So... Funny's new saddle came! It's .... gold! Ha! Like... a lot of gold! I think I really like it though. I do wish that there was only one "roll" of the gold instead of two in the back. Or that they would have had copper/bronze but... I can always use a leather paint pen on it if I decide I really don't like it. I do feel like it has a "I pity the Fool" vibe.. or a Wonder Woman vibe. But.. she does look pretty in it. And I think she likes it!
Anyways... so first today we had our vet visit. I told Dr. Barrow what was going on and asked if she would just watch her in the roundpen to make sure I wasn't losing my mind and she agreed. She thought that she looked super sound but noticed she was super tight in her back. She was bracing and bending her neck but couldn't bend through her body. Hmmm... once she pointed it out you could totally see her tight back muscles. Interesting. I have no idea if that's what's been bothering her all along... and it was just extra noticeable tonight.. if that's newer because I switched her back to the Peter horrobin for a few rides... or ??? So... she said to do some more robaxin and shockwave her and I figured I would also acupuncture her, like I've been meaning to for weeks now. Sigh... But she thought she looked sound, so phew!
We x-rayed her feet and she was a pretty good girl! But... girl has very thin soles. Ugh... why?! You've been barefoot your whole life.. you're on a forage only (mostly) diet... you get Vermont blend... sigh. So... she's going to talk to Patrick and I guess I'll have to decide if I want to put her in shoes. She mentioned that she's probably fine in good footing but not on trails, which... is pretty much true. And as much as I don't want to pay for shoes and have her have issues from having shoes... I also don't want her to be sore and uncomfortable because I'm being cheap. Sigh... This is going to be an expensive farrier visit!
So... after Dr. Barrow left I noticed a big giant box on my porch! Her saddle!!! And the stirrup leathers. It's really quite pretty on her. It matches her better than I expected it would. And I love the leathers.. they have the bliss logo on them, which is that cool celtic design. Anyways... I was torn because I wanted to ride her in it and try it out but I didn't want to if her back was sore. So... I palpated her and she really wasn't that bad, so... I figured what the heck.. just do it! So I tacked her up. I was a little worried it was going to be too wide on her, but... its' really not. It looked quite perfect when I first put it on and then after our ride, it was a little lower but I could still get four fingers in. AND.... I didn't roll around hardly at all! Much improved compared to the peter horrobin. So, maybe the peter horrobin is too narrow and thus.. the roll. I did use the anatomic girth but not the total saddle fit one. Just the wellfleet one. So... we'll keep trying that one. I ended up putting her bridle on over her rope halter. She was really good and we started our ride in the rope halter. She was a bit quick in her trotting but not terrible. And still a bit hollow but not too terrible. I wonder if some of that is the back tension? So then I tried using the reins and bit and she started chomping again. But... I went back and forth between the reins and the rope halter and she settled. We had better steering with the reins although she was quick with those too. But I did get some acceptable half halts with both the reins and the halter, so... progress. I was also able to drop the contact much more successfully than I had been with the reins so that's a success. I even tried some canters. The left lead is still hard but it wasn't quite as difficult today. So... yay! At the very least, she can still canter under saddle in this saddle.
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