The Horse Habit

So, this happened...

Bye Bye You Wonderful Chunk of Leather 

I was in my office at work sulking over sending the saddle back (while it was the correct decision, it still made me sad) my coworker commented he wished his wife had a hobby.  This is the coworker that rolls his eyes every time some one asks about my weekend, because it is pretty much always ponies.  I cracked a joke that he could send his wife to the barn with me and I would get her a horse habit.  He must be desperate, because I think he was actually considering it.  I *might* have told him how much I have spent at the vet in the last year.  Pretty sure that killed the desire for her to pick up a horse hobby.  Oops :)

Then as I was wasting time on the internet I saw a thing about bad pickup lines and horse girl responses.  I am still chuckling over this one.

Guy:  I have more money than you can spend.

Horse Girl:  Oh really?

My response:  Challenge Accepted

Sadly, I have not had anyone try to use that pick up line on me, but I have decided what I get to buy since I sent the saddle back.  I have been extremely good this year and I haven't bought anything since my dressage saddle (so basically nothing in two months).  I am pretty sure that is a record for me.  And to make things better you guys get to help with the decision making process, because well I can't decide.

Decisions Decisions Decisions

Remember back in October when I said I ordered a new jump saddle...It arrived at the end of January and it is amazing.  I love it, end of story.  But nothing can be that simple when Stinker is involved.

So pretty!

My first ride in it was a total disaster to say the least.  He was totally frantic.  I couldn't get him to halt much less walk or get anything productive done.  I panicked and promptly sent a very panicked message to the saddle fitter.  She told me to breathe and that she couldn't do anything until she came down to evaluate it.  I tried it again in a lesson with S and it was slightly better, it was still ugly.

I made the decision that I wasn't riding him in it again until the saddle fitter was here.  It still needed time put in on it to get the flocking to settle, so Pongo got volunteered to break in the saddle.  Pongo went well in it, so I rode him in it to get the flocking to settle.

Pongo Doesn't Care

The saddle fitter was down this weekend and I tried Stinker in it again.  I was honestly expecting the worst, and Stinker was remarkably better.  It wasn't perfect, but he was willing to walk.  He doesn't offer the stretch and lacks a half halt in the trot, but it wasn't a total disaster.

Here is my dilemma, I can still return the saddle and just be out the shipping charges (not a big deal) or I can keep the saddle and hope he continues to improve in it.  Because I am me, I have made a pro con list of keeping or returning the saddle.

Who Doesn't Love Post Bath Alfalfa?

Reasons to keep the saddle:
- His current dislike is most likely a training thing (the more forward position and shorter stirrup vs the straighter position and longer leg)
- I will have a jump saddle that fits Stinker
- I love the saddle and it puts me in a fantastic position
- I can continue to use the jump saddle on Pongo (I have an older Stubben that fits him and works for me)
- It is already paid for.

Reasons to return the saddle:
- I don't know when/if Stinker will be physically strong enough to jump
- I don't know if Stinker will be fun to jump (I like jumping Pongo, but I also know my enjoyment of jumping will be very horse dependent.  I am very aware of my mortality and have no desire to have a major accident by trying to jump something that is outside of my skill set.)
- If we get to the point where we can start jumping, I can always purchase the saddle again.  S has the same saddle, so I can borrow that one in the beginning.
- It is a very expensive chunk of leather to have sitting around without the guarantee of ever using it.

So any input on the keep vs. return would be appreciated.

To Keep Or To Go?

WOW

So...I bought a saddle while I was in Florida.  Say hello to this beautiful piece of leather!  It is a WOW Saddle, and so far it is pretty awesome.

It is a very interesting concept.  It is completely modular, so any piece on the saddle can be taken off and switched for another.  I adore the flaps, the block is made for long legged people (YAY!) and it has a shallow area that makes a place for my knee to rest without riding over the block like it does in so many other saddles.

Another interesting feature is it has two stirrup bars.  It is kind of hard to see in the picture, but there is the low one (below my finger) then above it is a second longer one (to the right of my finger0.  This allows you to have two options for stirrup placement.

