Tex's first saddling (with me, anyway)

I've been lunging Tex as often as possible, usually once or twice a week. After the 15 minute lunging session, I usually take and work with him doing other ground work, such as teaching him to lead correctly, teaching him to back, and to give to pressure from the halter. One day, I introduced the saddle blanket to him, and it was no big deal at all. So, last week, I decided to try the wal-mart bag and the saddle. Everything went tremendously well, so well that i believe he's done this before. Tex only sniffed the saddle and then stood quietly. The girl I got him from had definitely put a saddle on him before, but possibly only once (please correct me if I'm wrong on this!). I love my horse's response to scary things. He looks, snorts, and faces the scary object. I truly believe that this will help us in future trail obstacles and competitions, and it's the kind of attitude that I would look for in a horse to buy.
My plan for the next several lessons is to "keep on keeping on." I need to solidify his lungeing skills. I want him to start the lunge at a walk, then at my request (two kisses) bring it up to a trot, and then with three kisses, a lope. We have not done a REQUESTED lope yet, but he has gotten excited and loped during lungeing before. After he learns speed control while lungeing, I plan to work on directional changes while he's moving, instead of stopping before changing directions. Then, after ground work, I plan to continue introducing scary objects, swinging ropes over his head, putting the saddle on his back, and teaching him to lead and give to the halter pressure. To recap (more for my own clarity) the grand total will be 15-20 minutes of lunging followed by 15-20 minutes of pressure and desensitizing work. Just to clarify, I have decided not to ride Tex until I feel as though his leg bones have grown and filled out. They are still quite delicate, and although I'm smaller than most people, I would not feel safe riding him at this time for the purposes of his future and long-term well-being. TM

He does look so nice under my western saddle! It makes me dream of team pennings, ranch horse competitions, and working cattle.

PS I got his official AQHA papers with MY name on them in the mail today!!!