Following A Feel

Today I got a great lesson in "following a feel." Flyboy did, too, but I think I may have learned the most. Marleen did a wonderful job helping me to see what it means for a horse to follow a feel rather than to be driven into it. I really think this was a timely lesson for me. Fly does not always follow a feel which is why he tends to pull back against pressure at times. I will be working on this with him a bunch these next few weeks. This is a difficult concept to describe in words. It's about feel. About energy. About bring down the energy. About letting Fly figure out the right thing, and about "making the right thing easy and the wrong thing difficult but not impossible."

After a short session on the ground, I saddled up and we worked on very similar things from his back-- following a feel. He actually did quite well and showed marked improvement even within our short lesson. He did show resistance again going to the right a few times; something is bothering him and I need to get that figured out. Saddle or pad or soreness somewhere? I'm not sure, but since I know my saddle pad situation with the treeless saddle is not ideal, I'll start there and see what I can get fixed up for him. I also need to get longer reins--more like dig them out as I'm sure there are some lurking around here somewhere.

The cool thing about this lesson is that it put Fly into a frame of mind to load in the trailer without any of the significant anxiety I have seen the last few days due to the incident we experienced a week ago. (I'm sure this has to do with the frame of mind I was in, as well.) I sent him into the trailer, let him come out again, sent him in, let him back out, sent him in, asked him to stay in, backed him out, sent him in and closed the slant panel. He was quiet throughout, calm, relaxed, and did not fidget. I tied his lead from the outside just in case he tried to turn his head, but he showed no sign of unease. Wow. Wow. 


I have homework: get longer reins, change/fix the saddle pad, expose him to different situations (i.e. get him down to the arena when other riders/ropers are there), and bring a couple of old tires to my next lesson. (I have plans for Monday to begin our equine soccer fun with a couple of friends so that should help with the new situations exposure.)

A Big Mountain

Well, Flyboy got to climb his mountain today--the mountain he needed yesterday! A couple of friends and I rode a few miles up a dirt road in the canyon this sunny, lovely, warm-for-the-end-of-November afternoon! It was a great ride even though Fly and Janie got "stuck" when they first spotted Tammy and Joker way up ahead. They could not figure out why Tammy was off her horse and walking--something about that just couldn't be right, so neither horse wanted go closer. It took a few minutes to convince Flyboy that it was just a person and they were OK. Once we got close enough, Fly let out a big sigh, "Oh yeah, I know them!" I wonder if horses get embarrassed.

We rode all the way up, up, up to the cattle tank on top. Fly was good boy, but it was a workout! Long winter coat + unseasonably warm weather + big mountain = hot, sweaty horse. I got off and walked part of the way down to give him a break. We met my husband hiking up the road as we headed back to the trailer. He was not nearly as scary looking as Tammy and Joker. Go figure!

I am going to have to spend some time doing some trailer-loading practice with Fly again. He is quite upset about the incident last week. He needs to regroup and start from the beginning. He needs to gain confidence all over again. Today he travelled loose. Hopefully Marleen can help me tomorrow at my lesson; I just needed an extra hand today.

But I did get my slant panel fixed already. A great handy-man here in town repaired the slant panel and even the old dents in the fender! I dropped the trailer off at his house yesterday afternoon and picked it up when I got off work this morning. You sure can't beat that! Thanks, Jack!

Spook and Spin

Owie is healing, eye draining a bit.

Flyboy went back to work today, and boy, does he need some work! He needs a big mountain to climb. This guy was quite full of himself today despite his recent injuries. (His head traumas are actually healing quickly and don't seem to be bothering him much, thank goodness.)

We headed out to Dog Valley this afternoon--solo, since it's not like I could invite a friend to come along until my trailer slant panel gets fixed, but Flyboy loaded into the trailer and traveled loose, since the panel is tied open for now. Fly has not been out on a trail ride for a couple of weeks and he hasn't been solo for even longer, so I pretty much knew what to expect and wore my crash vest as a precaution. I also carried my SPOT Tracker as always, in addition to my cell phone.

I saddled up with the new treeless saddle and Equipedic

pad with the extra foam inserts. I attached the breast collar, too. In order to bridle him with the least amount of disturbance to his sutures, I unbuckled the headstall before asking him to take the bit. It worked like a charm. No bumping any sore spots at all! We headed out on what in my mind should now be a familiar trail to Flyboy.

Well, familiar or not, he was on the lookout for the bogey man again. Thought he found him once, too, when he decided to do a quick spook and spin (with the intention of skedaddling back the way we came!) But I interrupted his plans quickly enough and stuck to the new saddle pretty well, and we carried on. But you know, where there is one bogey man, there are usually more, so he was looking behind every cedar tree and sagebrush. We headed up the Sugarloaf Hill to give him something else to think about. Something like millions of rocks and some steeper terrain. That did the trick. He settled a little by the time we made it to the top.