This is a picture of the underside of the saddle and you can see where the panel, flaps, and seat attach.  All of these can be changed.  The new panels can be put on the 1996 saddles (when they first started making them).  So, they don't force you to upgrade because they change where the attachments are, which is pretty awesome.

Another cool feature is you can have wool or air panels and apparently the Stinker has a strong preference for air.  We tried air and then switched to wool and he was very unhappy.  So air it was.  There are two places where air can be added or removed from the panels.

There are also a million different places to attach the billets.  You can get point billets, fore billets, Y billets, and probably some others that I forgot.  This is the front billet, the second one is passed through the panel.

The fitting for this saddle was extensive.  Partially because my horse is weird and breaks all the rules and partially because there are so many different ways to try things.  The saddle fitter built this saddle for me on the spot through lots and lots of trial and error.  By the time everything was said and done we had about a seven hour fitting session.  I couldn't believe Stinker cooperated for the whole thing.  He was such a little trooper.  The best part about it, was he was willing to walk (truly walk, not jig, not asking to trot) for over thirty minutes.  I think the saddle has his stamp of approval.

The Princess and The Pea

I have come to the conclusion that Stinker will be called Princess henceforth.  He has now expressed dislike for S's saddle.  I was hoping that the darling princess would tolerate this one until the end of December when I see the second saddle fitter.  I feel his pain, but on the other hand I am about ready to pull my hair out.

Such a cute face.

The Stinks was super girthy today, so I ran my hand down his back.  And sure enough the same spot at the base of the withers was sensitive.  Blah this is the reason I am selling my dressage saddle and I am no longer using it.  He seemed happy in the County Fusion, but now the pretty pretty princess says it is too narrow (I was afraid of this from the beginning, but he seemed happy so I rolled with it).

Why eat your food when you can wear it?

I am now up S*** creek with out a saddle.  Ok, that was a terrible joke, but it makes me giggle so it says.  I think my plan is going to be limit the number of rides until I can get a trial saddle.  But that is another can of worms.  I already talked about doing a Prestige, and now I am thinking about adding a Custom to the list of saddles to try.  Hopefully this plan will last us until the end of December, and I don't blow my budget getting saddles shipped on trial.

I tried taking a selfie with him and

he was less than impressed by the time I gave up.

Saddle Fitting Plan

I finally have a plan!!! I am selling my dressage saddle (also a jump saddle that I bought on impulse.  Note don't buy saddles on impulse).  So that leaves me without any saddle for Stinker until my jump saddle arrives (hopefully before the end of the year).  But S is generously letting me borrow her saddles until I can find one that works.  This is what I am working with.  Giant withers, lopsided shoulders which are actually fairly large, and when he moves super uphill.  Please note that Stinker is fed a large amount of food (more food than anyone else in the barn including S's 1* mare), he just runs it all off and is super picky about his grain.  I *might* be a little sensitive about his ribs.  I swear I try and I am pouring money into his food bucket.

In the meantime I am getting pictures and wither tracings for two purposes.  One, so I can send them to a saddle fitter that is coming during our boot camp in December.  I'm going to try saddles then.  Two, so I can look for a Prestige to get on trial.  This is per D's recommendation.  She started him in her Prestige, but I have never tried one.  Finally, the County saddle fitter will be back on Thursday and I am going to try more dressage saddles and hopefully ride him in a wider tree and see what I think about it.  The more I think about things, the less I like the narrow.  I rode in the jump saddle (N County Solution) today and it was really sliding back (like adjusted 4 times in one ride sliding back). The dressage slides too, but not as badly.

County Fusion Narrow

County Fusion Narrow

And for kicks, my current dressage saddle (Albion Legend Medium), which he has demonstrated he hates.  I think the Fusion looks slightly better.  It has much better rear clearance and his withers don't object.  But I am not totally in love nor am I totally convinced that the narrow is right for him.

Albion Legend Medium 

Albion Legend Medium

Finally the County Solution jump, which I have on order, but I am now doubting that it is the correct tree size.  I love the saddle and he has not objected and in fact has seemed quite happy in it, but it moves like crazy so something isn't right.

