Mustang Saga

Poor little Zaz, he got pretty scared today. I saddled him up and he didn't like it and he got to bucking, almost flipped over, then fell down, got up, and bucked some more. Seemed like he was at it for a while, but it was probably only a minute or less. Took me a while to get my heart rate down though. He almost crashed into the fence. Luckily I was able to keep a hold of his lead the whole time and keep him close enough not to hurt himself, but far enough away not to hurt me.
John watched the whole thing, and his take on it totally cracked me up. "You handled it well. I would have dropped the rope and been halfway to the gun." He wouldn't really do that. It scared him though. I wish he'd have had the camera at that point. That would sure be something to watch!
After that I had no choice but to get the poor pony moving again with the saddle on. He walked and trotted both directions. The worst he did after that was kick out. But he was not a happy boy. Once he was a little more comfortable I flapped the stirrups a whole bunch, and when he relaxed I took it off and called it a day.
Next time I think I'll do more prep work with things flapping, flinging, and banging around him before I cinch on the saddle. We hadn't done that for a while and obviously he needed that.
He got his hooves trimmed before our saddling session. Now he's all spiffed up and ready to go to a new home. Or just go home. This kid needs a lot more work, but he's got a bit of a foundation now.