Ride 32 - I HATE my saddle!

 

I have no clue what I was doing in the picture above, but I have a feeling it has something to do with an insect of some sort.... mosquito, fly, spider..... I look too calm for it to be a spider.  Anyway that's basically the only picture I got of our ride because the camera was acting weird.  Oh and I seriously need to dig through our storage building and find the rest of my clothes because it's beginning to look like I wear the same thing in every blog post LOL!  I promise I don't hehe.

Anyway my plan for the ride was to give the saddle one last try, get some video of us trotting and work on my posting trot..... none of it went very well.  I've decided, without a doubt, that I hate my saddle.  Chrome was acting fine in it and it's totally fine for walking around or trail riding, but it sucks for trying to post the trot or any sort of equitation practice.  The Aussie saddles are just so bad about pushing your feet forward in a chair seat.

I did get some video, but it was blurring in and out really bad so I won't post it (not to mention I looked horrible lol).  The main thing I noticed is my feet swing back and forth when I try to post the trot.... not a little bit, but like a whole foot!!!!  I can post normally for a couple of strides then it pushes my feet forward and I keep having to pull them back which causes the swinging.  It's horrible!!!  So I've decided to put trotting on hold for a while.  I can't post in the saddle.  I'm too out of practice to post bareback.  I really don't need to be sitting the trot on a four year old.

I'm going to save up for a dressage saddle, but right now every spare penny is going into building my house so it may be a while.  I want to wait until I can take lessons before I do anymore training on him because I don't want to screw up everything we've done so far.  So for now my focus is going to be trail riding.  That's what I really want to do anyway right now.  I miss just going out and having a fun, relaxed ride without worrying what I should be doing, or shouldn't be doing, etc. We have plenty to work on with trail riding and I can teach him more tricks and I can build obstacle courses, etc.

There is a couple of things from the ride I do want to mention.  One is that a huge limb fell while I was riding!!!

I was riding away from the tree when the limb started cracking.  At the sound of cracking Chrome's head popped up and he tucked his butt, but he didn't break stride.  Then it crashed to the ground a second later and he did that again, then stopped when I asked.  Such a good boy!  It scared the crap out of me so I'm happy he stayed so calm.

I rode for half an hour which I totally didn't mean to.  I meant to make the ride short since I've missed a few days (been very busy on our house, check out my previous post to see what we've been working on).  I started warming him up, then the limb fell, then my grandma came out of her house and asked why Chrome was limping.  I didn't realize he was, so I checked all of his feet, but they were fine so I walked him some more.  He wasn't limping, but stepping really high with one front leg.  Turns out it was a fly.  I let him scratch his leg and he was fine lol.

So then I got back on and continued our warm up.  Then I started trotting and my husband was taking video, but the stupid camera was messing up.  I finally got frustrated and decided to quit.  Before quitting I decided to try something fun first.... cantering!  Chrome cantered.... okay fine he crow hopped three whole stride before dropping back down to a perfectly calm, relaxed walk LOL!  He had no clue what I was asking!!!  I wish the video weren't blurry because he had his neck curled, his back hunched and his butt tucked and looked super cute crow hopping along LOL!  The thing that made me happy though is that I was laughing and wasn't scared at all!  He wasn't being mean or trying to throw me, he was just confused and surprised.  :)  I probably won't try again until we do some in hand work and he knows the cue for canter.  And of course until I have a saddle I'm more comfortable in.  I just can't find a secure seat in my saddle.

Anyway I finally got the video my friend took from a few days ago on our last ride.  Here is the video.

Wow he looks as long as a limousine in that video for some reason... maybe because she took it with her IPhone?

And here are some snapshots I took....  as you can see he isn't as long as a limousine lol.

Doesn't Chrome look great here?  His nose is just in front of the vertical and he looks like he's using his back pretty well for a green four year old!  And I was sitting the trot bareback.  :)

So anyway, I have a plan for progressing with our trail riding, so keep an eye out for our next ride in a few days.  :)

P.S.  I totally forgot to mention I was using my clicker to click Chrome for his trot transitions today, but I forgot to fill my pouch and ran out of hay pellets  after just a couple of minutes.... oops hehe.

Progress on my house!

If you want to see pictures of the progress we've made on our new house check out my other blog Living A Farmer's Life.  Here is a direct link to the post http://myfarmerlife.blogspot.com/2013/05/pictures-of-progress-on-our-new-house.html.  :D

Haha!

Haha!  I don't normally post stuff like this, but I saw it on Facebook and couldn't resist!  :D  It reminds me of Chrome when he's scratching himself, bending in all of those different positions.  Obviously he's never knocked me down, but the expression on the cartoon horse is adorable!  :)

Just so this isn't off topic, here is Chrome scratching.  Do you think he'll have any trouble learning to bend?  Hehe!

He also found out where I keep the feed.  Here is his hopeful, "Are you gonna feed me?" look!  So cute!

 And one of him grazing out in our yard (which is fully fenced).  The white on his leg is diaper rash ointment for his itchy spots.  Oh and those vines behind him are our grapes!!!  We are going to have hundreds this year!  Oh and the little tree beside him is our cherry tree.  He started to use it as a scratching post, but I yelled at him and he stopped lol.

I think the neem oil is already making him feel better.  Since he only has one sore on his shoulder right now I'll be curious to see if it can keep him from breaking out in full blown sweet itch this year.  Fingers crossed!  That will be the true test.  I also made some fly spray out of Avon Skin So Soft, Vinegar and water.  It's working pretty well so far, although I have to be careful about using it on sunny days since it's an oil it can burn.  I'm going to put Citronella oil in it next time.  :D  I'll let you know how it works.