So – here’s some recapping for your perusal:
The Cross Country Extravaganza:
A few weekends back Tammy, Jazzy, Haley and I took our “kids” up to Gibbes Farm for some FUN times playing around the cross country course. This was, of course, only the second time my baby has stepped hoof onto a cross country course. He always amazes me when we get on one. He’s constantly taking in everything, and he’s learning more and more how to trust me (and vice versa).
We started out on the longe line with me just warming him up on some gentle slopes. He was SO bold and curious! At times he would forget he was on the longe line and want to go off at a nice lope to investigate something in the far field. This would last until he reached the end of his rope, and I brought him back to the harsh reality of his little circle. Very cute though.
We managed to hop over some decaying logs as our first jump. Well almost. When I tried to send him over it all by himself, he decided to paw at it first. This doesn’t go over well with decaying wood by the way. After frantically piecing back together the log, I hopped over it myself and then he followed. After this, he was much better at being sent over the jumps by himself. I was able to send him over several logs – one was even about 2’6” I’d say! He, however, was much more interested in sniffing and grazing than really working.
I also was able to get Sudi to jump down off a bank (I was not on him of course hehe). He was really cute trying to figure it out. He would literally leap of the edge instead of just dropping down off of it. Going up, however, was a tad more difficult, and he assured me he didn’t think he could do it. I really had no desire to push him on it (esp since none of the other horses were really giving him a good example of how to do it). I figured we always have a next time.
The most FUN part was the water complex. Sudi, being the water baby, lead the whole group into the water. He LOVED it. Once in he pawed some and then was as happy as a fish trotting in and out of it at every which angle. I couldn’t have had more fun! His already lofty trot was just that much more accentuated as we frolicked through the water. After we’d had our fill of playing, I took him up to a bank beside Tammy so that we could watch the other two guys experiment in the water.
To our surprise, we noticed that Sudi looked like he wanted to jump off the bank into the water. He would stand on the side and just start letting his hooves inch over the side of the bank. I decided to let him attempt, since he seemed to be pretty curious and cautious about it. Seemed was the operative word. Out of no where, Sudi took a giant leap forward into the air. Sadly, I don’t recall much after that. I do remember being rocketed OUT of my saddle, hitting his neck and then splashing into the water. I think I landed about ten feet behind Sudi.
I have to say that that was the nicest fall I think I’ve ever taken. The temperature of the water was perfect, and it was a deep enough cushion that I felt no pain when I hit the bottom. Sudi, was so proud of himself though and so startled that I’d fallen off. I wish I had had a picture for that though. According to Tammy, he took a “Teddy size” jump, tucking up all four legs underneath himself, and that I was soaring a steady two feet above him after his launch.
Since I was completely soaked (and trust me, my boots are STILL recovering!), I decided to pat my horse for his valiant effort and call it a day. Next time we’re doing that one on the longe line! We all went home happy, healthy and completely exhausted.
The NEW saddle!!!:
So when we were schooling cross country, I noticed that Sudi’s saddle was fitting a bit more snug than I was comfortable with. *huge sigh* He’s definitely turning into an Arabian. Arab’s are NOTORIOUSLY known for being difficult in the saddle fitting department. This comes from the fact that many have very unpronounced withers – such as Sudi’s (although they’re not as bad as they were!) as well as almost FLAT backs. Flat means that it has no angle going down the rib cage, and almost ALL saddles are angled at some point. *BIGGER SIGH*
I loved my saddle. Really loved it. I’d always wanted a Stubben – not sure why. But that brand has always called to me, and I’ve always felt a sort of affection for their products. And this particular saddle had been a complete steal when I found it on Ebay. It was the perfect color for him too – Havana and London. Lovely really. I even had the corresponding Stubben bridle too. He always looked SO fancy!
So – I had my work cut out for me. I sincerely did NOT have money to purchase a new saddle. However, I did have in my possession a very nice Stubben Siegfried Saddle as well as a non-fitting Stubben dressage saddle. And then I found the perfect site! I found http://www.usedsaddles.com/! They would allow me to send my trade-in’s and get 70% of their value immediately to apply towards any saddle – new or used! So, I spoke with their saddle rep and she ended up sending me two saddles to try: the Pessoa Gen-X-XCH as well as an XW Stubben Edelweiss CS. Both saddles were the same price and I was praying desperately that my two trade-ins would cover most of the cost.
It was a sad day when I mailed my saddles off. I couldn’t believe how attached I had become to that saddle. Although I had this nagging thought in my mind that God would take care of me – just like he did with that saddle originally. And that was that.
Well as it turns out, both of the saddles I received fit Sudi VERY nicely. I really did not care for the quality of the Pessoa (esp. as it was obviously not as nice a quality as some of the other Pessoa’s in my barn) and for the same money, the Stubben was a very, very nice saddle – even exceeding my expectations. The only unfortunate thing about the Stubben was that it was in the ebony color, and it doesn’t match any of my fittings or bridles! (darn the bad luck right? Hehe).
Well as it turned out, I got over $1000 I could apply towards my new saddle, which left me some room to buy fittings!!!! WOOHOO. I couldn’t believe I got this new (well almost – it got ridden in once) saddle for a little over $200 bucks! (albeit, I didn’t have my other two saddles, but one can always move on..eventually ;-))
Anyway – I’ll have pics of Sud in his new garb soon. But for now – here is at least a pic of what my NEW saddle looks like! Yippee!
The Lesson:
I find that training has it’s up’s and down’s. And they do come right after each other. For most of the times, each high is a little higher than the previous, and each low is not as low as the prior. The low’s however, can be discouraging at times when you feel like you’re actually moving backwards. Sitting still is fair, but moving backwards is hard to swallow.
I’m not sure if it was Sudi’s brief hiatus or dealing with the heat, but I actually felt like I wasn’t even at the place we were before the show in Savannah. Riding was a constant battle of me vs. him and how he didn’t want to go where I wanted, and even lunging was a battle of moving forward vs. stopping.
So when I was already late for my lesson yesterday, I felt even more discouraged. To my surprise, Sudi had already finished a small appetizer before I got there, and Tammy had him cross-tied and was grooming him (she’s so sweet). He seemed happy for all the attention and didn’t even seem to mind being tacked up. Who was this cheerful horse??
Well, during the start of the lesson, he was full of his normal evasive shenanigans, but Amelia was able to help me work through them. It was encouraging to make progress and better yet – for her to feel like he’d make progress. By the end, I could tell that he was really trying his little pony heart out. He made his mom proud! The chestnut Arab baby actually can do it! J
Well tomorrow is the farrier. To my dismay, both boys need to be trimmed every FOUR weeks instead of six. *sigh* I’m at least thankful they don’t need shoes yet though.
The weekend after next, we have another hunter pace – yay! And of course my birthday is this Saturday (There’s a super-duper massage coming my way!). My mom’s birthday is the 30th, and I’m planning on giving her private lessons for her b-day (shh! Don’t tell her ;-D).
Coming up – we have a potential show in Savannah mid October, and then an intro to eventing clinic in Florida (Hint: I’m riding a FULL sister to Teddy!!! Yeek! :-D) and Sudi is going down for a private lesson with Jonathan Holling. Tons to look forward to. Can’t wait! I’ll do my best to keep the blog better updated this time...
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