A non-disturbing post

I worry. A lot.

Ever since Hoppy saw my saddle during an adjustment and told me all of the ways that it's bad for him, I've worried about saddle fit (and that saddle hasn't seen his back again). Well, I worried before that due to the fights I would get in the walk to gait transition. My saddle was too long for the shortest-backed TWH ever, the tree dug into his loins, and it needed to sit more forward on him. Well, damn.

After a while, I stumbled upon the Imus 4-Beat saddle, and it mentioned everything that Hoppy said I needed as a feature. Cool. But what size, the regular or the wide? Oh dear, he's such a wide horse, but how does that translate into the TWH world where they're all so very wide? In the regular english world he's usually wider than an extra-wide, and since the saddler is in TN I'm bound to mess it up. Oh, the joys of ordering saddles by mail.

Worry worry worry.

The tack shop, who made the tree of my old saddle and sells the new one, said that the regular would fit. The Imus folk said that he was probably a wide. Great, my saddle was already on its way with a regular tree.

Worry worry worry.

The saddle arrived, I tried it out, and asked for a gait in the same spot of the ring where, for some dumb reason, I always did. Most of the time, the request for a gait would be met by a tantrum which would include crow hops and cow kicks. I knew I was setting myself up for failure, but hell, it's the best way to know what he thought. What did he do? He slid easily into a gait. He didn't even tense up.

Whew. But does it really fit? Did I get the right tree? Hmmm.... worry.

Hoppy came out again last weekend. The first thing I did was haul out the new saddle, and I received the coveted Hoppy Seal of Approval. She said that it was absolutely perfect for him, that I could not have gotten a more perfect saddle for his build, and the tree was just fine.

I could have kissed her.

I also learned about some of his behavior on trail. I was worried that I was perpetually off-balance since it always felt that one leg was longer than the other in identical length stirrups. Could this be screwing him up as well? Am I just an absolutely terrible rider who has detrimental effects on my horse? Worry worry worry. On trail, he tends to go down the trails diagonally, and if I let him he'll take a 90 degree turn to the right. After a very long trail ride several weeks ago, I was exhausted at the end simply from holding him to the left the entire time.

The verdict? It was Peanut. He was evading my aids. A ribcage tilt was the reason behind my off-center feeling, so it is the job of people riding with me to make sure that I am balanced over his spine and not the saddle. I just let Peanut do what he wants, ride how I need to, and then he'll learn that he's not getting anywhere and he'll bring himself back to center. She told me of the many times she's had to ride on the edge of a saddle thanks to this little trick.

And his right turns? Two of his neck vertebrae were wonky. I forget how she said it, but it would have bothered him to turn to the left. Since I've taught him, I've noticed that his hugs to the left were always weaker and more difficult, whereas he would crush me on the right. So, she worked on that spot on his neck for a while. It's pretty cool getting this information from Hoppy. She would say what she found, I would ask what that would mean as far as riding, she would tell me, and I would understand why I was having problems.

So, I'm not worrying as much. My saddle isn't hurting my horse, my riding isn't forcing him to compensate for my crappiness by hurting himself, and I'm not a terrible person.

Also, Gene has improved tremendously. Since moving barns (and starting Adequan) he's a new horse; the years are dropping off of him. Hoppy commented on his improved range of motion in his knees, how his musculature is vastly improved and evened out, and that he's just doing fabulously in his "retirement." The day after she worked on him he was walking without the stiffness I had becomed accustomed to. Grand.

Oh... and Peanut's sometimes-yearly, late-autumn cough seems to have come back.

Worry worry worry.