Cripes.... that makes me feel ill.

Mustangs might well be up to more weight than an equivalent TB etc (I'm in UK so don't have Mustang experience) but surely plain biomechanics would suggest that a young horse's muscles and skeletal system will not be used to weight and therefore should be conditioned first?? i.e. with a lighter rider!!!

I have pictures of my first sit on my Connemara gelding - I just sat as I had a handler on the front end who was in control. He slept pretty much through the whole thing - he'd been well started that's why! He's a fire cracker when he wants to be! Oh and I started him bareback - maybe not everyone's cup of tea, but it worked for us, we introduced the saddle a bit later, again with no problems.

Niki x