Wohoo! Saddled, cinched up, zero bucking...

And he accepted me riding Windy. This was a big achievement, he still is a bit worried about the saddles, and wasn't sure about me saddling Windy with that big western one. 

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Still working through some bracing issues. I'm waiting for him to make the decision to step over&forwards with his hind legs in response to my lack of release for his nice bend of his head towards me. Granted, this decision making for him -- hmm, she hasn't released me for the lateral flexion, hmm, what else could she ask for, hmm.. lemme see.. step over behind?-- is asking a lot of him. Thing is, here he is setting up to back up, and I want him forwards. 

As a side note: his stance here would be ok if I asked him to shift his weight back and step over with his left front. However, when we work on that, there is some bracing there too. So it is appropriate to spend some time on truly disengaging behind (soft, forwards-moving, weight on front legs). I know Ray Hunts's answer to a lot of horse issues is to work on the hindquarters, and I have found that to be helpful. 

I did loose track of the exact days of small sessions (greet-rub-scritchies-halter- ask for low head - halteroff) and longer sessions. We had one unplanned short session one night when I was feeding, turns out both greenies Comanche and Champ were afraid of the flashlight. (Slingshot could not care less). We'll call today (Thursday) day 23. He's a very good-minded boy, catches on fast, and is very honest and clear in his reactions to all this new stuff coming at him. I think he'll make a nice saddle horse.