Horses have had time off

Question
My 9 yo haflinger mare and 10 yo quarter horse gelding have both had the winter off, and I want to work with them to make sure they are ready to be ridden again when the weather breaks.  I am not an excellent rider, and these two took advantage of me at the beginning of our time together.  They're both pretty good-natured, so we moved past that, but I am concerned that having spent the last 3 months at pasture they will be back where we started.  We do grooming, feeding and foot-picking regularly, so they get face time, and they're friendly and manageable on the ground.  What kind of work can I do with them to ease them back into riding so we all start out with a healthy attitude?  I have a round pen, but don't know much about using it.  I would appreciate some strategies to get their attention and respect before saddle-time. I don't want riding to become a chore this year.

Answer
Hello,
It sounds like you have a good start. I can not tell from what you wrote what problems you had with your horse before, but our goal is to have the horse understand and enjoy work enough to make anything we ask of them what they themselves would want to do. The only advice I can give is to treat every horse you have that has time off like a colt. So take your time swinging the blanket on and off, saddle on and off, make sure that they know how to give to pressure on the halter. You are going to need a natural rope halter with at least a 12 foot lead, take the lead and put it over the horses head on the opposite side of you and all the way around their body, then wait patiently until they give to the pressure to turn around. This will let you know how well they will turn, do it until it works well, and if you really want to mess with horse training keep doing it until it is brilliant! You will be very happy with the results! If you run into any problems when you start to work with your horses again please feel free to e-mail me with specific issues.
Best Wishes,
Caitlin Day Huntress