Saddle woes and wins.

I have mentioned in the last few posts that I was going to be looking for a new saddle. I didn't want to give it too much thought yet because I don't have much of a budget, Riley is really hard to fit, and I pretty much need the size/style of saddle that everyone is looking for so I knew it was going to be a bit of a hunt. I've ridden in a few of Emily's saddles and while she's much taller than I am, I really like the balance of the Berney Bros. I thought it would be interesting to post some recent photos of me jumping in both saddles so you can see what I mean (these shots were roughly a week or two apart).

Current saddle. Heritage jumping saddle. Fits both of us well enough. smaller knee block and no thigh blocks.

On the flat, my position is quite good in this saddle, but you can kind of see here that if I want to put my stirrups up any higher I'm going to be in trouble with the knee rolls.

Case in point. The balance of this saddle doesn't allow me much security and I am thrown forward, pivoting at the knee.

I'm still jumping ahead, but my leg is staying firmly at the girth and underneath my body for a better overall balance.

When I am balanced, I'm able to give Riley all the freedom he needs. Having a saddle that gives me this kind of security allows me to find my own balance without throwing him off.

In between fences, love how my leg is in this photo, right where it should be.

 So, with Emily taking a trip down to Virginia for the WEG trials, I begged her to make a stop at the Middleburg Tack Exchange (aka, heaven) to look for my white whale of a saddle. She took a current wither tracing with her, my non-existent budget, and some parameters of what I was looking for.

In case you were wondering where I was instead of going to the WEG trials, I had a super long wedding to shoot on Saturday. While I was in the middle of shooting the ceremony, I got a couple of frantic texts from Emily saying that she found A 17" BERNEY BROS. IN WIDE. What!?! I was able to sneak away during the communion portion of the mass (there were also two other photographers) to go outside and make a call. She said she literally looked at hundreds of saddles and felt like it was a lost cause. None of the saddles fit Riley's wither tracing (did I mention he's hard to fit?) and she was starting to give up, when she saw on the top shelf a lone Berney Bros.

A small cross section of the used saddle inventory at Middleburg Tack Exchange

She pulled it off the shelf half-heartedly and nearly died when she was the size and shape. And then, this:

Like a glove.

Beautiful used condition. Love the balance of the seat and the more forward flaps than my current saddle. I don't have super long legs so I don't need a really forward flap.

Exactly what I was looking for, nice knee block and a small thigh block.

So I made the call, gave them my account info and it's mine on trial for a week. If I like it and it fits us both, I can make the seller an offer against the suggested retail price (all their saddles are on consignment).

So, fingers crossed for us that I have found something suitable! The very kind British woman who works at the shop mentioned to Emily that the Berney's never last more than a few days because everyone wants them and they last forever. What a score! I will post my current saddle for sale if this one works out to recoup the money!

Ps. I got a 17" because Berney's tend to be a bit generous in the sizing and don't usually come standard in half sizes.

Pps. Based on all of these photos its clear I need to do lots of two point work to lengthen my leg and stretch down into my heels. Sadly, I will never be one of those riders whose heels look super flexed (years and years of gymnastic has given my ankles early arthritis!)

Jumping all the jumps... and other adventures.

Riley and I had a busy weekend...

Thursday he got a trainer ride and was apparently a total butthead. Locking his jaw, bulging his shoulder and pretending to spook at the cows he's seen a million times (and is turned out next to). Eventually she was able to get some good flat work out of him, but I think he thought a few days off meant he was now retired. They worked on a lot of transitions and of course, his right lead canter.

Friday I had farm duty in the evening, and I wanted to fit in a flat ride in Emily's dressage saddle. It fits both Riley and I really well.We started off doing lots and lots of sitting trot (he has THE BEST trot for sitting) and he actually moves better while you're sitting the trot for some reason. Serpentines all over the ring using my leg and set to change the bend in his body. he finally getting the concept of moving off my leg instead of leaning on it. One exercise I worked on was walking down the quarter line, leg yielding to the rails, walking a few steps then yielding back off, walk a few steps and then back on the rail. This really got him moving straight and it helped set him up for success at the canter. he was very forward on Friday and the first canter depart was a little explosive, but he picked up the right lead first time after my little leg yielding exercise. We did the same thing again and we got another perfect depart (from the walk) on the correct lead! Hooray! We cantered some more in the other direction and he felt great. I really like riding in the dressage saddle as it really allows me to lengthen my leg and open my hip angles. My plan is to flat in it once a week and do some no stirrup work in my jump saddle every ride.

