The saddle search

I'm on the search for a new (used) dressage saddle, since I've definitively decided that my current dressage saddle contributes to my hip pain.

I went to the two local tack stores that I know consign used saddles - both to check how much % they take when they sell you saddle, and also to see what they had available.

There was a decent selection of high quality saddles at one of the shops so I got to sit in a Bates, Albion, Neidersuss, Passier, Stubben, County, Schleese, and Prestige (I think that one was actually my old saddle that I sold last year!). For the top contenders, I just sat in them. For a really long time. Just sat there reading on my phone. I wanted to see how it felt if when my butt was in the saddle for a while, because sometimes it will feel okay on my hips at first, but then they start to ache. I put back the Bates and the Albion after sitting in them for 15-20 minutes, and then put the County on the stand and sat in it. Heaven! So I took it home.

I gave it a test ride and loved it for me. I could use my leg properly, sit in the right spot, and it didn't bother my hip at all. Unfortunately it is too narrow for Pony. That, and the tree head is asymmetrical and the right side was steeper than the left side. Bummer. But at least I know what I like so I can look for it in a wider tree size!

Two of my friends have saddles for me to try. One is a County (same model as I liked!) and the other is a Schleese. We'll see if either of them work out.

Mounted water crossing!

We did it!

Yesterday we went for a trail ride and crossed the water while mounted! I did have a long lead with me just in case, but I decided to make it easier on the pony by only doing the flatter, wider, shallower crossing - that way she wouldn't have to stress about jumping the ditch.

We walked down to the ditch and the first time she stepped in and jumped out. And the second time, going back to the trail, she did the same thing. Then the third time she stepped in more and took a couple steps and jumped out. And the last time she stepped in, stopped and put her head down to check out the water and eat some grass. I gave her a cookie while she was standing in the water. Then she calmly walked out. YES!!!! Of course I gave her a cookie each time she crossed, but after the last time which was calm and quiet, I quit on that and continued the ride on the "home" side of the ditch.

We crossed over some cow trails to get to another ditch (this section has two parallel ditches) and then we had a nice canter up that ditch to head toward home. Such a nice ride. Such a great pony!!!!

Pony has taught me a lot about not getting greedy, not pushing too fast, and being patient and finding a way to break things down for the best outcome. <3 my pony!

Pony's first "big" show off property!

Yawn, I'm tired! Colin and I got up this morning at 4:45 to feed the horses, with the plan of being wheels-up at 6:00 a.m. to go to Pony's first "big" "away" show in mixed company (versus her first in-barn show a few weeks ago). Our morning routine went without a hitch and we got to the show grounds and parked at 6:30. I hand walked Princess Fancy Pants around the indoor and let her look at all the flowers and the judge's table before I went to tack her up for a 7:00 warm up. It was a cool, brisk morning, with frost on the ground. My feet and fingers were freezing!

We had a very uneventful warm up with just walking and trotting around the arena with new (horse) faces in the arena. We popped over a few jumps and called it. We were done by 7:20.

There was also an outdoor arena where people were warming up for the bigger classes, and then also jumps set up outside in the pasture. It was a beautiful place and setting for a show.

And then the waiting began. I forgot how much I hate this part of the h/j show world! Wait, wait, wait. Pony was very good in just hanging out while other people warmed up and while the first few classes went. She has declared a nemesis! There is a very cute small Welsh pony who is a bay with a blaze and stockings. Very flashy, very cute. As we were just walking around outside the arena, she pinned her ears at this mare and tried to lunge at her! Oh my! Pony does not want any competition in the cuteness department, that's for sure!



We signed up for just three classes in the "cross rails" division. One flat class and two over fences. There were probably 10 people in the division and the flat class went first. It was just a walk-trot class. Nothing exciting. I thought we did well, but the judge didn't pin us. Pony had to pee, I think, and was chomping her bit for most of the class, so I'm sure the judge didn't like that. But she went around very well and I was happy at how well-mannered she was in the group.



We went outside and Colin gave her a cookie. Then the next class began. Just a cross rails jumping class. Our goals were: straightness, rideability, breathing (for me), position (for me). The plan was to trot the course unless she landed cantering in a line and then she could canter out. Since we're working on the goals above, those came first before cantering the course (remember, we've only had four jumping lessons this year!) - that will come later.

