Saturday, May 31, 2008

Two Days In a Row - It's a Record!

This Blog REALLY Works

I am amazed to say that I have ridden 2 days in a row. WOW! This blog really does work and NO, I am not being sarcastic. I can honestly say that I have not ridden two days in a row since last year. I rode every day for a week trying to cram in a months worth of training for a show I wanted to attend. For any of you who, like me, are lacking in motivation, try writing a blog. It might surprise you! You might start getting motivated.

My rides were very good considering how green Hormonal Mare is. On Monday, we lunged first (maybe too much). By the time I got into the saddle, Hormonal Mare was LAZY. She tried to baulk when I asked for the canter. Her tail started swishing and she slammed on the breaks. I simply continued to ask until she got irritated enough with my persistence to go into the canter. After we finished, I noticed the saddle had left two HUGE dry spots on each side of her shoulders. Uh-oh.

On Tuesday, we rode again. This time, she started baulking as soon as I was in the saddle. She did not want to move. I threw her off balance a few times and then she politely started moving again. I didn’t lunge that day, so she was a bit spooky when we went around the right back corner. I’m very proud to say that she did not spook once! However, I did make sure to keep her attention focused on her headset. We also kept doing shoulder ins around that corner. Eventually, she lost interest in whatever was making her nervous.

The sad news is, I need a new saddle. I HATE this! I love my current saddle. It’s absolutely not fair that I have a horse I enjoy and a saddle I enjoy, but the two cannot go together. Does anyone else see the cruelty in this? If you have EVER been on the hunt for a properly fitting saddle, then I am sure you can feel my pain.


Hormonal Mare is also about to go onto Mare Magic. She is very calm by nature, I just thing the Mare Magic will help her transition into the life of a show horse. She is sure to be nervous the first few shows and I hope this herbal stuff will ease some of her tension. I will update on how well it works once I start using it. Feel free to leave a comment if you have ever tried the stuff.

2 comments:

verylargecolt said...

>>The sad news is, I need a new saddle. I HATE this! I love my current saddle. It’s absolutely not fair that I have a horse I enjoy and a saddle I enjoy, but the two cannot go together.<<

I have the same thing! I LOOOOOVE my Barnsby polo saddle for training greenies but it fits shark fin withered TB's, not very round, VLC's. I am still stuck riding in the purple cordura saddle and I haaaate it.

Heat Stroke in FL said...

Well, I just sunk $850 of money I do NOT have into a new saddle. It's not here yet, but I'm so scared that it won't fit.

I'm sorry, but I have to laugh at the purple saddle. Hey, at least it isn't PINK!!