Positive

She rubs the snaps open on her browband :)

It has already been quite the year for me and Katai. First, because of weather I rescheduled my first lesson of the year (1/2) for Saturday (1/6). You all know how that lesson went. Then yesterday (1/9) both Jane and I had big plans.

However, I got to the arena, realized I’d planned poorly and needed to pee so I handed Katai to Jane for a minute. She held her for me while I ran to the rest room but when I got back Jane didn’t look happy. I assumed that with recent pony behavior Katai had stepped on her foot or been a pill but the first words out of Janes mouth were “your saddle doesn’t fit”.

 Damn it

 She was completely right, it was pinching worse on one side than the other but definitely pinching. I feel horrible that I didn’t catch it and saddle fit just sucks in general. I just lost a week of riding a few months ago when I needed to get it narrowed 2 cms and now I’m going to need to send it back to get it widened 1 cm.

Lazy vegan fajitas

This. Winter. Just. Sucks. Between the crazy weather and Katai’s moodiness so far I don’t feel like I’m accomplishing anything even though I’m miserably cold trying, but I’m trying to stay positive.

Positive number one: This is probably a huge part of Katai’s recent poor attitude and it’s fixable! I may still have my sweet willing pony once her saddle actually fits her

Positive number two: I have a backup saddle which I hate but at least I can ride!

Positive number three: I’ve been wanting to do more “spa” days recently so this is a good reason to do some things out of the saddle for the next week or so.

Positive number four: There are a lot of other great things going on in my life right now. More on that later

It’s Here!!

Veggie was hungry

For some reason this feels like a way more momentous occasion than when I got my custom. I’m not exactly sure why because that was a really big deal for me. Maybe it’s because I knew that this saddle would fit both of us and with the custom I was just crossing my fingers. Maybe it’s because it’s a name brand saddle or maybe it’s because I think it’s completely adorable. Who knows. 

Nicest saddle cover I've ever owned and it came free with the saddle
It has nice plush fleece as a lining

Love their logo

At any rate I was interested to see some differences in this saddle vs. the trial. First the cantle on the trail was that cool carbon fiber type material. I kind of liked it but it did sort of pull the leather funny where it dipped into the back of the seat. 

 

SOOOOOO pretty!!

On the new saddle this is a very soft calfskin type leather with the prestige stamp in it. I like that it’s still unique but without the possible risks of the carbon fiber since I wasn’t sure how it would stand up in comparison with the rest of the saddle plus the little dip into the seat is now much nicer looking.

Is it crazy that I sort of miss the carbon?

 

This looks much better than with the carbon though

The other is in the rear panel configuration. You may remember that I had storage plans for the trial saddle. 

 

I don't have a great picture comparison but I think you can see
how different the panels look than below

These look over stuffed to me

This saddle looks completely different with way more contact along the back and it looks more like other prestige saddles look to me. I’m actually wondering if the trial got relocked by a saddle fitter or something since it seems odd that they would change how they put their saddle together. The carbon fiber makes sense (may have gotten negative comments on it) but this seems odd. It does still fit, if anything it fits better, so I’m really pleased with it. 

I don't have a direct comparison but I think you can tell how much taller these sit.
Where will I ever put my snacks now...

I'll be using my brown stirrup leathers because some amazing prestige leathers came with it for free but only in child's size. I got the longest I could but they're still too short. Oh well, it'll be fine until I can get some nice longer black ones.

So sad these don't fit, they're the nicest leathers I've ever had

I'm also planning to get a black PS of Sweden bridle for my birthday present to myself this year so then at least my bridle and saddle will match. So exciting!!

Another Saddle Update

Where the magic happens

It's been awhile since I posted and a very long time since I did a proper riding post. I don't have one for you yet but I do have another saddle update!

I finally got the Prestige Lucky back on trial with the adjustment made. It got to the barn on Monday or Tuesday but I didn't make it out to try it out until Wednesday.

When I set it on her back it still very slightly bridged (very slightly lighter pressure under the seat) but once I girthed it loosely it felt better. Katai also stands with a more hollow back so I knew that once I started riding it wouldn't bridge at all.