So Apparently.

Hm, I've tried leaving comments on several blogs over the last few days and for some reason none of them are working! I just wanted to let you guys know that I have been reading and commenting!

I'll post a real update soon. Lots of riding to come over the next few days (even some time in a dressage saddle) and a trainer ride today.

Epic three-day weekend

Side note: I got to see this at a Drive-In theater Thursday evening. BEST.

Riley is back in full work and I couldn't be happier. Our ring is finished! Woo hoo!!

He got a training ride Tuesday and was a superstar. Emily wrote about him on her blog, you can read it here. I'm actually quite surprised as to how straight and forward he feels in the new ring. One of the best things about it is that the owner choose to put the perimeter fence about 10 feet away from the edge which actually forces the horses to go straight and carry themselves, or at least you will know just how crooked they are as they cannot "lean" on the rail. His right lead canter is coming along wonderfully. Emily really worked on that Tuesday and when I rode him Friday he picked it up rather easily. He's still quite counter bent in that direction, but he's learning to move off the side leg and right now I am more concerned with the transition, getting the right lead and maintaining impulsion rather than forcing him to bend. With time and strength that will come too. We are working on some baby lateral work at the walk and he's starting to get it.

Finally.

Saturday I jump judged all day with my trainer Emily at Fairhill Starter Trial. We were assigned jump #2 which couldn't have been a better learning experience for me. The first fence coming out of the start box had you heading back towards show jumping and warm up, then you had to make a 90 degree turn to get to fence two which for all levels but elementary, was a sizable red coop of varying heights... then you cantered away from all things familiar and down a hill to a ramp. This was nearly the same type of scenario I was faced with on Riley at St. Augustine so it was incredibly educational to see how everyone navigated it. There were a few takeaways from watching 200 people go (yes, 200!!!). Those that had a sticky jump or a run out at fence #2 nearly ALWAYS had a run out at at #3. The horses that were shaky coming through the turn away from stadium were distracted and really needed a positive ride. I saw a few riders who could feel their horse bulging toward stadium or not paying attention that simply brought the back to a trot and refocused them before heading to our fence. There were a ton of young riders on brave ponies that gave really good rides. It made me want to channel my inner pony girl and get out there again! There were also a couple of riders that seemed completely over faced either with their horse or with their level. One girl in particular was on a bratty grey pony that refused twice at our fence and got eliminated at the next fence. Because it was a starter trial they let her continue but she nearly fell off at our fence and #3. We listened on the radio as it took her at least 4 tries to get over every jump and was overtaken by at least 4-5 riders. I think that someone should have pulled her off course, one because she wasn't going to teach the pony anything new and two, because she was becoming a hazard to the other riders. I have no idea how far around the course she got, but by fence 8 she had at least 20 refusals. There was another girl on a huge black horse that seemed very keen but she was a tiny, wisp of a rider and I would have to guess she was maybe 10-11 years old. The horse was very athletic and they jumped around stadium well, but he had a sticky jump at our fence and he DUMPED her at 3 and bolted. I have never seen a horse bolt like that in my life and he was headed straight for stadium. it was really scary, he was caught pretty quickly, luckily, but it was hairy to say the least. There were some other great rides as well, including Jane Sleeper on a few of her youngsters (she was literally the only person that came off the first jump on the appropriate lead) and Courtney Cooper on some really nice looking horses. All in all it was a really fun day, but it was blazing hot and I am going to have a permanent tank top tank for the rest of my life. Best part? We get a free xc schooling out of the deal! Woo hoo!

Sunday I finally rode Riley as his old paddock was ready again and riding him to and from his field was a royal PITA.

