replacement

The good news is that my wonky Barefoot is being replaced, yay!! They agreed (after some foot stamping on my part) to take it back to look at it and have now apologised for what they call a little 'setback' and are sending me a new one. It's hard enough to sit on a horse, with all it's imbalances, being a wonky human; sitting in a wonky saddle is just one step too far, LOL.
So today I rode Moo bareback again (I could shim my treed saddle to suit but as the new saddle will be here soon I think I'll do without) we had a good session. He is improving with the moving away from the left and I played with slowing the walk right down and then letting it out again. It's quite strange because bareback I only have to raise my toes/drop my heel and he halts and that even works with the reins on his neck and my arms in the air (yes I've been playing), I suppose this transfers from using a dropping of weight into the stirrups as an aid to halt when saddled. I have also noticed that the problem of the chair seat could well be down to my inner thigh! You know, the bit that some folk think you can pull out and back to get the thigh flat to the saddle! To be honest I can't tell what I look like bareback because my trusty camcorder has thrown a sicky and I'm working on a cure. When Yvonne was house sitting she saw me up bareback and said I looked straight so for now I won't beat myself up about the thighs and I'll just keep stretching it all in the hope that my legs may end up 5cm longer.

Chapiro worked at liberty to start, oh that boy is just such fun to be with and he makes me smile. The clicker work has helped his concentration enormously but he still has his baby moments but they are very forgivable. We finished on the lunge with some good trot and canter transitions and then some trotting poles to get him stepping through a little. A good day in all.

second gift

My second gift (trade off with Patrick who has had new camera gear) arrived today; the Lexington (remember I tried Di's) is a treeless, yet another venture into the dark for me.

I've been thinking about all the new information I've been processing these last months and wondering if it's all been a positive experience? I sometimes wonder why one would want to change at such a ripe age and if indeed it is possible to change? I think I can and have changed in many ways but I think I've given up some confidence to pay for it. I don't mean confidence to ride fast, get on nut case neds etc.because  to be honest I've never had that sort of confidence; I mean the confidence to know where I'm going and what I'm doing. It's a hard path I think I'm taking because I'm not sure that it will take me anywhere; I'm not after sympathy because after all it is MY choice.

Ah well the next stage is set, the saddle is prepared and tomorrow we'll begin.

treeless try

Di brought over the Barefoot Lexington saddle that she is trialling and Moo was our model. I was quite pleased with the feel and once we got the knee rolls in place it was actually quite comfy in rising trot and very promising in sitting trot. Moo moved really well in it and apart from finding it hard to get my lower leg on (I had the same problems with Claire's 'Heather Moffett' part-treed saddle) I found aiding really worked well; I think if we moved the stirrup bars back by a couple of cms then that may be a help but to be fair Moo is pretty wide.Thanks Di!!