November 18 2007

Today I rode with the Northwest Quarter Horse Association at the Walla Walla Fairgrounds. I am a new member of this club even though I do not own an QH. They had arena time from 11-1 this afternoon.

I headed out to the ranch about 9:45 am and got my tack in order. I am currently borrowing an Australian saddle from Bob to see how I like it. I thought to be safe I should take my Wintec saddle also in case I needed the extra girth, and I wanted to switch the stirrups over to use my cage. It was a cold and rainy day but thankfully Sinwaan was hanging out in the barn when I went to halter him up. He was not too messy. Kittee loaded up Nugget and Misty and then Sinwaan went in the end just fine with no trouble.

We were some of the first people to arrive and we got the tack unloaded and then the horses. Kittee had brought some towels to dry the horses off a little before we tacked up. She was ready to go and riding long before I had everything in order. First I tried to swap out the stirrups. Well they are a little complicated the way they are all rigged up. I finally got the first stirrup off the saddle and the irons off and went to put on my endurance stirrup and what do you know it didn't fit! Yes, I had ordered the 1 1/2" neck for my english leathers so the leathers on the Aussie were much too big to fit. SIGH. Well I didn't fret over it too much, I thought since Lara had been using this saddle the stirrups would need to go up about 2 holes so that is what I did, once I FINALLY figured out how to get the first stirrup back on the saddle and rigged up properly.

So then the next challenge was the girth. I took a look at it and could not make heads or tails of how it was supposed to work. It attaches on the right side with two straps off the saddle and two buckles on the girth. BUT go to the other side and the girth end has two buckles and a long strap coming out of the center of the buckles. The saddle has one strap and one ring. My brilliant idea of using my own Wintec girth was ineffective when the leathers on the saddle were too wide to fit through the buckles on my girth, that was out. I finally ended up using one buckle on the strap and the long strap from the center of the girth I ran around through the ring and tied it off like a western one. I have no idea if I did it right but it was the only way I could figure that it would work. I did not bother with the breastcollar today but I did attach my single water bottle holder.

I finally get Sinwaan tacked up, using the blue endurance saddle pad from Kim. I put that girth up as far as I could (physically) and I could still fit some fingers between it and his body. I couldn't figure that one out. The saddle seemed to fit ok so I led him over to the mounting block. There was a very nice lady there named Terri who helped me out and she was able to get the girth up one more hole and we decided that should work a lot better for us. She also opened and closed the gate for me since the mounting block was outside the arena.

The first 15 minutes in that saddle was glorious. It has such a deep seat, I was really digging the high pommel and lower back support. Once we were warmed up I asked for the trot and noticed the Poleys really held me in and made it difficult to post the way I normally do. Maybe my form is wrong, I don't know. I did finally get into a groove and enjoyed the ride. Now something I do not understand is why on earth every Aussie saddle I have seen has rigging dees very close to the riders thigh position. After those first 15 minutes I started feeling those inner dees. Does this mean the saddle doesn't fit ME?

There was a nice lady named Sandy there who was also riding a grey Arab gelding. He was about the same size as Sinwaan and ridden English. He looked like a very nice horse and she was very kind to me and we talked a little about endurance horses and people in the area. She informed me that she is the new Secretary of the club.

I had a nice ride the first hour, we did a lot of walking and trotting and some backing and sidepassing. We rode alone and with other horses as we made our way around the arena. The first couple laps Sinwaan would whinny to the horse that Kittee wasn't currently riding who was tied to the rail along the wall. We did some cantering also but I have trouble getting Sinwaan to pick it up when I ask. I also have trouble getting him to collect. Today especially. He would thow up his head and lurch himself into a canter and then speed up and once he would overcome another horse or feel my weight shift he immediately comes back down to a trot. I kept losing my inside stirrup on the canter also. I will have a fair challenge if I am ever able to do an Arab costume class. He and I both could definately benefit from more schooling.

The surprise of the day for me was when I asked for the canter about an hour into the ride and Sinwaan actually gave a good buck! I felt his hind end fly up in to the air and heard his tail whoosh past my head and I found myself on his neck but I didn't come off or even lose my stirrups. After that within 5 minutes boy I could really feel tension in my calves. I pulled them both something awful. Of course I couldn't let him get away with that so we worked on transitions after that for about 10 minutes. In the back of my mind of course I am thinking of what could have caused that because he has never pulled a stunt like that with me before in the 70+ hours I have ridden him this year. Could it be the saddle fit? Was it because Misty was coming up behind him? Was he just being a brat? Kim has warned me that this was a trouble spot she had with him awhile ago. I hated to think I was continuing to work him in pain. I sure wish I knew more than I do sometimes.

About fifteen minutes to 1 pm I dismounted and loosened his girth and walked him a loop and then exited the arena and untacked him and searched for signs of an ill fitting saddle. He was mostly dry underneath and I could find no whirls or other tell tale signs in his coat of a rub or pinched area. I was so focused on his back that I forgot to check his rear legs for any signs of him knocking himself with his hooves although he is currently unshod.

I took him back out after this and hand walked him in the arena until our time was up as he had steam coming off him.

So I dunno what his deal was. Later this evening I noticed I have quite a nice bruiser on my inner thigh from the darn dee on the saddle (about the size of my thumb), I could do without that, and I am a little stiff and sore. It has been two weeks since I rode last and I am getting soft already.

I am not sure what to think about this saddle. Bob said I could hang onto it a week or two to really see how I like it. Right now I am divided on if I want one or not. The pros are the deep seat, Poleys, TONS of rigging dees, and the horn (I am looking ahead to possibly ponying Ollokot and a horn would make that possible). The cons are the dees under my thighs (which maybe could be removed), the weight of it, the crazy girthing set up - which I could perhaps also overcome with a different girth. Also I really don't know how well it fits Sinwaan. I need some more assistance in that department. Starting over with a new saddle also means getting more equipment such as another saddle pad (or two) and I would want a fleece saddle cover as well to soften it up a little.

This next week is Thanksgiving so I am hoping for good weather Friday for a ride as I will have the day off.