This is also a huge challenge for me! I was touching Nine after two days, but we have had some bad experiences with the saddle. First time on him was okay, he bucked but calmed down. Then I went to adjust it and didn't undo the cinch all the way! Bad me! He moved and it slipped underneath him. We tried again this weekend (after a couple weeks of just gaining trust) and all was well until I was cinching it up, and the latigo stuck! So the saddle was on him but the cinch was very loose, and Nine moved, and naturally the saddle went underneath him again. The cinch, being stuck, didn't give way. Fortunately this time he looked to me for help, and I got the saddle off him without
Nine having to run until the latigo finally decided to give. So I will try again soon, and this time I am planning on using an English saddle, so I don't have to deal with latigos. Once he is okay with that I am confident we can go back to a Western, because Nine will be accustomed to pressure around his barrel.

Reading some of these accounts of you all riding out in the mountains already makes me feel so lame! But I get over it. I am far from a professional, though that is my goal and the main reason I applied for this competition! So I will keep doing things at my own sluggish pace. I really am doing fine, considering I only get 3 days a week to work with the horses. My daughter is only 15 months old, so I need a baby sitter while I go off and do work with wild horses!

Okay, I just created my own blog: http://extrememustang-mrnine.blogspot.com/ Feel free to check it out and leave comments! This is where I will start posting details on Nine's training.