Guys. The weather is so silly lately. We had the most beautiful day on Monday, but of course that's the horses' day off. And I couldn't switch up our schedule this week because I had too many things to do on my planned Monday off. So it goes sometimes. Since then it's either been raining, blowing wind like a hurricane, or just plain dark and dreary. Oh and it's cold out. On the bright side, things look much improved for the weekend. Let's hope that shakes out!
With the weather all over the place I still haven't really found consistency for the horses. But we're doing the best we can! It just means we don't have anything overly exciting to report on the under saddle front. Just more of the same. Plugging along, dreaming of beautiful summer days.
One of the many things on my Monday schedule though, was a visit from the saddle fitter for Shiny. (Eros' fitter got hit by the flu so I have no idea when he'll get the attention he needs in that department.) I've been suspecting that with Shiny's new summer bod, her saddle wasn't fitting so well. I finally plopped it on her this weekend sans pads and confirmed that worry. (I rode her exclusively in the bareback pad after that for many days, and I'd like to think I now have the strongest legs in the world.) The saddle is too wide for her now. It's from Custom Saddlery so it is wool flocked and the tree could be adjusted by a fitter with a press. So I was hopeful that we could get it to still work for her. Unfortunately, being that the saddle is VERY old, the fitter wasn't comfortable adjusting the tree. With no history on it, we don't know if it's already been adjusted, and if so how many times. Meaning, adjusting it could actually break the tree. So that's not advised. Adding to the unknowns, there aren't any stamps on the saddle anywhere. Not sure if they've worn off, or if parts that had the stamps were maybe replaced. Who knows. Big mystery. Anyway, we still have flocking working in our favor. I hoped anyway. Well, turns out, the areas that need adjusting aren't flockable areas. So that was also not going to be something we could do to improve the fit. Sigh. BUT, she was able to get it to work by stealing Eros' half pad which is shimmable and adding some shims. I don't think this is a permanent solution. For one, it's kind of just a bandaid. And for two, it's making the saddle sit a little too far back on her. I'm not sure if a different half pad would fix that though. I have a few other shimmable options at home, so we'll definitely experiment once she's back here.
On the bright side, she feels SO MUCH better with the bandaid pad. She's going more forward, and today she even gave me the most beautiful working walk I've ever gotten from her. Normally just before we achieve a really solid working walk (belly up, flowing through her shoulder, while still being on the bit) she will start pacing. Not today though! She just flowed around the ring with all this power, a HUGE step, and happily stayed on the bit. I can't say we were as successful at the trot, but that gait is still much improved. I even had to slow her down a few times. Miracle! So for now we'll use the shims and long term I'll start looking for a new saddle for her. But that's just not in the budget right now. Sorry pony.
I don't have anything new happening with Eros. We're just working on our fitness! He's feeling stronger ever week, though today he felt a bit stuck again. He was a wild animal yesterday though, and I heard he was acting like a child in the paddock earlier in the day, so he may have just made himself a little sore and/or tired. I'm not concerned. He felt sound enough, just didn't want to fully commit to carrying himself in a proper shape. I feel that way often too. Fitness is hard.
I'm really hoping we can get our rep out soon to figure out the saddle situation. It's really hard for me to help him when he's having a hard time when I can't find my own balance in the tack. You guys remember when I was so excited after I got E's saddle and I was all "never need to saddle shop again, everyone is fully situated!" Ha. Jokes on me I guess. Just because you have adult horses doesn't mean they won't change shapes a million times. I just want to thank Al for currently still fitting in his saddle. For however long that may last.
Speaking of Al.... He's making good efforts. The wind seems to be a little challenging for him, but I have to admit, I'm not sure he's the problem. I HATE the wind. And up here we don't have normal wind. When it's blowing, it's always gusting around 20mph unless it's worse. (Many times it's been worse.) The nice thing at this barn is the trees are far off, so the wind isn't making scary shadows or rustling leaves near the arena. But it legit feels like I could get blown right off the horse. And then I hold on a little tighter with my legs, and Al thinks I'm spooking. Then he gets tense, and we have to reset. Wash, rinse, repeat. And I don't think any of that is his fault. So on these miserably windy days, we do what we can do, and if we dial it in early, so be it.
Yesterday I had lovely ride on him at all three gaits. I realized the other day, that we've been chipping away all winter at the walk and trot, and slowly but surely the've improved immensely. While we have cantered in our rides all winter, the canter itself was pretty messy. I focused for a long time on getting the walk really rideable. Forward and swinging in a nice shape. Then we added in some lateral work at the walk. It all really came together. Then we started focusing more on the trot once walk was pretty confirmed. Trot can still have some messy moments, and we haven't really touched too much on the lateral work yet. But we're getting some nice forward movement in a lovely shape, and so I think the lateral work will start soon. But outside, the canter is starting to come together too. Same thing, we're working first on relaxation, then adding in more forward, and eventually fixing the shape. One thing at a time. The winter felt so long and frustrating, but I honestly think we got a lot accomplished even though it didn't feel like it. It really helped to be able to work at our own pace without any voices in our ear telling us we aren't good enough. We are good enough. We just needed a reset. I hope I can keep riding him the way he likes and that we'll keep moving forward as a team built on trust.
That's really all I've got for this week! They get their first round of spring shots tomorrow so we'll probably have a light few days after that. The 26th Al and I are doing a clinic with the same trainer that came in the fall. I'm hoping REALLY hard that we'll be able to be outside for it. AND that same weekend I have a braiding job lined up, so things are looking up! Until then, we'll just keep plugging along!
