What is the correct sequence for introducing a saddle to a young horse for the first time?

Clinton Anderson, Pat Parelli, and Warwick Schiller all agree on the fundamental sequence for introducing a saddle to a young horse, even though their specific exercises and terminology differ. The universal principle is progressive desensitization — making each component familiar before the next is introduced. Anderson's sequence begins with the saddle pad. The pad is rubbed all over the horse's body — neck, back, hindquarters, belly, between the front legs — until the horse stands quietly. This is not done until the horse tolerates it reluctantly; it is done until the horse is genuinely indifferent. Only then is the saddle itself introduced, first by showing it to the horse, letting it sniff it, and rubbing it against the horse's body before it ever goes on the back. Placing the saddle on the back is done gently but deliberately — Anderson teaches not to lower it on so carefully that the horse has twenty seconds of anticipation, but also not to drop it carelessly. The saddle goes on in one smooth motion. The horse is then allowed to react if it needs to — Anderson's view is that it is better for a horse to react to an unsecured saddle than to a secured one, because a loose saddle can fall away. Once the horse accepts the saddle on its back without concern, the girth is introduced. The girth is tightened in stages — three holes the first pass, then walked a few steps, then three more holes — never all the way to working tightness in one go. This prevents the cold-backed reaction that comes from a horse's first experience with a tight girth being sudden and severe. Parelli adds the additional step of moving the stirrups extensively while the saddle is on before any work begins — slapping them against the saddle, letting them swing, dragging a rope through them — so that the sounds and sensations of a rider's legs and weight shifting are familiar before they occur from on top.