Coming down the trail was very interesting. Fly has never been comfortable going downhill with me before--always stiff legged and jolting and hesitant--obviously uncomfortable. I assumed it was because of the saddle not fitting well, and my assumption was absolutely correct, because today he went just as powerfully down the hill as he did on the way up! He flowed down the hill! Yay! Nothing was blocking his shoulders so he could move freely. And he definitely did.

Fairly even sweat marks

We climbed a couple of other hills, stepped over a few logs, bushwhacked through the sagebrush, and had a couple of good trot stretches. He felt great, even though he was still looking for that illusive bogey man. He powered over all kinds of terrain--no boots today, and he was very forward. He only got a little sticky a few times when he thought he saw something, but with a little encouragement he carried on. An hour and a half total, and he worked up a medium sweat with his winter coat.

I am very comfortable in the new saddle. I would like to see a bit more wither clearance without having to have so much padding in the saddle pad. I may have to invest in a new pad--something like the Grandeur Vario or equivalent, but I have a couple of other things I can try first. I would have to say Flyboy seemed comfortable in it today based on his forwardness. He did duck his head and root on the reins quite a bit, but that is not new behavior. (We are working on solving that issue, too.)

Some rubbing over the loin from the pad

Fly's Eyes

Luckily Flyboy's eyes are no longer very swollen. I know the one deep cut over his left eye is still pretty sore since he won't let me touch it. He is still sensitive about the top of his head, too, poor guy. But he's been pretty active and even ran out to the fence to greet Keno when we returned from our ride, so overall, he is healing and will hopefully be back to work under saddle by Monday.

I have been playing with saddle pad options for the new Black Forest Shasta saddle. Right now I have added 3/4"' closed cell foam inserts to the original memory foam inserts in my Equipedic pad. (This pad has had hard use for four years, so I know the original foam can't be in great shape.) This combo seemed to work pretty well for Keno today--it kept the gullet off his high withers for a short ride. He could probably use shims since he has such a steep wither to shoulder slope! Although he feels much wider in this saddle than in my treed English saddle, I am quite comfortable, and the saddle feels very stable.

Trailer Disaster

Oh, man. This was not supposed to happen.

My husband and I headed up the canyon this afternoon--he would hike and I would ride Flyboy for an hour or so. He wanted exercise, and I wanted to try the new saddle again. But it was not to be. Two miles up the highway the trailer suddenly started rocking and jerking and I knew Flyboy was in trouble. He was thrashing about like crazy. I pulled off onto a side road to check on him, but looking through the window, I could see blood running down his face and in his eye. We turned around and headed back immediately. I was afraid of what I would see when I unloaded him. I knew his face was bleeding, but what else? The way he scrambled, I knew it could be serious. I said a prayer and pulled up to the barn.

We unloaded Fly and I held my breath as I checked him out. He had a deep cut above his eye that was bleeding badly. He had scuffed hair on both hips, but no broken skin. A few strands of forelock hung loose on his face. I tried to check his poll, but he was too upset to let me look. He was breathing hard and every couple of minutes he would swing his head at an angle to the side and sort of stagger sideways. My husband tried to help me wash the cut above Fly's eye, but it obviously hurt him too much to let us touch it.

I decided the vet was needed; although the cut was not more than an inch wide, it was very deep. I called to let them know I was on the way. The slant partition was badly damaged in the scramble so I had to tie it open all the way. It will have to be replaced. Fly would have to travel loose anyway, since I didn't dare to tie him or close him in tight. He was obviously stunned and traveling loose would be safer. A good friend met me at the freeway exit and rode with me.

The vet was waiting. Fly was very brave about going inside with all the lights and people. I led him into the stocks and the vet administered a tranquilizer. He was then able to get a close look at the damage. I held my breath. After palpating the facial bones and adding dye to the eyes to check the corneas, he determined Fly had no facial fractures and no damage to the actual eye. Both eyes were good. OK. Breathe again. The cut was deep and would have to be stitched. He also had a nasty trauma laceration on his poll and another cut near his other eye that was deep, too. All would have to be stitched, but should heal up fine. No other serious damage could be found. Legs were good, shoulders, back, barrel, all good. Whew.

Antibiotics, Bute, and Neosporin for five days. Bute for the massive headache and certain body aches Flyboy must have. Antibiotics and Neosporin to ward off infection. My poor boy. I am grateful it wasn't worse.

Flyboy had been doing so well with the trailer; it has been a non-issue for several weeks! I don't know what happened today, but I think he must have tried to turn around and then got into trouble and panicked. There are pictures below if you are brave enough to look.

He's gonna look like a prize fighter tomorrow.

OK, The New Saddle Is Here!

The new Black Forest Shasta arrived today! It was shipped two-day priority, but still took three days. And I had to chase down the mailman and ask him to hand it over since I could not wait another hour till he got to our street! He didn't believe me that the box contained a saddle--it wasn't heavy enough he said! I unpacked the saddle and was so happy it is not heavy! Woohoo! I loaded the horses and headed to the arena with my fingers crossed to try it out.

