On Monday, I don't have work, so I was able to spend all day with Talana again. My mother sent a saddle along with Talana. I have been told in the past that this saddle does not fit her, but since horses do change shape a bit over time I thought I would try it out and see if I could tell. It's an English saddle, and Mom lost track of the stirrups at some point, but I can always get new ones.
First I just set the saddle on Talana's back without a pad or girth to see if anything looked out of place. I'll be the first one to admit that I don't know what I'm looking at, though, so I was not surprised when I looked at it and thought, "Well, there she is with a saddle on her back. Um... it looks like a saddle!" So I tried a more hands-on approach and got out the pad and the girth to cinch her up for a ride.
Talana was a doll about letting me tighten the girth. She made a little face once or twice, but I didn't even have a halter on her and she stood beautifully for me. It still looked ok to me, so I got out the sidepull halter/bridle that I made for her (perhaps I'll make another post about that later; it was a fun project) and took her over to the upside down bucket I'm using as a mounting block.
We walked around for a little bit, and even without stirrups I definitely felt more secure in the saddle. But I did notice that it's not as soft and comfortable as her back. She is shaped very nicely for riding bareback. We didn't have any problems walking around, and she responded well to my cues. So I decided we'd try trotting a little bit.
That's where the problem came in. For one thing, I had difficulty posting properly - I must be depending on the stirrups too much, and having trouble without them. Also, while Talana seemed delighted to be asked to move out a bit, she almost immediately pinned her ears each time we trotted. No bucking, no bad behavior, just pinned ears and shaking her head slightly. After a few times, she started resisting a little when I asked her to trot. I thought she was probably uncomfortable, so I hopped off and took off the saddle.
Then I hopped back on and we walked and trotted a little more. This time when I asked her to trot, her ears were up and she seemed cheerful about it. I was doing a little bit better at posting, but still not wonderful, so we went back to walking after one short, successful trot.
I really suspect there is something about that saddle that pinches her. I don't know what or where, or if it's fixable. But I don't think I should be riding her around in that particular saddle. I am afraid my mother will be disappointed; she likes that saddle very much and seemed invested in the idea that I use it.
Although I am really enjoying riding around bareback, I do want to have a saddle for going out on trails or unfamiliar places. It just makes sense to me to have the added security if I need it. I have a new horse-loving friend at work who has a pony about Talana's size, and several saddles that fit him. We are thinking of trying them on Talana, and this saddle on the pony, just to see if there's a difference.
Overall, I think it was a successful experiment. I got a lot of information out of it, and Talana was so good even when she wasn't happy about what we were doing. I made sure we ended on a good note, and Talana tried to follow me out of the gate again. This time she didn't holler after me, though. She stood and grazed instead. I think she has realized that I'm coming back soon when I walk away, not leaving her behind.
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