More riding adventures

            For the last few days, my muscles have been sore and more tense. I've still been riding, but less trotting lately because I feel unbalanced again. I am certain that it's what my body is doing on a given day that allows me to sit correctly and comfortably. Days when I am tense - or anxious at all, even if I'm enjoying my time with Talana - I am just not able to balance when we are trotting. It's kind of frustrating, but this is what my body does. So I just work with what I've got on a given day.
            My bareback pad arrived. It is a Best Friends Comfort Plus. It is extra cushy on top. My poor seat bones don't have much padding on them because I am underweight, so I thought that would be helpful. It is! Talana is shaped very nicely for bareback riding. Her back is muscled and rounded, and her withers don't stick up like some horses' do. But I know that when we trot, I am poking her in the back, because I get sore, too. The only problem I've had so far is not a problem with the pad, but with me. My thighs don't want to relax completely. This is a general problem that I have, riding or not. And so, when there is anything at all between me and my horse's back, I have to concentrate and practice a lot to get my legs to drape around properly. At first, I was very unbalanced on the bareback pad because of that same cushy stuff that I want there! But I realized right away that it was me, not the equipment, and I've been practicing in the pad some more and it's going better now. It is nice and grippy on top, so some almost falls that I've had have not actually ended with me on the ground, but rather hanging on sort of sideways as Talana stops. Then I can grab her mane and swing myself back up again. The pad doesn't seem to slip, so that is good. I think both of us like the pad now that we are getting used to it.
            Talana seems to think that it is time we move on to cantering. She keeps offering to canter when we are trotting, and while she has what feels like a very nice canter, I'm not really ready. I don't want to be going that fast until I feel like I can give useful directions to her at the trot. I can hang on; cantering is easy that way. But steering is important, too... I guess Talana is less concerned about that, since she knows where we are going. Thankfully, I have a nice respectful horse, and I am able to remind her that we are not going to canter until I ask for it. Or trot, for that matter - she loves to move out to the faster gaits. When I feel her getting ready to trot prematurely, I gently squeeze my hands on the reins, just enough so that she can feel it. Usually she settles back into a walk right away, but if she trots anyway I turn her tightly one direction or the other and then we continue on at a walk. She seems to think it's a lot more work to turn than to trot forward, so now that she's learned that this is the consequence of trotting without permission, she's making the error less often. I like this method, because it doesn't hurt her in any way, it's easy for me to do while staying balanced, and it does seem to work well. She is responding nicely and doesn't even seem to get irritated about it; just takes the feedback and goes, "Oops, I guess I can't do that."
            I am still very happy with the bridle I made. Talana goes well in it. She is still happy to put her nose right in when I offer it to her. She also responds very well to cues with it, and I really can't say I miss having a bit in the least. I suspect Talana doesn't miss the bit, either. I am giving her softer cues in this sidepull than I ever did with a snaffle, and she's responding more quickly and with little to no objection. She has stopped pulling her head down when we trot. Now she only does that if we are walking in a direction she doesn't want to go in, and then I pull her head up and direct her a bit more firmly the way I want to go, and she shakes her head and we go.
            I also talked to my mother about saddles the other day. She suggested that I try using an extra, much thicker pad in addition to the thinner one that she gave me. The idea there is that it will be an extra layer of cushion between any bouncing or ill-fitting of the saddle and Talana's back. I figured it was worth a try at least, so I found some thick foam and gave it a try.
            Well, I'm still not convinced that the saddle fits Talana "properly," but if this is how Mom rode her way back when, I can see how that worked. The extra padding does appear to make Talana sufficiently comfortable with the saddle - we trotted, and then we cantered, and then we trotted some more, and Talana was not at all fussy about it. So I have decided that as long as she's not acting like it bothers her, this is how I will use her saddle. And I've gone ahead and ordered some stirrups so that I can ride around in it, because without stirrups I bounce and slide like crazy unless I hang onto the pommel with one hand and Talana's mane with the other. Oh, yeah, steering? Never mind about that. I need stirrups! They will arrive in about a week. I am looking forward to it, because then I will be able to hang on securely and do more interesting things.

Saddle testing

            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.