Joy, and Pain

We had our first lesson at the new barn with Christy last night. I’ve ridden Derby exactly once in the last two weeks, and prior to that, we had time off over the holidays, so I really wasn’t sure what we’d be able to do for her.  However,  all the rides we have had in the month since moving have been really nice, so I was optimistic.

Christy was really happy what she saw. She picked at a few things but for the most part we had a solid ride. She did find and fix issue that I had overlooked pretty quickly, however, and it made big difference.  I was allowing my legs to rotate outward from the hip, and not draping them around the horse.  I discovered that I had my feet cocked at an angle in the stirrup, too, placing more weight on the outside edges of my foot.  Focusing on stretching down through my leg, through and out the ball of my foot, solved the problem pretty quickly – my legs were draping and more effective right off the bat. I need to school this because I’ve let it slide over the last month, but it’s something I can work on independely.

Speaking of independent work, I diagnosed and fixed a saddle balance problem all by myself recently.  I’ve been well schooled in saddle balance by Christy, and I noticed a couple weeks ago that things were feeling a bit out of whack, as I was starting to try to climb over the top of the pommel when I posted.  I was on the lookout for changes in saddle fit, as Derby is getting better turnout (larger group, and larger paddock) and much better food.  I applied some of the tests for saddle balance I’ve learned from Christy, including her “stand-stand-sit” test which is a stone-cold truth-teller about how well your saddle was balanced, and yep, it was a struggle — when your saddle is balanced, you can do laps of stand-stand-sit easily, without batting an eye.

I took my saddle home, got a screwdriver and my shim kit (if you’re a new reader, I ride in a newer Bates Isabell with the Riser System) and swapped the 8mm forward shim for the 4mm version.

It’s only a 4 millimeter difference on either side but changing the shim produced a magic effect  – I’m in really good balance now and the horse also approves – he tells me by moving easily and giving me his back.

I’ve seen a big change in Derby since moving to the new barn.  He hasn’t put a foot wrong – no spooks – and seems relaxed and happy.  Our rides are our best ever.  I know the footing at the old barn was bad – it was hard, it would freeze, and the barn owner didn’t groom the ring regularly.  In retrospect, I think it make moving downright painful for the horses.  However, what I didn’t realize is the footing affected more than how the horse moved – it affected my ability to ride in a balanced, connected manner that was safer, too. Anyway, I’ll be apologizing to Derby for not moving him sooner. I’ve only recently realized how I dreaded going to the old place, if only because going to the new barn is a joy.

Fit to be tried

It’s been a long and frustrating month. After a few nice rides, Derby told me something was bugging his back, and I felt like I was fighting my saddle. so I switched from my Albion K2 to a fairly new Wintec 500, taking advantage of the riser system to make the saddle better fit Derby’s withers (and fairly meager top line.)

We had some okay rides but nothing great.  For the most part, the last few weeks have, at the least, been exhausting and, at worst, have been just monstrously frustrating, marked by a resistant horse that just. won’t. move. forward.

Christy wondered if the saddle wasn’t impinging upon Derby’s shoulder, and indeed, it was.  When he was tacked up, I checked, and she was right – reaching down between his shoulder and the saddle, I could feel the shoulder blade hitting the panel.   We talked it over, and decided that the hollows on either side of Derby’s typical TB withers were the culprit.

Warming up. He was moving out, at last.

The next night, I mustered my entire inventory of saddles (4) (Jesus), pads (2 sheepskin half pads, a Mattes correction pad, a Fleeceworks Perfect balance pad) and shims (two ThinLIne pads that have been cut to fit the Mattes pad, multiple different Fleeceworks options, felt Mattes imports, and for good measure, a yoga mat and box cutter, just in case,) and headed to the barn.

I widened the Wintec gullet, and added shims. Nope.  Derby was still resistant, bracing and twisting his neck, and saying ‘Owwww.’  I tried the Albion with something that didn’t work, can’t remember at this point which pad it was.  Plopped the Wintec on top of my Pro Choice Air Ride western pad, with the built up wither relief pads.  Thank God that didn’t prove to be the miracle, because I won’t kid you, it looked pretty stupid.

Finally I pulled the Albion back out – after all, this is the saddle that was (once) fitted to Derby.   It does have more flocking in the panels that fill the hollows next to the wither.  I plopped it on Derby, with just a saddle pad, no half pad or anything else.  Admittedly skeptical, I got on anyway. Things were better.  When I asked him to go forward, he actually complied, rather than swishing his tail and pinning his ears.

I need to regain my position – the Albion makes me work for it – but the horse is approving.

