I had a GREAT ride on Chrome!! This is the second time I've ridden him out on the roads at our new home. The pictures didn't turn out great because it was getting late and the light was fading early from some rain coming in, so they are blurry... and I had a hard time picking which ones to post because I'm being so overly self critical. I keep having to remind myself that I haven't ridden consistently in 7+ years so my equitation is seriously rusty, not to mention it's difficult to practice on a green horse in something other than a dressage saddle. I can't wait until I can take lessons again! So please ignore my slouching and poor equitation and just admire my pretty pony. :D Here are the pictures!
Starting out I was a teeny bit tense. I could hear thunder and storms make me a little nervous lol. He looks relaxed though. :)
He was a little excited headed out...
Especially when he saw the neighbor horses!
This was super blurry so I played around with it in my editor. Love the neck!
Giving him a scratch on the withers.
We rode all the way back home on a loose rein. :D
Such a pro!!
I can't wait until I am confident enough to ride him on the road by myself. I was going to use my fleece saddle pad, but my husband accidentally took it to work with him (forgot to get it out of his car) so I wasn't able to wash it. I'll do it for next time. I'm going to alternate the saddle (will be using it for road rides) and riding bareback so that if the saddle is a little uncomfortable that it won't make him sore until I can figure out how to get a new one or how to make this one fit. I really think the fleece pad will fix the problem. I'll try to post the other pictures tomorrow... if I'm not too busy... this has been a crazy week!
P.S. The ride turned out to be 34 minutes long... oops! :D It was all walking though so I'm sure he won't be too sore. Oh and he finally sweated under the saddle and between his legs! Hehehe.
If you compare the first picture to the second, it looks like the tip of the horn and the top of the cantle are the same. In the second picture, however, it looks like the tip of the horn is lower. You may want to draw lines in Paint to make sure. If that is the case then it is another sign the saddle is too wide so a pommel rider pad would work good for him.
ReplyDeleteAm not sure how the aussie saddle is supposed to fit, in english saddles the lowest point of the seat should be in the middle of the saddle and it should be evenly balanced. Here is a link I have used to help with saddle fit:
http://www.saddlesthatfit.com/ElementsOfFit.htm
Glad you had a good ride!
I get worried about the horse I'm riding taking off and running with loose horses too. I insist that the horse trainer and Parelli student lock up my other horses in stalls before riding in the arena since I've had that happen.
ReplyDeleteThe other thing I think about a lot is whether riding on a loose rein contributes to the horse's ability to relax. My horses were trained to know that when I tighten the reins I am about to ask for a faster gait. So, now that I'm trail riding, if I collect the reins because my horse is getting too excited about something, I make it worse. I have to consciously let the reins out when they are excited, but be ready to pull the horse's head around if he does take off.
Your equitation looks fine :) I'm glad he was such a good boy!
ReplyDeleteI agree that your eq is fine. In fact I think you look pretty dang awesome.
ReplyDelete