Saddle

I have my saddle. No decent pics yet.

It rained until about 3, and that combined with Leeandra's late night on Friday pushed our lessons back until ~5.

I'll try my damndest to keep from switching tenses, but no promises :)

We get to the barn around 4, and Peanut is covered in black mud. The mud isn't thick, but it's worked into his fur. Once I get him to the barn I give his saddle area a quick bath with Anne-Marie's help, towel him off, and muss up his fur in hopes that it will dry faster.

Leeandra must have been driving like a demon, because I get a text that she's 5 minutes out and I'm staring at a wet (but partially clean) horse. Damn.

Rick is grooming Gene at the same time, and I go over and feel his dry back. Perfect. So Rick goes first.

They work on laterals while Peanut is blow dried by the wind and I turn him back and forth to catch the sun that's suddenly popping out. His back dries, Rick's lesson ends, and it's saddle time!

It was like putting together a puzzle contained in 3 boxes in Leeandra's car and strewn around our car's trunk. The new pad is stripped of its tags and plopped on the Peanut. The suberpanel (extra-fluffy version) is moistened for maximum fluffitude and attached to the saddle. The saddle is placed on his back and we all stare at it and talk about how they really look like crap when they're new and no one is sitting in them.

The saddle is positioned, and tips are given to determine proper placement (it's all about the angle of the seat).

The knee rolls come out of their Fed Ex box and they're positioned. It's explained that they're really thigh rolls, not knee rolls, and look at how nicely the saddle accommodates for them with its upper flap. Leeandra's version doesn't do that, but her saddle cost $500 less than my Vogue model, so :P

I pull the girth out of its plastic sleeve and the shape fits Peanut perfectly (it's a shaped girth). It's... long, though. I probably should have gotten a 26", but Peanut seems to be at his skinniest (for a fatass) right now, and he'll fit it better come fall. Since the shape fits so perfectly, Leeandra mentions that it's fine to keep it.

It's stirrup time. I pull my irons off of the soft saddle where they were chilling and get out the new Wintec Webbers (which are the only type of leathers that work with this type of saddle). I mention that I got the shorter stirrups, and Leeandra looks at them and asks if I didn't get the child size. I don't know, but I figured I needed them short because I have no legs to speak of. She looks doubtful, but starts to put them on. We talk about how the Webbers have changed and how hers are so different from mine, and she loves the changes that are made and she's jealous of my short little leathers.

With the leathers on, I go to measure them (along arm) and they're surprisingly long. We shorten them, they're still on the long side, but we'll wait to see how they are once I'm in the saddle.

Bridle and helmet go on, and I begin the ritual of walking Peanut around, stopping him, tightening the girth, repeat, repeat repeat. I had always shown up at lessons already in the saddle, so Leeandra never got to see this. She eventually asks me if I'm going to mount up, so I shrug and begin.

And the saddle ends up perfectly perched on Peanut's side and I end up standing beside him with a hurting ankle. Leeandra wanted to see if they had improved the side-to-side stability for mounting. Thanks for letting me know! Peanut was so good for all of this. Good boy.

We readjust the saddle and I mount with Leeandra holding onto the far stirrup. When the saddle starts shaping to Peanut, then I shouldn't have to have help.

I'm in the saddle, whee! But shit, but stirrups are far too long. Leeandra shortens them and shortens them some more, eventually telling me she's putting them to the last hole and if they're still too long then there's nothing more she can do. Luckily, they fit and the lesson begins.

Next post: the lesson.