What a sweetie Petey is 
!
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I love him! He is precious!
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How adorable!
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I envy you! I barely get a “s’up” nod from my two girls when I pull in, if they can even be bothered to look up from their grazing. 
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Hey all… I’ve been travelling for work and am lousy at updates but wanted to share a couple of pics… Petey’s growing up!! Here he is modelling his big-boy bridle 
. I’ve sat on him a couple of times now to get him used to someone up bareback and in a saddle. I have an old saddle that fits pretty well and will do for a while. When I get organized to have someone take pictures/video of our “rides”, I’ll post!
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(Our last ride in a halter ended with him going down for a roll…!!)
I’m also counting on you folk to help me dress him… what colours would look good on him?
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OMG His little upper lip sticking out there is so cute.
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Petey would look beautiful in any color, but I love a bay in bright jewel tones.
That last picture with the little lip is OMG precious.
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He is TOO CUTE. You know when kids wear a little jacket or tie for a formal event? That’s what he looks like in his bridle. Such a big boy 
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Here we are!! This little dude was born broke . I think I look RIDICULOUS on him — I’m way too big!! But what the hell, we’re having fun!!
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How cute is that. You guys look great!!! Congrats! And he’ll fill out and take up a lot more of your leg. Most Morgans are naturally uphill, too, so eventually there will be more neck up in front of you.
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Petey is gorgeous! And what I wouldn’t give to have your legs!!
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You guys are so kind! I think I look like a kid trying to ride the family dog… but yes, I’m hopeful he’ll still fill out (and get a visit from the neck fairy!). I think I’d look less silly in my jump saddle with shorter stirrups, but this saddle seems to fit best for the time being.
He’s so chill and open-minded — handles everything* new in stride with calm curiosity. And I love how forward-thinking he is — no balking or backing up. He wants to be a partner!
- except the hose — bathing is SCARY, so we’ll have to work on that!
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Look at those feet. He has a lot of growing yet to do. Can’t erase that smile.
Susan
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From your lips to God’s ear…
I’m not planning to do any serious “work” for a while — he needs to get physically stronger before I want to ask him to do anything other than just get used to having me on his back and learn some basic steering. I think the long-lining really helped him to figure out what reins mean. He’s great with voice commands so saying “walk on” while applying a leg aid has helped him make that connection. We’re bound to hit some bumps in the road, but all the groundwork has (I hope!) given him a good foundation. I’m going to start adding more groundwork over poles/cavaletti to keep his busy little mind occupied and help him build some muscle.
Thanks you guys for all the support on this journey — he’s been just a joy and exactly what my heart needed! 
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Not sure what discipline you normally ride, but nobody distance riding would look twice at that picture. He could come to my place any time! 
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So, I’m really bad about updates, but for you lovely people still following along, here’s a short, not-too-exciting clip of one of our early rides. He gets distracted and wobbly, but he’s such a good egg…
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It’s been a while since I’ve worked with a baby so I forget they’re just like human toddlers — can’t turn your back for a second! I brought him into the round pen the other day and in the two seconds I let go of him to latch the gate he went down to roll in full tack and managed to hook a hind leg through the reins. Total stupidity on my part, but thankfully he struggled for just a bit, then looked at me sheepishly as of to say “oh dear, I have made a mistake…”.
We are getting stronger with maintaining a trot — I won’t canter him for a bit yet because he’s going through a little growth spurt and I want him stronger and more balanced. Next step is to venture out of the pen and start getting out for some short hacks. I just love this little stinker
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… and I’ve forgotten about the hell of fitting a saddle to a growing back that changes seemingly week by week! I went through FIVE different saddles with my mare before she stopped growing…
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My saddle fitter has joked that the little Morgan mare I got in March (turned 5 in May) has been a completely different horse every time she’s seen her this spring/summer. It’s incredible to see how much they develop. The first fitting we had to heavily pad the right side because that shoulder was so underdeveloped, but then next visit the shoulders were even! We’re sort of limping along through the rest of this riding season adjusting the current saddle (no indoor and only light rides during Vermont winters) and I will start looking in earnest in the spring…knowing she’ll probably be a different horse again by summer 
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