Different saddle and a cough

Well this evening I decided to try out my other saddle, one Kim had sent to me. It is a Crosby Cross Country/Multi-purpose type English saddle or so she tells me :) I went on an easy ride with Dale and Kittee today, the usual 4 miles. We still had plenty of daylight but knowing my mom was coming to dinner was motive to get home at a decent hour.

First I tried my usual girth on the Crosby and it only went half way under him. Wow! No wonder the boys at the feed store made fun of me when I told them I needed a shorter one (for my Wintec). I dug around in the tack trunk and found another longer girth. This one fit just perfect, with the girth as tight as it would go on both sides. I adjusted the stirrups and mounted up but they were still too short for me. So I adjusted them again. I probably could have gone another hole or two lower which just blew my mind since I have such short legs, I had to punch a new hole for my Wintec leathers to fit me right. I felt like a jockey in this saddle.

Sinwaan did alright in it mostly, but coming home at a canter for a stretch he acted like he was going to buck with me. The ONLY other time he has ever done such a thing was when I was trying out an Aussie saddle that he didn't much care for. So I don't know if it was a too-much-green-grass attitude, heading home and wanting all out, having a week off from riding, or improper saddle fit. Could have been a combination of all four.

It took me the whole four miles to start feeling comfortable in it. And sure, in a pinch I could use it if I had to. But overall I did not find it to be the right fit for me. Maybe the seat was too small, I don't know. I am not sure. Could be I am so used to riding in a dressage saddle this one just felt tiny. So I talked it over with Kim and I think I will try to sell it.

The only other thing worth mentioning was once Sinwaan got warmed up and had a little canter, he started coughing. A dry hollow cough. Kittee said he had just started doing that recently, she noticed it the day before. Thinking back it was about this same time last year that he had coughing fits. At the time I blamed it on stress of traveling across the country, or maybe catching something from Ollokot, but maybe he has springtime allergies in this drier climate. We sure don't have the humidity that Virginia offers. It seems too long after the endurance ride to blame it on anything caught there.

I had planned to ride Sunday but Matt has a current movie project so perhaps I will be staying home and playing with Levi.