this for about 5-10 minutes. We then used the same procedure that we used for the trot to get him to canter. He did very well with all of this. We only had to proceed to step 4 a few times during this session.

We stopped Vego in the center of the round pen. I flexed his head a bit and just sat there for a few minutes petting him and letting him know that he did a good job. I then dismounted and walked him out of the round pen, removed his saddle and hackamore and set him free in his pasture.

The third ride was very similar to the second ride. Vego never needed any queues from Rachael. She was there mainly for my safety. If for some reason Vego decided not to stop or get a little crazy, Rachael could assist by making him change direction and thus slowing him down.

Next goal, ride Vego in a large arena at a walk, trot and canter.

Todd Mera

Todd Mera is a Biochemist that has always had a love for horses. Todd started training horses in his 30s. He has worked with and trained many horse starting from birth and older problem horses.