The Saddle is Back!

 So.... we got our saddles back!! I had loaded Funny up on the trailer to go ride when the UPS truck pulled in with the giant box, so I grabbed the saddles and put them in the trailer. Then I left the step stool out and ran over it. Doh! But we got the saddles! Since Funny was already loaded up, we headed out anyways. But then, after I rode Funny, I brought her home and loaded Lyric up and then we headed out to meet Kelli and ride. 

 

They did send the girth and stirrup leathers too, although they aren't the mono leathers. But at least they are the right sizes! They actually fit. :) Yay. And the girth is nice too. And, her saddle fits!!! Kelli looked at it and thought it fit her perfectly. It looked so narrow looking at it just on the rack, but I guess that's because I've been staring at "Marvins" XXW baroque tree. ha ha. She seemed quite happy and comfortable in it too. At first I was a little disappointed because I had my mono leathers on, which... are too short. (And how weird because somehow, though I thought they were lined, one stirrup has stretched out so much that I had to move it up two holes to get it to match the other one.... I seriously need to fix that because I've only ridden in it oh...20 times max!!!). But they had my knee out past the flap again. Kelli said that it almost looked like I had my stirrups at jumping length. Which, she might not be wrong. Between them not going any longer and me riding in the jump saddle so much, she probably wasn't wrong. So I walked back to the trailer and swapped out to the regular stirrup leathers they had sent. MUCH better! My leg actaully is on the flap now. Although in theory, it could have been a bit more of a forward flap so that if I want to go a hole shorter, I could, but... that's me being picky. The saddle felt good and I wasn't posting over the pommel and Lyric seemed happy and there was 4 fingers clearance. 

She started out a bit lame again. Tracking right, especially on tighter turns. And to me, it almost felt hind end this time. Kelli watched for a bit and said she didn't think it was hind end, but also said it more just looked like she was tight/stiff. Like, more than track tight, but... track tight. Okay... which, maybe... maybe the effects of the wide saddle for however many rides was enough to really piss her off? I kept riding and once we got through a bit more of our ride and a canter each way, it got much better. She felt much looser and swingier. And she still wants to lean on my left leg tracking left.. she still wants to root some... she still wants to brace and hollow a tiny bit, but... honestly... I can't remember if that's how she was going before she went lame. It may just be where she is in her training right now. So, I carried on. Maybe I'm a horrible mom, but... I've had her checked out... she is better.... she's not quite lame enough to really do specific diagnostics other than guessing (in my opinion), so... I figured that I would ride her through it and give it a month. Maybe it's weakness... and maybe she just needs to get stronger and it'll go away. As long as it doesn't get worse, I'll keep riding. I did decide to throw her on robaxin tonight when I got home. I debated bute too... because I don't want her to be hurting while she's getting fitter, but I really don't want to cover something up and make it way worse! So we'll see what happens with the robaxin first. I'm also still waiting to hear if she can go to the vet conference with me as a demo horse. If not, I can hopefully treat her when I get home with the info I learned and see if that helps. 

 

We did have a pretty good ride despite her being funky at first. And she threw in a random wonky step here and there but overall, she felt better. We got some nice trot leg yields and finished with a lovely soft canter. I even played with the shallow canter serpentine a tiny bit. YAY!

 

After we dressaged, we went for a hack. Kelli walked halfway to the lake with us and then turned and headed back because she had a phone call. Lyric and I carried on becaues I wanted to get some hills and fitness in. We had fun. She was really good. We spooked a few deer - Santa's reindeer were stuffing their faces before their big day!. And we crossed the creek. We trotted a hair and had a little canter but no gallops today. Good pony! I do miss riding her. She really is a good girl and fun, despite being different than Funny or Dan.