11/7/13

"How do I get on this thing?"

Yesterday, I finally got to try out my English saddle!! I say "finally" like it took forever-only a day-but it felt like it. ;) Got out to the barn at 4 and went ahead and fetched my pony. He came along willingly, probably thinking it was dinner time since he normally eats at that time! Went ahead and tried the pad and saddle on, tacked up once I knew it fit well. The bridle didn't fit him well. The hack was too far up on his face, well, it was actually where people typically like to have them, but he hates for them to be high on his face, hence why his leather nosed was fitted to go lower. I was curious to how he'd act with it anyways since it was a rubber instead of a leather, so I fit it a little looser so he wouldn't be jabbed as hard. I'm going to take blame in this and say I wish I hadn't of used it because he HATED it and let me know that the whole ride.
Fat horse in a little saddle, as the BM said.

But, everything fit very well other than that and Red was totally cool with the saddle change!! I got him out, which he was already acting stubborn as I took him through the barn gate, no doubt because of the hack, and attempted to mount without a block. Nope. Not happenin'. I finally gave in and got a mounting block and hopped on. Definitely harder than getting on a Western saddle, I'll give y'all that. He stood well and I moved him while A got Lady tacked up. Mom had already tacked Spirit up and was waiting outside. Red and Spirit took naps during this. ;)
 

we went out to the trails, I managed to get down the steep hill easily without a horn to grab onto and Red started acting barn sour then, which is how he acted last time I used a different hack. Grrr. I got it worked out of him and we went on the trails. He acted fine through those. He honestly acted okay, but he was barn sour and refused to stay at a walk. Trotty trotty trotty. My immediate concern was the saddle fit, but all in all, I 100% believe that it's from the hack. Mom, who could obviously see his manners a little better than myself, said he acted like he was uncomfortable in his head, she said he walked totally fine and when I took the saddle off, the sweat was even and I rubbed along his back and prodded to make sure he wasn't sore. As soon as I took the bridle off, he was fine, even when he still had the saddle on. It makes me kind of mad at myself for using it..guess I'll be getting another leather nosed and a plainer Western bridle that could pass for English. ;)

I really did like it though. Saddle was comfortable, I had no issues with not having a high back or saddle horn, I felt like my EQ was a ton better. I need to shorten the stirrups another notch because they kept scooting back on my feet when I would trot. I couldn't really seem to keep them at my toes and have my heels down. I'm gonna get another little pad to go under the white one. He seemed comfortable and it was thick, but still, I'd rather be safer than sorry and go ahead and get another one.

Spirit did really well on the ride, he acted really bad in the beginning but started settling once he saw that mom had her spurs on. She just rubs them along his stomach and he does well.......hopefully he'll act like that for every ride in the future as opposed to rearing..

Also, I was nominated by Christie at Can I Have a Pony!! I haven't been awarded a liebster award in awhile and I'm excited to do it!!! Christie's blog was the first horsey blog I had ever followed and really inspired me with my own, I read through a lot of the potential horses and I was so excited for her when she got her horse, Dani, an adorable little Chestnut mare! Thanks for nominating me, Christie! :)

Psttt....I stole this from her.



How to Accept the Award: The Liebster Blog Award is a way to recognize blogs who have less than 200 followers. Liebster is a German word that means beloved and valued. Here are the rules for accepting the award:

• Thank the person who nominated you and include a link back to their blog.

• List 11 random facts about yourself.

• Answer the 11 questions given to you.