County Solution Narrow

County Solution Narrow

I feel a lot better about things now that I have a plan. And I am really thankful that S is so generous that she is letting me continue to borrow her saddles for several months. Now I just need to get my saddles to sell before December so I have more money to put into said new (hopefully just to me) saddle.  I also need to figure out how to convince the County saddle fitter to agree that Stinker needs a wider tree than a narrow.

Oh and since I put these videos together for the saddle fitter, here are short (1 min ish) videos of Stinker in the Albion and the County Fusion.  Sadly no video of the Solution yet.  Also, if you have any wisdom please comment.  I readily admit I have no fucking clue what I am doing here.

My Horse Likes Expensive Shit

I rode Stinker in S's dressage saddle (County Fusion) today. He was excellent. Sure we had some tension and quick tempo, but he was much less tense than normal. And he actually lifted his back. I must say that makes a huge difference in the way he feels. I haven't felt it enough to really be able to describe it (nor do I have video) but everything is just better. He reaches under himself, reaches for the contact, and feels much lighter for lack of a better term. All in all it is an amazing feeling and gives me hope for our progress and our future.

So pretty so expensive...

The down side is that it is a $5000 saddle and there isn't one on the demo list (read $1000-2000) cheaper. I scanned online and found very few for sale and nothing that would fit either of us. Darn horse and his expensive taste. In addition to that, I actually liked how it feels. I wasn't struggling to keep my leg under me. I'm going to hold off my opinion on it for me until I can get video. I think I'm going to get video of us in S's saddle for me and D and also video of us in a demo saddle.

The rep will be back next week and I am going to try a wide 18" vs. a narrow 17.5" (I think). This will also answer a burning question I have. Everything I have read/heard about saddle fitting Saddlebreds is that they are deceptively wide. D thought he was a narrow, but I sent pictures to a saddle fitter she recommended and that lady said medium to medium wide. So I got a medium Albion. Which he liked until I brought him back into work from the EPM.

Not fitting...

I was struggling to find someone who would come to our area for saddle fitting, so I sent pictures to a second saddle fitter (she was recommended by the dressage judge I clinic with). She said the problem was my Albion was too narrow. So, I decided to try this County lady, because I was desperate. This lady put him and S's mare in a narrow. I ordered my jump saddle (she did agree to a cheaper price if I need to swap out the tree within a year). So I was left wondering who was right... D and the County lady said narrow. Two well recommended saddle fitters said wider (from pictures) plus all my reading was on their side. I honestly don't even know what to think. But now I'm going to get to try a wide and maybe that will shed some light on the narrow vs wide situation.

Right now my bottom line is my dressage saddle is causing tension and puffiness, so something needs to change. If D says I ride much better in S's saddle I might be biting the bullet and getting a new dressage saddle. I just want to make sure I get the correct one, so I am not having a repeat of this in another 6-12 months. But I have been informed that what I have is not working and he prefers things that cost $$$$. All I have to say is thank God I'm single and I don't have to justify my spending to anyone besides me.

He is lucky he is cute...expensive but cute

Welcome to Crazy Town...aka Saddle Fitting

I have gone off the deep end when it comes to saddle fitting and I am over thinking and being totally neurotic.  Welcome to the twisted world of my brain aka crazy town.  So after I started bringing Stinker back into work and he started gaining weight/putting muscle back on I realized my saddle was no longer fitting properly.

Stinker's back last January.

He was starting to get puffy spots at the base of the withers.  I thought this was due to having rear risers in, so I removed them and started searching in ernest for a saddle fitter that would come to our barn.  We are in a bit of a waste land.  There is one lady that is a few hours north, but she refuses to respond to anyone as soon as she learns our location.  There have been at least five individual people in this area that have contacted her.  I sent her so many message (email and Facebook) that I felt like a crazy ex girlfriend.  The part that annoyed me the most is she would not even take the time to say "no I won't come down there."  At this point I would have happily taken a message that said "Fuck off."  At least then I would know where I stood.

This is from August. And you can kind of see the puffy.  He also looks wider to me.

You can kind of see the puffy here.  I really need to take better pictures.

