A second chance...

... for the Fhoenix.

I have spent thousands on Peanut's saddles already, and I just shouldn't spend any more.  Part of my settlement from the car accident paid for the Fhoenix, in fact.  A new saddle, with my sketchy options available for fitting, just isn't sitting well with me.

So, I cancelled the saddle fitting I had in the works and decided to fiddle with the Fhoenix.  It originally came with foam panels installed in its panel pockets, but I took them out, installed wool shims and buckled a cork-filled pad underneath (the alternate Fhoenix configuration).  When I had tried out the saddle with the foam panels when I first bought it, I hated them.  However, today I decided to give them another chance.

I rode today with them in (and everything else out/detached), and I really liked the way they felt.  This really surprised me!  Peanut, for his part, was edgy and grouchy the whole ride.  However, I think he's terribly itchy.  He eventually desperately wanted to rub on every tree we passed and eventually started trying to bite bite bite at his side near his girth.

That girth biting is rather new.  So far I have checked out his girth, thought I figured out what he didn't like, and got a new girth.  Better, but still bitey.

Then I thought he was biting at my feet.  Since I lost weight, my half chaps are far too big.  The velcro closures could very well be irritating him because they might be touching and rubbing against his sides.  Today I didn't wear them but it made no difference.

My latest thought (except for allergies... but he doesn't have any hives - which he's had before - or hair loss!) is maybe he doesn't like the pad.  This could very well be the pad that caused a severe reaction in him before, leaving Mona to carry both his and her saddle out of the park.  I recently changed out saddle pads again, and I don't remember him behaving this way before I did.  When I rode in Anne-Marie's saddle, and he seemed quite improved, it was in one of her quilted cotton saddle pads instead of my wool ones.

When I took off the saddle I couldn't see any discernible saddle mark, and he was not sore.  In fact, as I ran my nails down his back checking for soreness, he reacted quite a lot to the fact that I was scratching him and he desperately wanted more.  I then scratched and scratched and scratched him, and his upper lip went out and out and out until he had to repeatedly flick it back and forth on Richard.  Richard did not appreciate it until I told him what was going on and he grudgingly allowed himself to be used as a flicking post.

I don't know if he likes this saddle configuration or not.  Next I will ride him again with it configured this way but with a quilted cotton pad.  I know I have a dressage one around here somewhere....  I'll also put my half-chaps back on.

The whole reason I use the wool pad is that it also has memory foam shims inside where the panels would be.  With the configuration of the Fhoenix that I was using I was afraid that there was no spine channel, so I did everything I could think of to create one.  With the installed foam panels in the saddle, this is no longer a concern.

When people talk about wanting horses because they are omg so majestic and riding all the time would be hella fun, I just think about how complicated horses really are.  It seems like every body part and every piece of tack takes serious research and even then there's no guarantee you'll get it right.

And here's my latest drawing, this time it's Mona.