I thought she did great! Most of the other riders were kids on ponies (I think there was maybe one other adult in the class - or at least she was an older teenager, I couldn't tell) and they cantered their courses.

Here's our first round.



And our second. She got a little playful after the first line, but that's okay - this is just for schooling!



No ribbons for Pony today, but I am so proud of her! She needs no prep. No lunging, no riding-down, no nothing. Just get on and ride.

Go pony!

Here's a screen shot from one of the jumps.

Ditch crossing - with water!!

Sometimes I think I'm pretty clever. This spring is one of those times.

As I wrote about earlier, I started taking Pony to the dry ditch that we'd have to cross (eventually with irrigation water running through it) and schooling her in going through it. The first time we went out there I led her through, and then after that she calmly walked through on her own.

I took the day off work today and decided since I had a lot of time that today would be the day to go through it with the water. I outfitted Pony with her rope halter on under her bridle (I know, unsightly, but necessary and functional for today) and I brought a lunge line and wrapped it around her neck for the ride to the water (wrapped in jumping-strap fashion). We had a nice jaunt to the water and got to our first crossing.



I got off, wrapped her reins so they wouldn't drop over her head when she put her head down, and unwrapped the lunge line and hooked it up to her halter. I had my Dublin boots on so I could wade in the water. This crossing is narrower but deeper than crossing #2. I'd say the water is mid-calf high, depending on where I stepped. I eyeballed it so that I presented her with a path straight to the opening on the other side (this is also a narrower "out" than crossing #2), and I stood in the water to the side of that so that she could go by me without running me over. As I stood there, I just opened my leading arm to ask her to go through. She eyeballed it and decided it was narrow enough to jump! I let the lunge line slide through my hand such that she didn't get tugged on mid-air or right on landing and could go forward but I could still hold on to her. Of course it helps that the other times we went through it when it was dry she learned that she'd get a cookie for crossing it, so she stopped on her own and I walked out of the water to give her her reward. We went back and forth three or four times, with cookies each time of course, and then I hand walked her down the trail a bit and put her all back together for riding again and we continued on our loop.

We came to ditch crossing #2 and I got off again, got her all set up, and led her to this water. She eyeballed it and saw it was too wide to jump, but it is also shallower and so she felt more comfortable walking through the water, which she did without hesitation.



I counted the cookies in my pocket and we had enough for a couple more back-and-forth schoolings through the water. She did great! I'm so proud of her!

I decided I'd just hand walk her back home and on the way we came to a place where Colin was doing some fence repair and adding a gate so we (and others) can get through the fence when the ditch paths are closed off in the summer because of grazing cattle (got permission from the grazing lease holder to do so). The cattle will be put out in the next couple weeks, so the timing is perfect.



She gave Colin the almost-hairy-eyeball for a second, but then she recognized him and wanted to go up and have a chat. I gave her my last two cookies and then just hand walked her home.

I'm so proud of all she accomplished this weekend - such a brave and good pony!!!!

Pony is SO BRAVE!

I had a lesson on Saturday and I was looking forward to putting to practice the homework I've been doing, especially with having a larger arena to ride in where there's more variety in little courses I could do. Pony had zero issues in trailer loading, so I'm pretty sure the problem last weekend was of my doing.

Anyway, we had a little warm up on our own and then Trainer came in to start the lesson and warm up. She gave me some pointers on my own body positioning to help me be straighter in the saddle and more secure in my position. After our flat work part of the lesson, we did a course of trot poles, then cantered, then it was time to start some jumps.

And then the unfortunate timing of All The Things Happening began. The time had come for the fencing work to be done. A dirt bike zoomed by, followed by an ATV, followed by a tractor; somewhere in the mix were a bunch of dogs running around and probably a truck, too. The fence work to be done was to dismantle a straight line of pipe corrals. Bang, bang, bang, bang, clang, bang! That was the sound of (I'm guessing) getting the pins out of the connectors and then disconnecting them from each other. Band, clang, bang, bang, clang! That was the sound of lifting them up and loading them onto the front loader of the tractor. Chuga-chuga-chuga-chuga was the sound of the tractor being backed up and moved to the next section, combined with the zing, cling, jangle, jangle of the fence panels as they banged against each other on the tractor as it was being driven around. Oh, and this was maybe 10' or so on the other side of the arena during my lesson. Oh, and somewhere in all that, a chihuahua made its way into the arena and decided to have a lie-down.