Removing the rear riser helped for awhile, but I really struggled to maintain my position.  I am constantly fighting not to get dumped off the back of the saddle.  So I decided to try a County rep that another lady had used.  I wasn't sold on the whole idea, but I was desperate.  My plan was to try jump saddles (then find a used one) and get my current dressage saddle fitted.  I love my dressage saddle and I have an old jump saddle I use on Pongo, but the tree is way too curvy for Stinker's flat back.  Like most well laid plans, nothing happened the way I planned.

And...someone bought a new jump saddle.  It so wasn't the plan.  Of course I liked one that is a new model and used just aren't floating around yet. What really sold it for me was how much fun Stinker had jumping.  He is so freaking cute and no I had a massive fail and don't have any pictures or videos.

He was his typical self and very antsy/prancy to start.  Getting into two point at the trot on him is hell.  Once I am up there, its fine.  But he is so uphill it took me awhile to find my balance.  Also there is the whole thing of I use my seat bones so much that as soon as I lift out of the saddle that he wants to shoot forward.  I have not figured out the whole half halt in two point thing.  We got it together and trotted a cross rail a couple of times.

The first couple of times were rather uneventful.  He only sort of jumped and sort of trotted.  The third time he didn't pick up his feet and knocked the rail.  The next time through he over jumped it by more than a foot.  The thing that really got me was how much he perked up.  His energy changed from OMG I am waiting for something bad to happen to OMG this is fun.  It didn't look different but it felt different.

I am super excited to get the saddle, but I have to wait and wait and wait.  Hopefully, everything will fit correctly.  It was after I had time to think that I started going to crazy town.  The saddle is a narrow, and I am now freaking out that it won't fit him and I will have spent a crap ton of money and not have a saddle that fits.  After I talked with D (she talks me off the ledge way too often), she made me feel better about the saddle for him.  I then started worrying about the saddle fitting me.  I have bad hips and some saddles are hell on them.  If I ride in the wrong saddle I can piss my hips off so much that they cause my lower back to spasm and then I can't walk much less do anything else.  So yeah, I am trying to keep the crazy down and focus on being excited to have a jump saddle (in a few months) and being able to jump Stinker.

Back to the dressage saddle...I made a major mistake.  I agreed to try some dressage saddle, which caused her to focus on getting me into a new saddle and not fixing the fit of my current saddle.  I didn't like any of the dressage saddles for me, but I did like Stinker in one.  There is no way in hell I am buying a saddle I don't love not to mention I don't have the budget for two custom saddles at the moment.  I didn't really have the budget for the one, but I am young and allowed to make some dumb decisions right??

The end of the dressage saddle fitting was the fitter shimmed a pad to make my saddle sit level, which has made the puffiness at the withers even worse.  I really don't know what to do.  I know she will be back in a couple of months, so hopefully I will find my balls and get more forceful and get her to fix the flocking at the front of my saddle and resolve the pressure.  Until them I am limiting my time in the saddle to 1-2 times a week.  I think I am going to go back to no pad and fight with my position rather than continue to put too much pressure up front.

Bareback and Saddle Fitting Woes

I am really sad I think my dressage saddle is getting too narrow for Stinker. I've noticed some puffiness around his withers after I ride. The only thing I can come up with is the saddle is too narrow and is putting pressure there. I'm working on getting a fitter out but they are few and far between around here. Fingers crossed that I will get something worked out.

In the meantime I didn't want to ride in the saddle as much but I also didn't want to stop riding so I decided to try him bareback. I lunged him first and decided to leave the surcingle on so I could have the draw reins still. For the most part they are loose but occasionally I use them to remind him that the left shoulder doesn't bulge out and if he puts his head in my face I will activate them. I realize some people equate them to the devil and I do not use them to put him in a false frame. But to each their own.

So off we went. At first he tried his normal saddlebred stuff and I was flopping all over. I think he didn't like that anymore than I did because he stopped in record time. And it was not because I was riding so effectively. Once he settled things went well. I'm still struggling at getting him to reach under himself. Everything is very short and choppy but it is being dictated by my pace so that is an improvement. By the end of the ride he was willing to stretch down in his next but that needs to come earlier and the longer steps need to happen.

I have kind of abandoned the walk for a bit since I think that will come when I get more relaxation. Right now we are still quite tense. It's not as bad as it used to be but a long ways from where it needs to be.