Chrome Saddled Part I

 Wow, we finally got a break in the weather!!  It's in the eighties and it feels amazing!  :D  There's almost no humidity (that I can feel anyway) and it was so perfect I couldn't pass up the chance to play with Chrome.  I've been wanting to try the Aussie saddle on him again since he's grown some to see how it fits.  Here's a post from the first time he wore it (http://rdxhorses.blogspot.com/2012/01/chrome-wears-our-new-aussie-saddle.html).  I didn't ride him though because he's never been ridden in a saddle and hasn't been ridden at all since June 19th, not to mention he's only had a total of nine rides ever lol.  Here's the rest of the pictures.

 Here he's getting his itchy neck scratched.  I don't know if you can see it (click to enlarge picture), but his neck, shoulders and forearms are covered in scabs again.  Last year when he did this I thought it was rain rot, but now I know it's sweet itch.  :(  My Appaloosa pony Lady used to get it every year.  Why do all of my favorite horses always end up with sweet itch??  I'm looking into ways to treat/prevent it.  It's been so long since I dealt with it that I've forgotten what I knew about it.  I don't think he'd keep a fly sheet intact so that probably won't work.  Anyway I'll let you know what I find out later.  

 

Getting him saddled and checking the fit.  It's a little wide in the front (because it's technically Faran's saddle and was custom fit to him) and my pad is too short on the sides, so . . . . I'm thinking of making a homemade pad that's longer on the sides and has removable shims.  :)  Wish me luck since I can't really sew lol.  If anyone has any suggestions for the shims I'd appreciate it since I've never owned a shim pad.  How thick should I make the shims and how big?  Thanks!

Then we did some longeing to see how he felt in the saddle.  The rope is not as tight as it looks here.  It was swinging so it looks tight.

We did a couple of walk circles and a couple of trot circles each direction.  Not much.  Just enough to see if he was uncomfortable.
 
 Here's a picture of him wearing the Aussie saddle approximately eight months ago . . .

And here he is wearing it now . . .

Can you believe how much he's matured?  It's amazing how much they change in their first few years of life.  :)  As I said above I didn't ride him.  I was standing on the ladder so I could wiggle the saddle, lay across his back, flap the stirrups, etc.  As you can see he didn't mind any of it.  I'm holding his rope and you can see how slack it is.  He's such an awesome boy!  Does the saddle look too long for him?  It looks like it would have me sitting almost over his loins??  When bareback I'm sitting a lot closer to his withers.  Dunno, maybe it's because I haven't seen a saddle on him in a long time.  What do you think?

I can't wait to ride him in a saddle!  I think it will be fun (although I might be too tempted to trot him lol).  I might try riding him a little as it is now to see if it settles too much in the front, but not for more than a few minutes because I don't want it to make him sore.  If I can't get shims to work we will just ride bareback until he broadens out more or I can afford a new saddle lol.  :)

Anyway I hope you enjoyed the pictures.  I had fun playing with him even though we didn't do much.  Hopefully this nice break in the weather lasts a few days!