Needless to say, we both had a bit of a hard time concentrating.

BUT! Pony is a rock star in every way imaginable. What would have probably sent my 20-year-old TB over the edge was merely a distraction for Pony. Yes, she was a bit amped and distracted by it all, but she didn't use the commotion as an excuse to lose her marbles or do anything naughty. We were able to continue with our lesson and school a few things (pace, straightness, position) and make improvements on each question that was asked of Pony.

At the end, the ATV and dirt bike were zooming around a pasture behind the arena (complete with the dirt bike jumping dirt mounds or whatever they jump), the dogs were playing, and Pony and I stood in the middle of the arena with my reins draped over her neck while she stood looking at it all.

I was eager to get out of there so we just loaded up and came home and went back to a relaxing day of grazing. While it wasn't enjoyable from a lesson standpoint, it was a good schooling experience and a confidence-builder for both of us to know we can count on each other even when there's annoying stuff going on!

VIDEO! Cavaletti work today

I decided at the last minute to set up my video camera to capture today's schooling session. Yay for having a video camera, but when you only have a tripod available to work with, you don't get good following coverage and close-ups.

Anyway, I tried again to focus on keeping my hands quieter and I think for the most part I did a good job. We started out at a walk, of course, walking over poles or doing circles or changes of direction. Then moving up to trot, Pony noticed the deer in the woods behind the arena. Instead of having the boogey-deer lurking in the corner (granted, they were napping, not being rude), I decided we should go chase them away so we left the arena to move the deer and then came back and had a nice ride.

We did some trot work over the poles and I tried to focus on straightness and pace, which are harder than they should be! Sometimes I'm sure I make it harder for Pony. I notice if I let my upper body creep forward in an exaggerated forward-seat position, then she slows down and gets sort of balled-up, so we had some bobbles in that respect, especially at the canter.

Anyway, here's our first round of cavaletti/pole work.



Then we did our first little cavaletti jumps on a figure eight.



And we finished with some more little cavaletti jumps on the figure eight, but this time I focused a little more on schooling the straightness after the jump. She's pretty smart and clever so it doesn't take much for her to get the idea.



We finished with some trotting over the two poles and then had a nice walk cool-out on the trails out back, chasing the deer out of our path.

Just for good measure, I did trailer loading again to be sure I got my body positioning right and again she walked right on!

Such a good pony!

Homework

Even though we had a successful first schooling show over the weekend, I felt like I didn't ride as well as I wanted and the feedback the judge gave was the same as Trainer gives in a lesson (I use too much rein to steer on a course, especially down a line if Pony is wiggly). So I gave myself some homework to do, which was to set up a poles/cavaletti course in the arena to practice on at home.



There's a line down a long side that is three canter strides, then two poles sort of where X is that are on the diagonal, one for each direction, then another two cavaletti on a diagonal that I could do singly or in a bending line. And then I can mix and match as desired.

I started out deciding to be more discreet with my aids. Pony is far enough along now that I don't need any sort of big opening rein movements, and it is distracting. So I shortened my reins and practiced warming up with focusing on little rein movements if needed. We walked around and did some circles and changes of direction and she was just as responsive with my new rein length. Good.

We moved up to a trot and got into the pole work right away. I focused on keeping my hands closer together and my reins shorter so they aren't in my lap and I'm not tempted to make grand gestures with them. It was actually really good! We did all sorts of variations of the poles - down the line (or up the line), across one pole diagonal to the other, then around the empty long side to the shorter pole diagonal, back to the line but only do one cavaletto and come at it through the middle, etc. One of the cavaletto I had up in the highest setting so we could jump it and that went very well, also. I did realize that those that I set on the shorter diagonal made for a hard turn around the corner, so I re-set them last night and swapped out the poles and the cavaletti and put the two middle cavaletti at jumping height.

We also cantered the line and cantered the poles on the diagonal, with a flying change over each pole!

By moving the jumping-height cavaletti last night to the middle of the arena, I think it will be better for actual jumping - that way I'll have a longer diagonal for preparation and landing. And then with the poles I can do a bending line. Sounds good - off to ride!