Rainbow again galloped off to the field when I turned her out at the weekend. She was happy when I went to see her on Saturday.... Until I whipped the tack out. Her look went 'blank' and she just stood in her stable, whereas only minutes before she'd been munching on hay and looking quite content/sociable.
The hoof trimmer is not a saddler, of course, but he was asking about our saddle and I said it had been checked and improved in April, so only about 3 months ago. I explained to him that Rainbow had changed shape in the autumn, a couple months from when we'd started using the saddle and that her withers had become more pronounced (although I did wait a while before getting the saddler to come and see R as I wasn't sure if she was going 'gain' the lost weight around her shoulders back – so, granted, I could have addressed the issue sooner). The saddle was improved to accommodate her changed shape, and I thought the withers becoming more pronounced was sign of becoming into maturity. In the hoof trimmer's opinion their withers shouldn't become more pronounced, as if they do, it means they're losing muscle mass which creates the hollowing out. I don't remember the technical term he used, but basically implied that something has to be pressing on the shoulder muscle/around withers to make the muscle diminish.
Rainbow didn't come with her own tack when I bought her and I was in a reasonable hurry to buy her the tack, so I didn't have to use the very ill-fitting riding school saddles on her very long... Someone recommended a girl at the yard who worked for a local saddler and could source me a saddle and get it made to measure. I trusted this girl's abilities to template and measure the horse. I also thought that when the saddler himself came to see us in April and fixed the saddle that all would be well. When I bought the saddle, I didn't try lots of saddles, I just took the first one that was shown to me, the only prerequisite for the saddle was to be a GP saddle. How naive this all seems when I have typed it down here!
So I didn't really use a saddler for getting the right saddle, I just used a friend who worked for a saddler and claimed was able to do all the measuring. And I am not even saying that her measuring wasn't right, but how could I have known if this type of saddle is ideal for Rainbow, full stop, even if it's correctly measured and made? How would I know if I didn't try any others? Or at least didn't have the saddler him/herself there to look at Rainbow and make recommendations.
The hoof trimmer is not a saddler, of course, but he was asking about our saddle and I said it had been checked and improved in April, so only about 3 months ago. I explained to him that Rainbow had changed shape in the autumn, a couple months from when we'd started using the saddle and that her withers had become more pronounced (although I did wait a while before getting the saddler to come and see R as I wasn't sure if she was going 'gain' the lost weight around her shoulders back – so, granted, I could have addressed the issue sooner). The saddle was improved to accommodate her changed shape, and I thought the withers becoming more pronounced was sign of becoming into maturity. In the hoof trimmer's opinion their withers shouldn't become more pronounced, as if they do, it means they're losing muscle mass which creates the hollowing out. I don't remember the technical term he used, but basically implied that something has to be pressing on the shoulder muscle/around withers to make the muscle diminish.
Rainbow didn't come with her own tack when I bought her and I was in a reasonable hurry to buy her the tack, so I didn't have to use the very ill-fitting riding school saddles on her very long... Someone recommended a girl at the yard who worked for a local saddler and could source me a saddle and get it made to measure. I trusted this girl's abilities to template and measure the horse. I also thought that when the saddler himself came to see us in April and fixed the saddle that all would be well. When I bought the saddle, I didn't try lots of saddles, I just took the first one that was shown to me, the only prerequisite for the saddle was to be a GP saddle. How naive this all seems when I have typed it down here!
So I didn't really use a saddler for getting the right saddle, I just used a friend who worked for a saddler and claimed was able to do all the measuring. And I am not even saying that her measuring wasn't right, but how could I have known if this type of saddle is ideal for Rainbow, full stop, even if it's correctly measured and made? How would I know if I didn't try any others? Or at least didn't have the saddler him/herself there to look at Rainbow and make recommendations.
The trimmer said that, to start with, given the hooves seemed fine, I should try and ride without the saddle as it seemed odd that R is fine on hard surfaces and gallops around hard fields, but goes a little 'lame' when on a soft surface in the school, when tacked up.