Her darn girth groove is just so far forward!

I took the pictures in this post and then put a saddle pad on and then tried it out. I had planned on just a lunging day so I lunged her first and then hopped on for a short ride. She felt good but a little sassy because the saddle put my leg back a little further on her barrel and it sat back a little further so she was being sassy about my leg pressure.

She seemed nice and loose and comfortable over her back but honestly the saddle rode so differently than my previous one that I was feeling very out of it and wasn't completely sure what I was feeling. Then she went to canter (leg position again) but I went with it since I wanted to see what she would think of the saddle at a canter. At the canter she felt less enthused but my leg was also significantly further back on her barrel at that point than it normally is so I'm wondering if it was the or the saddle.

Not bad

Unfortunately when I finished my short bit of canter I thought that the saddle had still slid forward a bit and when I climbed off, after a little more trot work, I confirmed that it had. It had slid forward at least an inch. I was honestly pretty frustrated. This saddle is shorter through the back and has a point billet, two things that were supposed to help and yet it still slid forward.

I could store snacks in there

After some thought about it on the way home I'm going to try girthing it a little different, take some more pictures for the saddle fitter at VTO tonight and hopefully either I'll figure something out with a little tweaking or maybe they'll have an idea or maybe it just won't fit and it will be back to the drawing board. Fingers crossed!

I'm going to hopefully take more photos of my ride tonight and will share those soon.

Saddle Update

A month or so ago I was able to speak with the saddle fitter that works at the company that I got the Prestige Lucky on trial from. He requested some pictures and asked some questions about her breeding and her build. I took the following pictures for him.

After looking at these pictures he announced that she is a 36cm but that the trial saddle could be widened to a 35cm (it's a 33cm and they can adjust it 2cm at a time) and he thinks that would be good enough to try riding in. The trial saddle has been out with a different customer for quite some time now but yesterday I heard back that the saddlery got it back and are readjusting it and going to send it today or tomorrow!

I was thrilled to hear that he thinks that this saddle could fit her with the adjustment. It's just a gorgeous saddle, the leather is amazing, it's shorter through the back, and I'm comfortable riding in it plus it's in my budget so I'll have my fingers crossed that it will actually fit :-)

the trial when it was still a 33cm

Cool, patent carbon fiber type material on the cantle, tough to see in this picture but it's pretty cool 

Of course I also had to check and see if they could get it in "tobacco" brown and they can! So excited to get it back and try it out again.

Saddle Saga

The Prestige Lucky I have on trial doesn't fit. It doesn't fit so badly that I could see daylight through the bridging areas but, we think it's just because it's too narrow. So, I'm going to take a leap of faith and try to get another trial in a wider tree size. If it fits it will be perfect, if it doesn't, I'm going to wish that I hadn't gone for either trial but at least I'll know!

I LOVE the saddle though. It's the new Lucky Idol and it's gorgeous, the leather is amazing, I love the flap length and the seat is really comfortable for me. I'm going to have my fingers crossed until I get a chance to try it.

In the meantime at the suggestion of my trainer I picked up an Amerigo Vega from our local tack shop. I heard great things about them for ponies. This was a wide 17.5" so it was a bit of a wild card and while the shape of the tree fit really well and the point billets put the girth in the right place it was just too wide so it still slid forward (worse than my saddle actually). It's on my list since I think if I can find a 17" in a MW or M tree it has a good chance of fitting. It wasn't my favorite to sit in though so It's not at the top of my list right now. Once I've had a chance to try a different tree size in the Prestige Lucky I'm going to try a few other options.

Saddle Shopping, Again...

I’m back in saddle fit purgatory. I adore my current saddle and the tree actually fits pretty decently, however, as I’ve mentioned previously it has started to really slide forward during rides. In addition now that she’s getting more fit it seems slightly wide.

I think that part of the saddle sliding forward could be fixed by a saddle fitter but there are several things that a fitter would need to do and honestly I just don’t trust the fitter that came out last time since she went back and forth so much. I’m hesitant to have her do a bunch of stuff which would likely reduce the value of my (already not very valuable saddle) and then possibly still not have it fit. One of those things is that the billets are just way too far back for my pony’s very forward girth groove.

