Of the Graham horses who came to SAFE, the majority were assumed (or known) to have at least some experience under saddle. A few, however, were wild cards. Moshi was one who fit into the latter category. Upon first glance, her small stature makes you think she is perhaps much younger than she actually is, but teeth don’t lie, and Moshi is around 6 years old, certainly old enough to have been started as a riding horse. But her initial assessment on the ground led us to believe that she had never been saddled before, so we worked on the building blocks to prepare her for that experience.
Lexee N spent the most time with Moshi in preparation for her saddling, and had the following to say about this cute little mare:
“Since day one this girl has been a sharp cookie. She gained understanding quickly, as well as some much needed confidence to be able to separate from her dear friend Poppy for work. It was clear that this mare had been used to pushing humans around and not respecting any boundaries set for her. However, after a few short sessions, her walls came down and she became much more open to learning a new way to respond to people.
Initially when roping her, she had a problem with changing eyes and pushing into pressure instead of away. But after a couple months of work things have been looking a lot better, and while those two issues are not 100% gone, she has been able to be successfully saddled.
It’s so exciting to see where this little black mare will go, and with her now wonderful disposition we expect her to go far.”
In the video below, you can see a snapshot of Lexee’s work with Moshi, practicing tossing the saddle up, as well as cinching her up for the first time. There were some bucks in there, and some concern with the outside stirrup, but overall she took the whole experience in stride. Like Lexee said, we are excited to see this little mare flourish under saddle.