So, on Saturday I rode her, first with a saddle – I added a little pad under the saddle to alter the saddle position to see if that makes any difference. Rainbow seemed reluctant – as described above – but seemed OK in walk. In trot she didn't want to really go at all. I asked A to ride her a little and give me her opinion, as well as give me a chance to see her from the ground. In A's opinion Rainbow wasn't lame but had a shorter stride than normal. Exactly what I've been saying – and A agreed it could be saddle-related.
Then I rode her bareback! Well that was an experience, I hadn't ridden her bareback since last year, and I haven't really done any bareback riding since my childhood sheltie days in Finland :) ... So it was fun to try it out anyway. Rainbow was a little surprised but played ball. I had a friend helping me out and walking by R's side as I wasn't sure how much control I'd have in trot. Not that I could tell much from bouncing around on her back, but she seemed happier and 'rollier' in her strides without the saddle.
We have a saddler – someone who has been recommended to me by many people at the yard – coming to see us on Wed. So I am really hoping that, in someways, this is saddle-related. I know it's likely to cost me, but I much rather see myself as the idiot who bought an unsuitable saddle for her horse than having to do more investigations on why R hasn't been 100% in the last few weeks (I mean her gaits) and potentially worry about her health. I know that a new saddle might not fix it all instantly, but at least it would be a more clear-cut problem which to overcome.
Owning a horse is an eternal puzzle.
--
In the other news, we had a dressage day yesterday at our yard. "Ins and Outs of Dressage". It was a great day, even though I couldn't participate with Rainbow. But we all got to judge each other and had a lady come to demonstrate dressage to music on her horse. Then people got another chance to get mounted, in two groups, and poodle around the arena to different types of music while trying out different gaits. The day was topped off with a lovely Italian buffet, by the organising lady (who is Italian) and a glass of Bellini :)
I was absolutely shattered after about 8 hours at the yard and having got up really early to muck out, etc. But a thoroughly enjoyable day. Here some pics.
So, on Saturday I rode her, first with a saddle – I added a little pad under the saddle to alter the saddle position to see if that makes any difference. Rainbow seemed reluctant – as described above – but seemed OK in walk. In trot she didn't want to really go at all. I asked A to ride her a little and give me her opinion, as well as give me a chance to see her from the ground. In A's opinion Rainbow wasn't lame but had a shorter stride than normal. Exactly what I've been saying – and A agreed it could be saddle-related.
Then I rode her bareback! Well that was an experience, I hadn't ridden her bareback since last year, and I haven't really done any bareback riding since my childhood sheltie days in Finland :) ... So it was fun to try it out anyway. Rainbow was a little surprised but played ball. I had a friend helping me out and walking by R's side as I wasn't sure how much control I'd have in trot. Not that I could tell much from bouncing around on her back, but she seemed happier and 'rollier' in her strides without the saddle.
We have a saddler – someone who has been recommended to me by many people at the yard – coming to see us on Wed. So I am really hoping that, in someways, this is saddle-related. I know it's likely to cost me, but I much rather see myself as the idiot who bought an unsuitable saddle for her horse than having to do more investigations on why R hasn't been 100% in the last few weeks (I mean her gaits) and potentially worry about her health. I know that a new saddle might not fix it all instantly, but at least it would be a more clear-cut problem which to overcome.
Owning a horse is an eternal puzzle.
--
In the other news, we had a dressage day yesterday at our yard. "Ins and Outs of Dressage". It was a great day, even though I couldn't participate with Rainbow. But we all got to judge each other and had a lady come to demonstrate dressage to music on her horse. Then people got another chance to get mounted, in two groups, and poodle around the arena to different types of music while trying out different gaits. The day was topped off with a lovely Italian buffet, by the organising lady (who is Italian) and a glass of Bellini :)
I was absolutely shattered after about 8 hours at the yard and having got up really early to muck out, etc. But a thoroughly enjoyable day. Here some pics.
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| A little talk and demonstration about horse's anatomy and senses, and how to be sympathetic to their instincts |
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| Some rode to music while others watched and ate Italian cake. |
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| It's not a lifestyle blog per se, but I quite like this photo I took of apples at home. |
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| My cat Percy was as tired on Sunday night as I was... We snoozed on the sofa together all evening. |
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