4/24/04 Skye in the dressage saddle
 Unfortunately we had a ton of rain last night and the HT
that Herbie and I were entered in for the weekend was cancelled.
So, instead we pulled out Skye, stuck to the grassy areas and
I rode her here at home in the dressage saddle.
We did the switch out last weekend and now she's at my place and
Thuy is on summer break at the parents' place.
 

I tried my med width jumping saddle, but had to go with the wider Bates dressage. She's got a nice wither, but she's broad. Eventually we'll probably switch to the Ortho-Flex jumping, but right now I feel more secure in the dressage saddle.

 

Yeah, the dapples are back. They're hidden by the saddle, so I had to show them before we tacked up...

Riding in the new saddle set us back a few lessons. She was hesitant about moving off. I guess the balance is a bit different.

 

It's a little reassuring that this is what she does when she's bothered. No bucking, leaping or even humping of the back. Just some tail swishing, foot stomping and head tossing. My husband said it looked like she was saying "I don't wanna, and you can't make me".

But, patience and stubbornness are almost the same thing.  In our first rides I'd use turning to unstick her, but when it's just her being stubborn, I sit and squeeze, squeeze with my legs and release the second she walks forward. There were flies, but I think the tail swish is her saying that she's not completely happy she had to give in.

 

Then stop and praise so she knows she did good. (I tend to judge how this will go with how they load in the trailer. She went in immediately when asked, but got sulky if she was told to. Took a short lesson with whip tapping for her to see that I would wait her out and irritate her until she went in. Same thing under saddle. Now I'm a little worried about Thistle coming up, because in his loading lesson he just stood there. Didn't acknowledge the tapping for maybe an hour. More like Emma, and might have to start under saddle on the lunge to really get the forward idea...).

This ride included gravel and travelling up and down hill. I could feel her working to balance under me. I don't like shortening her stride, but I don't plan for her life to just be arena work.

 

Here's heading downhill. Very short in back so she'd be sure to balance with my weight. Oh, and I think we'll get rid of the noseband or find a different one. This is a drop (what I could find), and I think it really isn't necessary.

We haven't filled in a trench we dug for the water line. She was a little careful and suspicious of it.

 

But quickly adapted.

When we started out, we either went forward or turned. She wasn't sure she could balance doing both.

But again, she figured out how to do both at the same time.

We got some nice forward walking, but I think it had something to do with catching the cat that was just out of the picture...

So, about 15 minutes under saddle to bring her back to the place that she was a few rides ago with the Western saddle.