Saddle where it's supposed to be, billets pretty far off

I think I need a point billet so that’s been one of the items on my new saddle checklist. The others are short panels, close contact feel, short flaps, and preferably the option to get it in brown. Oh, and of course that it fits and is in my budget.

On paper the Prestige Lucky seems to be all of these things. It comes in a 16” seat but people have said that it feels like a 17” since it’s a much more open seat. It has nice short flaps, point billets, short panels, has a more close contact style, is within my budget, and it even comes in brown!!

It has been extremely tricky to actually find one that I can take on trial though. I found a US tack shop that carried the saddle and although they didn’t have a trial listed the description of the saddle mentioned a trial so I gave them a call. They were extremely helpful and told me that they normally get their trials direct from US Prestige but in this case Prestige had just sold the trial saddle to a customer and so it wasn’t available. They let me know it would be about a month for US Prestige to get the saddle back in and then get it sent to them.

It ended up taking about a month and a half and, unfortunately, when they called me the timeline for me getting the saddle would have meant that it would arrive at my barn at the beginning of my trip to WA and while L was in Sweden. I wasn’t able to push it off at all since they had another customer in line so I let them know that they could send it to her and then once they got it back I would take it.

I hadn’t heard anything so on Saturday I called to check in and see when they were planning to get the saddle back and found out that the other women wasn’t able to take it either so they’d sent it back to Prestige. They may have tried to call me when I was in WA but I didn’t get the call. It sounded like they may need to get back in line and I resigned myself to another month or more wait. Then, on Tuesday I got a call from someone at the tack shop and she let me know that it was still available!! They are getting it from US Prestige this week and then it will get shipped to my barn, hopefully next week. I’ll have all of my fingers and toes crossed that it fits and that I’m able end my saddle search for the time being.

Updates!

So much has been going on in my life and I've been really bad about blogging so I think it's time to catch everyone up!

I think first and foremost that I need to talk about my job offer :-) I've been wanting to relocate to the twin cities for the last six years and I finally got not just any job there but the perfect job for me. I work in HR and this is an HR position working for a company smack in the middle of the twin cities that helps people with a specific health issue. I not only get to work for a wonderful company in the area I want but it's a company that helps people which is a really wonderful feeling.

         Me and one of my little sisters :)

My first day is the 13th which is only about a week away now. I just can't believe that I'm finally there! I will be relocating from northern WI but I have not found an apartment yet. Thankfully I can commute as needed but of course since I've wanted to be down there for so long I'm hoping to find something sooner rather than later. Of course between trying to close everything out at my current job, looking for apartment, trying to get a reasonable amount time at the barn, and spending time with my little puppy I've been a bit overwhelmed. It doesn't help that I don't know where home will be in a few months and that makes me feel on edge. I actually don't mind moving but I've moved enough in the last few years and I'm ready to settle in some place.

In other news Wedge is doing really well! He's been learning all kinds of useful doggy skills like walking nicely on a leash, how to go on a proper hike, what horses are (and that barking at them is very very bad), how to meet other dogs nicely, dog parks, etc. I think I've been wearing the little man out and because of that he's been the perfect dog :) I usually bring him with me to the barn as long as the weather is mild and he hangs out while I ride. I figure at least that way he's not still in his kennel at home. 

Then, back to the main topic of this blog, Katai has been great. She's been getting stronger and more athletic so when I don't ride consistently she's a handful but that's on me, not her, and she hasn't done anything really naughty. She just has lots of energy to burn off which means I've had to work with L to develop my skills on how to handle that. I've been back to about three rides per week and honestly that's just not enough for her. I really need to ride 4-5 times per week and hopefully this next week I can do just that. 

