Ride, 4/12/10

I know that no one will really care about this, but I'm going to use the blog as my ride diary, so I can look back on it in the future and see how far we've come. Feel free to ignore the posts titled Ride.

Today I decided to try Captain bareback, since I know the saddle doesn't fit and I'm worried about it pinching his back. The first milestone was I got on him BY MYSELF, with no help from Erich.

It took about two minutes for both Captain and me to realize that we did NOT like this whole bareback business. My bareback muscles have atrophied, apparently - I was slipping and sliding and didn't feel secure at all. And he kept rounding his back and snorting and wanting to trot, which he does when he's uncomfortable. (Or bored, or happy, or interested, or hungry, etc.)

So I slid off and got the saddle. Second milestone: got back on BY MYSELF. Yay! We're just about to get that down. The saddle made a huge difference; I felt secure, Captain was happier, I was happier.

A man and his three year old twin girls appeared in the distance pulling a red wagon. Captain decided it was a HORSE EATING wagon, and got all squirrely and silly. I made him do a slalom course through the tables to distract him, but every time we stopped he popped his head up and snorted some more in the wagon's direction. So, because I don't believe in hiding from the fear, we rode over to them. The little girls were in great awe and just stared, and their daddy and I talked for a few minutes. Captain tossed his head and snorted a bit and finally decided that maybe it wasn't a horse eating wagon after all, and consented to leave, his dignity intact.

Third milestone: we cantered! Just a little bit, but it sure was fun. Captain got even more antsy after, like the prospect of speed excited him and he kept begging for me to give him his head so he could pour on the speed.

Being a party pooper, I wouldn't allow him to, but we did some more trot work and had a good time exploring the park.

When we were done, I hand-grazed him for awhile. He flinched a little when I groomed his sweaty spots, so I think the saddle may be pinching a bit. No more riding for a few days, until his back is more comfortable. (My abs will also thank me, considering the abuse I've given them by posting so much.)

On the lookout for an 18-19" all purpose or dressage saddle with a wide gullet. This narrow saddle is just not working for him.