I continued to lunge Desi and build up his muscles on a regular schedule. About three days after our initial ride Rhonda and I decided to try to saddle and ride him again. First we lunged him and then we saddled him and then we lunged him again. When we thought he was getting tired it was time to mount up for the second time. I was a little bit concerned that he would buck but he was a very quiet and accepting this time.
After I mounted up Rhonda led us around on the lead rope and I started to use my legs and a slight bit of contact on the bit. I was thinking that he was over and done with his bucking and that things would now progress with a steady forward momentum. Short sessions were the key, I concluded. His training was progressing. His relaxed attitude during our second session was a big relief.
The next time I came out to the barn to ride Desi, my husband Dave came with me. I was feeling very confidant now. So much so that I skipped the lunging this time and went right to the saddling. Dave held him and I got on. And with no warning on the very first step he bucked and groaned again like his first day's reaction. He tossed me into the air like a rag doll. I landed on the ground with a thud. I saw stars and couldn't get up. Desi came over and sniffed me while I lay on the ground.
He was probably thinking "What are you doing down there? Did I have anything to do with this? If so, I am sorry." He really looked apologetic. After the wind came back into my lungs and my head stopped spinning, Dave helped me get up.
"Dave, what did you see? What happened?"
"He looked upset or scared or something. I don't know. It was so sudden." We were both beginners in the horse training business and very vulnerable.
Dave helped me hobble back to the barn and we put Desi away. I had many questions and it seemed as though no one had any answers about his bucking. I did research, I asked experienced horse people and I consulted John Lyons, a big name horse whisperer. No one could say what caused his behavior. Or at least not until I met a woman from Ben's tack store named Louisa. She was intimately involved with another horse who reacted the same way with the saddle. She called it the cold back syndrome. The muscles on the horse's back really need to be warmed up before he could be ridden. So when he was lunged for a good long time and then saddled up he would walk off quietly, but if I was in a hurry, I could expect another trip into the air. His monstrous bucks were not something you could hang on for.
I also learned that it was a genetic condition that the mother passed on to her progeny. I learned that in some cases it was so severe that the horse could not ever be ridden. And then I remembered that Pete had mentioned that Desi's 3 year old sister, that we originally went out to see, probably had the same condition. Pete had mentioned that she liked to buck. I was disheartened. I needed to fix this problem and I would need a lot of patience and a lot of help. This was not a fortuitous beginning to my equestrian education.
