Rides, saddles, reins
Tack shop sale was dangerous. Picked up some gorgeous, comfy Stubben reins. They are rubber reins but the rubber is soft like silk and no thicker than the half-inch reins. The ends of the reins have clips on them: perfect for training rides (but not something you’d want to show in). These reins had been marked down but were still pricey. Apparently, when I brought the reins to the check out counter, the tack shop owner said that these particular reins were not supposed to be discounted.
New reins meant I had to ride. Isis seemed to be feeling better (more on that in the next paragraph), so I tacked her up. Isis was so excited when she realized we were going to really work and not just tool around the ring. Her speed increased, the energy in her gaits was there, and she moved out. She is so much fun to ride when she is like this. One of the ladies at the barn read the Introductory Walk-Trot test B for me. This is the same test Isis and I rode in 2008 at Fossils Over Fences. Good to ride it on a horse who can collect and really do the movements before riding the test on a mare who has trouble going in a straight line. 🙂
Saturday night we stopped one of Isis’ supplements, APF. It hasn’t seemed to have done anything. IN fact, she’s been a little off since we started her on it. Weather and temperature changes effect her. It’s impossible to say if her being slightly off (i.e, eyes not quite looking like she felt good) was from the weather changes or from the APF. Whatever the cause, Isis is feeling better now.
Last weekend, Jon told me to post by feeling Kasane’s belly movement and using that to gently push me from the saddle. Isis’ movement is so big and confident that the belly movement is easy to feel. Kasane is still figuring out how to balance me while we’re riding. Her belly sways but not nearly as much.
When I first brought Kasane into the big ring after her warm up in the round pen, I lunged her a little so she would remember that she has to pay attention no matter which ring we’re in. Prize and a few of the other mares were in the paddock on the left side of the ring. Kasane was fine while we were lunging. When I mounted and we walked along the left side of the ring, she suddenly spotted Prize between the bushes. Kasane jumped sideways, took off a few quick steps, and snorted. We rode in a circle in that area so she could see Prize. She got used to it very quickly. We then rode along the rest of the adjoining fence line. Kasane really wanted to go to the fence to see the other mares, but I pushed her along.
Kasane tried really hard to do some of the figures from the test. She did go in a straight line and was able to trot a 20 meter circle. She even backed in an S curve when I asked her to. 🙂 All of this in the rope halter. She seems is losing another tooth so no bit today.
I used the same saddle pad on Kasane that I had used on Isis: a clean saddle pad with fleece on the top and wool on the bottom. Isis does very well in it. Kasane kept trying to itch her ridght side where the saddle was up by where I was sitting. She doesn’t do that in the other saddle pad. The action she did may indicate she’ll need a proper saddle fitting eventually as she starts building more muscle. When I took the saddle off, it looked like the right side may have had more sweat lines than the left. Not sure if that means the saddle was off kilter, if it was how I was sitting, or if it was the saddle not fitting right. So, we’ll see. I didn’t ride much more when she started showing that it was bothering her. She seemed pretty itchy too — when I scratched the area she was biting with her mouth she put her lips out and enjoyed it.
On other good news, Isis’ lumps under the girth seem to be almost gone. I rode her in the dressage saddle and she didn’t seem to have any trouble with the girth.