I rode for maybe 10 minutes, and Christy agreed that we were heading in the right direction. But after being on and off Derby for better than an hour and a half, I took mercy on my patient horse and called it quits.

The next evening, I saddled up using the Albion with my Fleeceworks Perfect Balance pad, using just the front shims.  We had the best ride we’ve had in a while.  Derby felt more supple and flexible than he has in a while, and I was able to get him forward without begging. We even did a bit of canter work and the transitions were prompt and smooth.

So this is all  great and certainly encouraging, but a new problem has cropped up, and it’s all mine.  I’ve been struggling with (among other things) flexibility in my ankles.  Getting my heels down has been a challenge – I’ve been unable to drop them below stirrup level.  I raised the issue with my Pilates coach, and have been doing extra curricular work, using a standing desk for work and standing on an array of items, such as Foot Wakers and a balance cushion, working on stretching my heels down and improving flexibility in my ankles. I’m making progress – I an now actually drop my heel below my stirrup, enabling me to use my leg more correctly.   But I’m still not solid in my base of support – this is a work in progress. However, if I have the saddle sting started, and can now concentrate a bit more on me, hopefully I’ll be able to build my stability in the saddle, and refinement of my aids.

Old love, new love.

My wonderful old Stubben Romanus. Love this saddle.

Just in time for Valentine’s day, I fell back in love with something old, and had a brief flirtation with something new. Lest anyone’s imagination run wild, I’m speaking of my old old Stubben saddle and Christy’s newest horse, respectively.

First, the saddle.  Despite my lack of posting, I’ve been keeping fairly busy with Derby, between business trips and incredibly foul freezing weather. His abscess is healed and I’m trying to get us back on a schedule. However, as I noted in previous posts, he threw my some curve balls in the form of unusual resistance to going forward and intermittent back soreness.

All of this points to saddle fit, so despite the fact that he’s not changed much at all since I got a new saddle a bit over a year ago, the fact remained that he was telling me loud and clear that something was bugging him.

So I hauled out my old Stubben Romanus.  I bought this truly ancient saddle for a song a few years ago.  I loved its minimal construction – flat seat and blocks that are barely larger than a pencil.  It has a narrow twist and long flap.   Despite the rock hard seat and ice-slick leather, I. LOVE. this. saddle.  It’s thirty years old if it’s a day, and it’s faded to a weird green hue but I don’t care. I love how balanced an unconstrained I am in this saddle.

While it appears to be nicely balanced on Derby, it also appears to be too wide.  There is worryingly spare clearance twixt gullet and wither.  Still, I tried it.  Tacked up, checked the clearance.  Two fingers.  Got on.  Checked the clearance. One finger.  Sweated a bit.

And then proceeded to have the nicest, roundest, happiest horse I’ve had in a while.    Who was also quite responsive to light leg aids for basic lateral requests (bend, a bit of leg yield).

Tooling along in the Stubben. We both liked it.

All righty then.

The Stubben isn’t the answer, because it is not a good fit for Derbs.  However, after having a couple nice rides in it, I put the Albion back on Derby today, and he went nicely.  It didn’t seem to be quite the quality we’ve had in the Stubben but relative to other rides, he was good.

So what is going on here?  Was Derby being a cow due to lack of work?  Was the soreness the product of turnout goofiness, a slip on the ice or lack of movement?  Who knows.

He’s on a schedule, and I’ll alternate saddles this week to try to get a fix on what’s what.

In other news, I am making progress on making truly independent hands my habit, though I’m not there – I still need to remind myself.  I’m also working hard on getting rid of the bad habit of pulling the reins back toward my thighs rather than riding the horse out into the contact.   When I get it right, Derby lets me know, as the quality of our contact and his roundness improves immeasurably.

I’ve also been working on my seat and leg, dropping my stirrups each ride, and some two-point work, at both trot and canter.

Austin, with Christy up.

I also had a really fun lesson on Austin, the latest addition to Christy’s herd.  He’s a super cute paint that is also pretty fancy and responsive but super comfortable to ride.  She’s put quite a bit of training into him and he’s developing beautifully, both in terms of muscle and in terms of talent.   Riding him was very affirming, but a great experience, because I’m trying to pick up additional rides here and there when I can, on different horses.

Riding Austin was also a reminder for me how responsive a horse can/should be.   When I asked correctly, Austin immediately complied with my aids, bending,  using his hind end and lateral movements – promptly and with no fuss.  It was such a pleasure riding him.I hope I can talk her into another lesson on him again soon. And I need to work on developing similar responsiveness in Derby.