I'm continuing to adore my saddle especially as I get more used to it and it starts to break in a bit. The leather is so soft that it hasn't needed much breaking in but like any new saddle it's just not going to be completely comfy until it's been ridden in for awhile. I'm also still adjusting to how I need to sit and carry myself since it just seats me differently (read better). I think Katai is loving it as well but since she hasn't been getting supplements as regularily she has been a bit tight through the back and before I can determine that it's the saddle or not I need to get her back on her supplements and then if she's still a bit tight I'm going to have a saddle fitter out. To my eye, and everything I know about saddle fit, it's a WAY better fit than the previous saddle but ultimately it's up to Katai. 

The only other thing I can think of that could be bothering her is that my previous TSF girth doesn't reach the shorter billets on this saddle so I ordered a longer one (which will be here on Monday!) but it looks like my back up girth is maybe pulling this saddle forward onto her withers more. I LOVE my TSF and if anyone is looking for an 18" in brown I'm probably going to be rehoming my old one.

       My previous saddle also needs a new home.

The other big update is that I'm moving Katai to a stall! I've just been waiting for a little more income and then it's been my plan to get her in a stall :) I'm so, so thrilled that it's finally here. She'll be making the move in September and will get back to regular supplementation (I have to feed it to her now so she only gets her grain when I'm there). She'll also be on a diet that has less sugar and I'll be able to get rid of her mask. Even though it's pretty cute on her ;)

I'm going to try to be a better blogger and at least blog a couple times a week but no promises until I find a new place to live.

So Beautiful

Look at how beautiful!

It's almost like it was custom made for her ;-)

I'm officially in love. It's comfy and puts me in a wonderful position. It's much easier to keep my leg in the right place and yet I'm not stuck in one spot. The leather is AMAZINGLY soft and luscious but there is still a little breaking in that needs to happen. This is actually the first new saddle I've ever owned so it's a new thing for me. 

Old saddle vs new. Don't get me wrong, I really have liked my current saddle for a lot of reasons but there are several things about it that I really don't like and I'm so glad that I bit the bullet and ordered a custom saddle, especially for the amazing price.

The detail on this saddle is amazing (the panels only look uneven in this picture). The piping is so even and nicely done! I'm honestly very, very impressed. I would buy another saddle from Heritage Custom Saddlery in a heart beat and I can't wait to ride again on Friday :-) 

Again, not great pictures but I'll get some soon!

Pony Measuring

To continue with my goal of beating my goals :-)  I measured Katai tonight for her new saddle! I’m not sure if anyone reading this blog has ever gone through this process before but I was really surprised at how simple it was. I had done my research and found some really great videos on how to do a saddle tracing and my favorite is this one.

 

https://youtu.be/mOMTBgmKjBw

 

After watching this video I went and purchased the following items;

 

Flexible Curve

Narrow green painters tape

Permanent marker (ok, this one I already had)

Large portfolio paper

Measuring tape (more to take some measurements of my current saddle than to use for the new saddle)

Lip Balm (because let’s face it, the weather has been dry and I need it for my chapped lips plus for the saddle measurement so I can’t lose  :-) )

I put the above things together and brought them out to the barn. I decided to measure the pony after my ride so that she would be more likely to stand still. I was a little concerned that if her back was tired it wouldn’t be a completely accurate measurement but decided to just do a little shorter ride since standing still is a big thing for her sometimes.

 

The first thing I did was to find the place for the first piece of tape. Then three fingers back from that another piece of tape that was my first measurement. I formed the flexi curve to her back at this point just like the video instructs and then traced that on the piece of paper.

 

Next I used the lip balm to find the low point on her back and placed the third piece of tape and second measurement. Again I formed the flexi curve to her back and traced it on the piece of paper.

 

Finally I found her last rib or T18 and placed a piece of tape there. Then I took the final measurement of the curve of her back, marking where T18 was on the flexi curve and traced that on the piece of paper.

 

Then it was time for pictures. The first task was to take a picture from the side of where the pieces of tape were placed. I already sent this to the saddler who can verify that I got the tape in the correct places before I mail the packet with the tracings to the UK. 

 

Then I needed to take a picture from above which I forgot...

Oh well, I'll be back at the barn tomorrow or Friday.

 

 

The finished product!