I made a super awesome diagram to show you:

The light blue line is the path I took yesterday. That has you going through into the woods, through a stream and past the cows, around Riley's usual turnout and back to where the new ring is. The green line is the path I normally take when going out for a hack. Both of these are roughly 1.2 miles. So I drive my car and tack over to Riley's old field (marked with a star), grab him, brush him off and pick out his feet, tack him up and ride him to wherever I want to school on the property. It's a bit of a hassle, but I am really not complaining, I promise. *Though I do hate having to mount from an overturned feed bucket. Having 140 acres to ride on and now a lovely ring is pretty incredible. We have even started putting in some XC jumps near the woods including a coop and proper ditch (yet to be schooled).

Also, the red arrow on the left of the diagram is the view I captured in this photo:

Chester County loveliness.

Riley was really good for our ride despite having two weeks off, save for one lunging session where he tried to kill me. The only problem was mounting. He's still doing this thing where he will move sideways as soon as I put my foot in the stirrup and I just cannot tolerate that. he knows how to stand quietly. He got a pretty severe reprimand the first time he did it and stood stock still on the second attempt (thank you jockey whip). Don't get me wrong, I don't like to get after him that much, but again, this is a dangerous habit and he's beyond this stage in his training. Anyway, we had a lovely hack where he was awesome about leaving his buddies. We trotted through the woods and the stream up a hill to where the cows are. As you know, he likes to pretend he's afraid of the cows so I figured that trotting him wayyy before the cows would help keep him focused on me. They were all piled up under a tree and he definitely kept one eye on them and one on me, but he was very brave. We hacked back to barn mostly trotting along the sides of the fields and headed to the NEW RING!

It was such a delight to ride on footing again! I think a few more rains on it and it will feel even better, but it's beautifully level. I also like that the owner decided not to put the fence line right up against the edge of the ring because I feel like that tends to give horses something to lean on instead of truly going straight. We did some trot work which is still challenging tracking right, and some canter work. I got a lovely walk-canter transition and even a few 20 meter circles! He felt really nice! We cooled out in the adjacent pasture and I let him have a nice long drink in the stream. Such a good dude.

Being the bravest.

So, he's back by the barn now and he's coming in during the day and out at night. He had more bites on him then I would like and was starting to get a bit hive-y. So I think the night time turnout will be the best thing for him. He'll get ridden hopefully by Emily one day this week and with me on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday and we're thinking about going XC schooling Sunday! Vacation is officially over, mister! We can start jumping in the ring this week and I cannot wait to start making some plans for him.

So much to say, but just this for now...

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Footing is IN!!!!

Orange is the new black -- a facebook plug

Hi gang!

Please join our group on facebook "Orange is the new black" to support all things chestnut!!!!! Even if you don't have a redhead you can still post fun stories. we're going to have contests and other fun things too!

That's all for now.

Blogger meet up and CTJ moments

At least the weekend ended on a good note.

Saturday I spent most of the morning getting hives and sunburned while I helped set up a large temporary paddock in a 28 acre field. With our ring almost complete, we're trying to keep several horses near the barn and paddock space is limited until they get the perimeter fence near the barn finished. Anyway, we made a nice big paddock that can be moved around and included a section of the stream so we don't have to worry about watering those horses. Later in the afternoon we decided to go do a little flat work and jumping (followed by a nice hack). it was about a billion degrees outside so we didn't do too much in terms of jumping but Riley decided to pick that time to act like a total butthead. Keep in mind we were schooling the very same gymnastic as last time, but this time just two cross rails. It basically rode like a 3-4 stride line. The cows had recently been moved and he used them as an excuse to not pay attention to me, but we got through the line a couple of times successfully albeit with one ear on the cows. The three of us took turns schooling it and then we set up a bounce going in a different direction (essentially perpendicular to the gymnastic). Riley's never done a bounce so it was first set as a tiny cross rail and a pole for the second fence. Whne I tried to get him to leave the other horses, he pulled his nappy behavior again and I booted him forward. I head toward the X and at the last second he decided to spin-duck-bolt left... fucker... I took one look at Emily and she thought I was going to hand him over to her, but I was PISSED. Now that I know what his evasion is, I can prepare for it much, much better. Came around again, same thing, this time I grabbed my right rein and slammed him into the standard. I stood him directly in front of it and made him crawl over it. I came around again and this time cracked him on the shoulder with my whip and he leapt over it. You see... I'm not asking him to do anything hard. No, he hasn't schooled a bounce yet, but he knows how to go over a cross rail and a pole. So we continued to school it until he went through without sucking back. We put the second X up and he sort of fumbled his way through but didn't touch anything...a few more times and he was bouncing through like he's been doing it forever. Good boy. He was all too frazzled that I actually got after him though. He's the type of horse that doesn't need a beating, but if you are going to use your whip, you have to use it once and MEAN it. Our Come to Jesus moment was when he realized I was serious and that I am not falling for his bullshit anymore. After we ended that on a good note the three of us headed for a nice trot hack around the property. It's about a 2 mile loop up and down hills and through the woods and over a stream. Riley was pretty agitated, but settled once he realized that work was not over. We let the farm owner lead as her horse had some trouble riding around all alone the day before and we wanted to boost his confidence. Everyone was lathered by the time we got back to the barn!