I rode Keno first. I know him and his gaits so well it's easier to feel what's what with a new saddle on him. He felt wide. He is wide, of course, but after multiple mounts/dismounts to adjust/readjust stirrup length and saddle placement, we got everything right and I was comfortable. (Mounting a 15.3H horse from the ground is a stretch, but this saddle was completely and totally stable. Not even a millimeter of slippage which is actually more than I can say for my treed Stubben!) I think Keno was comfortable as well, although I believe I had the saddle too far forward on both horses. (More on that in a minute.) I only rode him for a few minutes, then hopped off to try it on Flyboy.

Other than adding the breast collar, I used the same saddle and Equipedic pad on Fly. Even the same girth amazingly enough, although it was like five holes up on the billets! He is not the bulk that Keno is that's for sure!

Oh, wow. Comfy, comfy, comfy! I felt totally with him--not sitting on him, but with him. As I warmed him up, Fly blew ten or twelve times, which I took as a good sign. He moved out willingly, and after making a few adjustments to get myself settled, we worked on the circle at the trot for 10 minutes or so. My husband came down and shot some video and took a few photos.

However.... when I asked Fly to canter, I met resistance! That was a new thing; this guy likes to canter. But to the right, he broke to a trot several times. He bulged out his shoulder toward the gate as we passed, tossed his head, and was just generally resistant. Hmmm. To the left he was better and kept the canter. I didn't have a lot of time today, so I'll need to ride again and see if I can figure it out. But check out these photos:

Maybe my still-green Flyboy wasn't mentally warmed up? Maybe he needs a trail ride and a break from arena circles? Maybe his rider's position was not right? Maybe something about this saddle was bugging him? Bingo. This evening I called Vic, the owner of the Black Forest Saddle company to talk about a few questions I had. I asked about wither clearance, since there was not much at all on either horse. (Treeless saddles don't need the same amount of clearance as a treed saddle, but they do need some, of course.) We talked about saddle placement and determined that I had the saddle too far forward. I emailed him a couple of photos including the one at the top of this post, and he said I should definitely move it back. (I am used to my Aussie saddle, which has to go very forward.) Hopefully tomorrow I will get a chance to try it again. I want this saddle to work for Fly! I can already tell it will work for me, but it has to work for him, too, of course. Vic also suggested I may need to change the foam inserts in my Equipedic pad to a closed cell foam that would provide more stability. We'll see. I'll play around and see what works.

As far as the saddle goes, I am impressed with the quality; the leather is nice and soft and I felt very secure and stable in the "grippy" seat. The size is right for me. The weight is definitely right for me at around 15 piece-of-cake-to-pack-around pounds! I love it and will see what I can do to help Fly love it, too!

Bob Marshall Sports Saddle

Near gale force winds made it impossible to ride anywhere but in the indoor arena today. Just getting the horses loaded and unloaded in the wind was an adventure! However, all was quiet and calm inside, and of course I was the only one down there. I only have my friend's saddle on loan for today and tomorrow so I had to try it out!

The Bob Marshall Sports Saddle is a treeless leather saddle. This one is an endurance model belonging to a good friend who has logged over 20,000 miles with the American Endurance Ride Conference. I assume most of those miles were done in this saddle. It has been modified by a saddle maker to have a cutback pommel.

I rode Keno first and after struggling with the western cinch for ages, finally mounted from the ground with a loose cinch. No slipping amazingly enough even though Keno is 15.3H. I tightened the cinch from the saddle with a bit of a struggle. Keno immediately moved out very well--forward, big trot, relaxed. The arena footing is too deep and hadn't been worked today; usually Keno is sluggish and less motivated when it's hard going. Today he seemed willing and happier. Hmm. He also felt quite wide, which he is, but I am used to a saddle with much more twist. I don't know what size the saddle is, but it may be too small for me; the front of my thighs bumped the sides of the pommel when I was posting. Not a problem in the arena maybe, but not good on a long ride.

My friend Tammy stopped by the arena and actually showed me how to do up a western cinch. Well, duh. OK, now that was much easier! It's been a while since I have used a cinch, I guess!

Flyboy also went well in this saddle, although I think something was bugging him a little. He was soft and very forward, but he swished his tail every so often like he was agitated. He hasn't done that much before. I do think the length of the Bob Marshall is too long for him. He has a short back and the saddle pad rubbed across his loin a bit. Other than that, he seemed comfortable. I was very comfortable on him. He's not nearly so wide as Keno, so I was in a more familiar position. We rode walk, trot, and canter. No slipping, mounted from the ground, and I felt quite secure. I also felt like it put me in a very good position. I am very impressed with the saddle! Too bad they are out of my price range for now.

The good news is I have purchased a different saddle already and it will arrive on Monday! After days of research and study, I bought a Black Forest Shasta. It's also treeless, but has a built-in gullet, takes a regular dressage girth (one I know how to use!) and weighs less than 15 pounds. I have been quite impressed with the online reviews. I will give a report on that saddle next week. I am hoping one saddle will work for Flyboy, Keno, and me. Fingers crossed and waiting!