Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Curves, Rhythm, Saddles, and getting paranoid.

My dance partner.


Today was our second day of posting practice. Cibolo is being a very patient instructor, now staying in a slow jog trot which I'm finding easier to match rhythmically. I'm not by any means on beat every time, but it's so much better. Plus I find he stays in the trot when I'm in rhythm which I find to be very reinforcing. I swear i feel like he's saying "there you go, you got it."

He also didn't nose out today, and I was able to avoid trying to adjust his head as I was trying to stay in rhythm, keep track of my leg pressure, sit straight, blah, blah, blah. Yesh. Was I even riding before?

Keeping his head in is tough for me because I really want to not be heavy handed, especially knowing this bit is more leverage than I'm used to. But I stayed on the lower ring all day today because he was so inconsistent on Monday's ride. I decided I'd work hard to keep my hands neutral.

We worked on floating around curves, doing the bullseye exercise and some in saddle bends. I'm gaining confidence. All I want to do is spend time out there, neglect my work, let the dishes sit, never buy groceries. Just family and horses.

Suggestions?
--------


These days I'm in the market for a saddle because the aussie i have is just not feeling right... I tried a Tucker that's for sale at the barn (isn't it gorgeous?), but it's too large and so new that it squeaks like a cheap box spring. Why is it that every listing I see for a Tucker says "Ridden only 3 times" or "Only on a horse a handful of times"? How can people pay that much for a saddle then not ride in it?

I am in love with a Martha Josey Circle Y that's on ebay. I don't barrel race but I like the deep seat. Still I'm trying to widen my horizons beyond circle Y and big horn.

What's your favorite brand?

---------

I'm getting a little paranoid. We have a nice little trail ride planned for the 26th and my trail companion's steady eddy horse spooked and she's banged up (although she's still determined to go). When I tried to get together with some blogging riders, there was a fire and then a horse injury that required girth area stitches!

Seriously. Is it me?


-------------

Here's my horse responding to my request for him to pose for a picture (the first picture on this post was about 2 seconds before this one). Nice ear, right? lol He has no understanding of focal length.


5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ah, the ear shot! Goes right along with the nose shot!

Vectormom said...

I have a big horn pleasure saddle and honestly, I love it. Good luck finding one your love though. It takes sitting in a thousand to find the right one! LOL! Don't be nervous about your trail ride. It won't be fun and something could happen even schooling in a ring so just go with it! Yeehaw!

Nuzzling Muzzles said...

I hate to admit it, but I prefer to ride in my Circle Y than in the newer Tucker. The Circle Y is lighter and easy to lift. I take my equitation lessons in it because it doesn't get in the way of my movements. I don't really think about the saddle when I'm riding, which is good. The Tucker is stiff and odd feeling. I can actually feel the angles of the tree beneath me. It doesn't hurt. It's just there and a bit distracting. Also, because it is a trail saddle, the cantle, rise, and pommel are all higher, which means there are more things to bump yourself on when mounting and posting. Mine is nine months old and it still squeaks. However, the Tucker is the only saddle that fits my senior horse with narrow withers.

Chelsi said...

I have had three...or four Bob's saddles and LOVE them. The first was a Bob Avila Bob's Custom with a padded seat and butterfly skirt *sigh* OMG that saddle was so, so, so comfortable. I had a Randy Paul Bob's and didnt like it as much...then a hard seat but that wasnt as comfy and finally the one I have now, which is a cowhorse...it is really comfortable but has a padded smooth seat that I find gets hot. The suede padded seat was the best of the bunch. I also found that the fit of Bob's seemed to work wll for a lot of different QHs. They can be really expensive but I took my time and bought used ones with lots of wear and little silver, even still you are looking at around $1600-1800... I think they are well worth the price.

jacksonsgrrl said...

No, it is NOT you! Let's set some dates, Linda is riding again! :)
Nothing will stop this. Linda and I both felt our Aussie's to be a bit weird and uncomfy at first, it is a definite "getting used to" period. Also not the easiest saddle to learn to post in. You'll get it. It'll click, and you will go, "OHHHHHHH." No worries, it comes. As is the cantering for me! I agree about letting it all go to ride! And I do! My house is dirty! But then I think, if I died today, would I rather have ridden or let the world know I died with a clean house? Hmmm. No further comment needed. Let me know what days would be good for you and I'll let you know what's up and available!!! Let's DO IT!
pinkcurlytail@yahoo.com
~M.