I'll start by saying do as I say not as I do - always double check how tight your girth is, particularly on horses that don't have a big wither and wear a saddle with short swept back points! Yesterday could have been nasty if Luka hadn't kept his nerve and done as asked.
He's lost a little bit of weight which means he's between girth holes, so either I leave it a little bit loose or I do a Gone With The Wind style corset tightening. The latter is likely to get me nipped and also mean I won't get the girth near to meeting the next time I tack up, so naturally I go for the first option - he has a little bit of wither and a Fairfax girth where the shape alone is meant to hold the saddle. What could possibly go wrong?
Do you remember as a kid standing up in the stirrups to pick blackberries that were then shared on a one for me a handful for you basis? Well I never grew up and this year it's another thing he's finally got his head around. So there's me stood in the stirrups, reins on his neck and leaning to the right to get a good bunch, he's standing like a rock picking lower ones. It was all good until a cat shot out of the hedge and between his legs. Naturally he took a couple of startled steps left , very mild of him all things considered. Equally naturally it put a lot more of my weight to the right and the saddle followed so that the pommel was now on the top of his shoulder rather than over the wither! I thought he was going to explode but luckily he froze as I grabbed a handful of neck and tried to sit myself on the side of the seat and flap. He was white eyed and shaking and I don't think I was much better going "wait wait good boy please wait" while wondering what the Hell to do. Eventually I managed to bounce the saddle back to a better position while constantly talking to him (pleading with him?) and the odd tweak on his headpiece since for some reason that often seems to snap him out of a potential meltdown, then walked him on a little way to calm him before loosening off the girth so I could shunt it back into place. He hates the saddle being shunted even a little bit once the girth is done up so I was frankly stunned he stood for all of it. He's also, not that long after I got him, had a few meltdowns when a saddle has slipped even slightly that were big enough that I had to very quickly get off - this slip was so bad I'm not sure I could have got off yet he handled it.Trust is a wonderful thing, as is his determination to get it right if he can!
We stuck to windfalls for the rest of the ride lol
He's lost a little bit of weight which means he's between girth holes, so either I leave it a little bit loose or I do a Gone With The Wind style corset tightening. The latter is likely to get me nipped and also mean I won't get the girth near to meeting the next time I tack up, so naturally I go for the first option - he has a little bit of wither and a Fairfax girth where the shape alone is meant to hold the saddle. What could possibly go wrong?
Do you remember as a kid standing up in the stirrups to pick blackberries that were then shared on a one for me a handful for you basis? Well I never grew up and this year it's another thing he's finally got his head around. So there's me stood in the stirrups, reins on his neck and leaning to the right to get a good bunch, he's standing like a rock picking lower ones. It was all good until a cat shot out of the hedge and between his legs. Naturally he took a couple of startled steps left , very mild of him all things considered. Equally naturally it put a lot more of my weight to the right and the saddle followed so that the pommel was now on the top of his shoulder rather than over the wither! I thought he was going to explode but luckily he froze as I grabbed a handful of neck and tried to sit myself on the side of the seat and flap. He was white eyed and shaking and I don't think I was much better going "wait wait good boy please wait" while wondering what the Hell to do. Eventually I managed to bounce the saddle back to a better position while constantly talking to him (pleading with him?) and the odd tweak on his headpiece since for some reason that often seems to snap him out of a potential meltdown, then walked him on a little way to calm him before loosening off the girth so I could shunt it back into place. He hates the saddle being shunted even a little bit once the girth is done up so I was frankly stunned he stood for all of it. He's also, not that long after I got him, had a few meltdowns when a saddle has slipped even slightly that were big enough that I had to very quickly get off - this slip was so bad I'm not sure I could have got off yet he handled it.Trust is a wonderful thing, as is his determination to get it right if he can!
We stuck to windfalls for the rest of the ride lol