The "S" word and a mini photo shoot

I don't like using the "s" word around here after last year's shenanigans, but the farrier extraordinaire was out yesterday and after a few days with his feet packed with magic cushion, he was non-reactive to the hoof testers. Phew. He said he seemed ever so slightly off when jogged on pavement, but wouldn't have noticed if he didn't know he was looking for something. I guess his soles had just gotten soft from being outside in all the wet grass. He'll stay in for another couple of days (with daily turnout in a smaller paddock with his new buddy) and then go out in to his old turnout again this weekend. I think he should be good to go. My co-op buddy has been applying hoof freeze and I put some durasole last night.

He was head to toe covered in mud (even though there's none in his paddock) and I really wanted to get some photos of his. It seems crazy that I don't have any nice portraits of him, but that's what happens when YOU are the photographer right?

I also took some conformation photos, but he's looking a little crummy because he's still shedding out his coat (his summer coat is gorgeous, I can't wait). I'm going to worm him with another type of wormer also to see if that helps:)

Handsome Beast.

He has such a sweet, kind face.

Looking like a beefcake.

Not looking as fit as I would like, but he has heels!

Hunter pony, take one.

Hunter pony, take two.

Love him.

Baby's first gymnastic with me.

Hot mess.

It appears someone does not approve of Riley's flymask and insists on taking it off despite the fact that he's wearing a halter... grrr. I found it the other day (the day after I got it) in shed half-buried. Best part? It was still fastened! Crazy horses. One of the ear covers had a nice size bite out of it so maybe I'll just stop buying the kind with ears? Anyway, this is how I found him Saturday evening. No worse for wear and still able to graze so he didn't really care that much. It was entirely too hot during the day so we opted for a near sunset ride which was glorious. We had been running around all day moving jumps, I used a chainsaw/hedge clipper thing for the first time ever, we helped the farm owner move her horse in, and I walked up and down the same hill too many times to count. Our ring is soooooo close to being finished, but we needed a space to set up some jumps so Em could show Kiwi to a potential client. We set up a small gymnastic out in the field and I hedge-clipped a path in the knee-high grass.

Courtesy Post -- looking for an amazing mare?

Hi!

Conformation photo taken today!

Please pass the word along about this fantastic mare. My trainer has a gorgeous 16.1+hh chestnut mare for sale (actually a steal). Just turned 5 year old OTTB named Kiwi Gal (for the pedigree nerds). She needs a confident rider who wants to take a horse up the levels. The girl can jump the moon! Recently an upper level rider tried her as a possible horse for a client and said, "I bet she's as brave as a lion". She's been carefully brought along and is an exceptional mover with a very forward attitude. Hacks out, has xc schooled, and went to a starter trial at Plantation last year and loved it! Oh, and if it helps, she looks like California Chrome! She's the first horse to greet you in the field and is not mare-ish at all.With several other horses in the barn to ride she's looking to find her a great home with the perfect competitive rider.

At liberty last fall

1st xc school

About a month ago playing around

Free schooling last month.

Located near Unionville, PA... but even if you're not close she's such a good deal you could toss her on a trailer headed your way!

Free Jump Video

Ad on the Retired Racehorse Training Project

Contact Emilark@gmail.com for more info!

Last chance at 50% off!

Only 3 more days left of my spring sale:

Go to: https://www.etsy.com/shop/TraceALine to place your order now!

Just finished a beautiful piece for a fellow blogger and have another in the works!

Quintus. Adore.