  1. What is your first memory of a horse? Hmm..I had been around them almost all of my life, so I'm not sure on the first memory, but the most important older memory is definitely when I got to ride Squeeky, a little pony gelding who belonged to my Aunt, the same people who owned Red! :) That was my first time on a horse and I was so nervous but so so excited. He sneezed and almost fell. ;)
  2. What other hobbies do you have? I love to write. Whether it be my own work or even fanfiction-yes, fanfiction, don't judge me!-and typically, when I'm not on a horse, that's what I'm doing! I also like to bake, although I can't bake very well. ;) My hobbies include Marvel movies and Pinterest, to be honest.
  3. Describe a favorite pet that wasn't a horse. My family used to have two pit bulls, well, one pit/boxer mix and one full blooded. The full blooded was a surprise to us kids, he was adorable and huge and had a big head the size of his body. We named him Bowser after the Mario game, we had him until he was about five, when he bit someone. In his and the breed's defense, the person he bit was with my mother and it was muddy, my mom felt and the person fell on top of her and mom yelped because she hurt herself on concrete steps. Bowser barely bit them, then he saw me, an at the time 11 year old, I called him in and he came to me that second and got in his kennel. That was, by far, the worst few months I've ever endured. The police told us that he did something that would be considered a heroic thing, and that in other circumstances, they would've literally considered him a hero, even though the policemen said that in their eyes, he already was. Thankfully, we didn't have to put him to sleep, but we did rehome him after that because we couldn't keep him in a good fencing like we were required.
  4. What do you do?  Work/kids/volunteer etc? Jobless at the moment. I occasionally blog for bigger websites and get paid.
  5. Where is your "happy place"? On my horse, of course.
  6. Describe a favorite memory you have with your grandma. I honestly don't know. I don't get to see either of them often, sadly. It was great getting to visit my mamaw, my grandmother on my mom' side, and go through my Papaw's old box of Army stuff after he passed away. He served in WWII in the Army and was stationed in Germany.
  7. What type of books do you like to read? Oh geeze, I'm honestly a sap and I love romantic stuff, but not overly sappy romantic stuff. Not those romance books. ;) Mostly, I love to read historical stuff. My current favorite book is The Magic of Ordinary Days by Ann Howard Creel or The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom, both WWII books.
  8. What is your favorite color and why? I love red because, ya know, it's red.
  9. If you could move to any state in the U.S. right now, no issues, where do you think you'd go and why? Wow, I love Tennessee so much and I don't think I could stand leaving, but I suppose if my feelings weren't there, I'd love to move to South Carolina. It would be convenient, the college of my dreams is there, and I just love the state.
  10. What are some top items on your "bucket list"? Go to Germany, ride MY horse on the beach and get married-I'm a sap. Judge me. OH and meet Robert Downey Jr. Maybe Mark Ruffalo as well because..ya know, he's Bruce Banner. (And a cute one, too)
  11. If aliens landed on the planet and took humans as captives which would you prefer...to be in their zoo or in their traveling circus and why? Zoo. I don't want to do a bunch of tricks for people and I hate circuses.


• Create 11 questions for the bloggers you nominate.


  1. What is your favorite childhood memory?
  2. What are you reading right now?
  3. Favorite genre of music?
  4. If you could go anywhere in the world, expenses paid, where would you go?
  5. What is your favorite and least favorite kind of food?
  6. Do you have any siblings?
  7. Tall or short horses?
  8. What is your favorite movie?
  9. If you could have any piece of tack, what would you want? (Specifics please, not just "a new saddle")
  10. Biggest pet peeve?
  11. Favorite horse trainer/rider?

• Choose 11 bloggers with 200 or fewer followers to nominate and include links to their blogs. (Just a by the way, I'm choosing some blogs that I have no idea how many followers they have, but I'm guessing they are under 200, guesswork people. It's your friend..sometimes)
  1. A Gift Horse
  2. All In
  3. Equestrian Diaries
  4. Fly On Over
  5. Forging Fiction
  6. Good Time to Review
  7. Keeping it Loki
  8. Mistress Trinity
  9. Our Liberty Journey
  10. Simply Horse-Crazy
  11. Alchemy Eventing

• Go to each blogger's page and let them know you have nominated them. I'll be doing this later! Ain't nobody got time for that! (Until nighttime when kids are asleep.)

8 comments:

  1. You know, now that you're riding english you're going to need to get a helmet :) Honestly I'd try him in a rubber snaffle or plain snaffle and see how he goes. A lot of western horses like traditional english bits better because the ones I'm referring to don't have a port and are jointed.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Haha!! Total respect to those who wear one but unless I show and I have to wear one-or if I hop on a horse I 100% don't trust and etc-I'll keep my head bare-other than my hair, lol. I've tried a plain snaffle and a rubber. My cousin, when she showed him in English and Western, literally tried almost every bit on the market and he abhors them. No clue why. Hopefully if I choose to show, I can deal with it, but for now I definitely prefer the hack.

      Delete
  2. He looks cute English! Just a word of caution on adding extra pads: if the saddle fits fine with just the one pad you have now, don't add another one. You might inadvertently end up adding to much and changing the fit, making him uncomfortable.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I read a book series about WWII before and I loved it. It follows a whole family and what they do during the war and how their life is affected. I love it because it doesn't just talk about the battlefield, but everyday life too. It's called the "Children of the Promise." You might like it.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Yes - put a helmet on....for the love of God and your family put a helmet on!

    Shorten up your stirrups a few holes as well, then you are good to go.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Going to shorten them ASAP! :) And no thanks on the helmet. :)

      Delete
  5. He looks cute in his english saddle!

    Thanks for the award. And The Hiding Place was/is one of my favorite books. It's hard to read but also fascinating. The school I went to had us read it instead of The Diary of Ann Franks.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks!! :) I loved the Hiding Place, it took me a long time to read it through, and I normally finish books, even super long ones, in a few hours. I had to take breaks constantly because it had me to tears..

      Delete