 

Once I hear back from the saddler that my tape spots were right (or if I need to make changes I will make those and then) I will mail the packet with the tracings and a ghetto picture of the saddle with my changes to Heritage Saddlery.

 

I’m getting so close!

Announcements!

These may not be exciting to anyone other than me but I am pretty thrilled and want to share.

 

First of all, I believe I mentioned that my friend H had moved to my previous barn, with J as a coach, last summer. I was so excited to have her there but then as things started to go downhill I felt guilty. When I left I didn’t want to put any pressure on her to leave as well since she was in a very different place with J based on her own riding but mostly on her pony since J didn’t think he was “completely worthless”. I talked to her, of course, and explained why I was leaving and she witnessed some of J’s behavior to me but I didn’t want to feel like I was dragging her away with me so I mostly kept my feelings to myself.

 

                    H's Adorable Pony

Fast forward to last week when I met up with H for lunch. We started talking about lessons and how things were going and I could tell she wasn’t happy. She was mostly positive and trying to explain how things were going in the best possible light but she was upset so I talked her through it and eventually, on the drive to a tack shop for some retail therapy, she vented her way to realizing that it was time for her to move. I was still trying not to influence her much but I could tell that she was starting to see a lot of the same things I did when I left so I was glad when she stated that she was going to start looking.

 

I gave her some of the contacts that I knew about and she looked into them but also looked into a few options with contacts that she got from her friends. She was going to set up a lesson with the trainer I’m going to start working with (Y) but there were reasons for her to look elsewhere.

 

H lives about 1-1.5 hours away from where I live and the barn we both boarded at was sort of in the middle. About 25 minutes away from me and about 45 minutes away from her but she had to contend with more traffic. Now I’ll be driving about 45 minutes to the new barn but it would have still been about 35-40 minutes away from where she lives so when she realized that a top dressage trainer had a barn and training program only 20 minutes from her house she jumped on it. Most exciting to both of us, since we both are passionate about ponies in dressage, this trainer is one of the people on the Pony Task Force!! She’s went to see a lesson and has officially got a spot at this trainer’s (who I will call P for Pony) barn. I am wishing her all the best and can’t wait to go see her take a lesson. It’s wonderful to know that she has found such a great situation and I’m extremely happy for her.

 

I do have to admit that I am very slightly jealous. This is such an incredible opportunity for someone that loves ponies and wants to only every ride shorter equines. However, while every review is glowingly positive for P, I actually think that even if it weren’t for the 1.5-2 hour drive to study with P I would chose Y just based on teaching style, personality, and boarding options. I can hardly believe that I get to move a week from Sunday and it feels like Christmas J

 

The other exciting news I have is probably even less exciting to the general public but I am so happy and relieved that I can’t even describe it! As anyone who owns horses knows saddle shopping is like hell. Even if you have an unlimited budget it can be horrific trying to find a saddle that fits both the rider and horse for more than a month and if you add any type of budget to the mix it gets ten times more difficult. Now add oddly shaped equine to the mix and it really seems impossible. I’ve been wanting to consider custom saddles for awhile but my budget is just not $4000-$5000 dollars and that would only buy me a mid to lower end custom saddle brand (at least from the brands I was aware of). However, after much searching I finally found a custom saddle company that will make a completely custom saddle in my budget and that has almost only positive reviews.

 

          I think I'll pair it with this bridle

I believe I’ve narrowed down which of their models I’m most interested in and reached out by email earlier this week to get some more feedback on what my budget will need to be for what I want. I’ve made it my goal to order by the end of May/June and will make that work even if I need to get a part time job for awhile to pay for it. I’ve also listed some of my collectables for sale to help me get to my goal. I am so freaking excited that I finally found the answer to my saddle fitting woes! I promise I will share more information and pictures once I’m sure I’m heading down the right path and then Swanky Saddle here I come!

Update - With Pictures as promised!

Things have been great!

No things have been better than great things have been awesome!!!

I finally have a saddle. As of tonight it is trainer approved and ready to be added to the credit card tomorrow. I'm stoked! Well not about the credit card thing but about finally having something to ride in. It's been over a month since I've been able to be able to plan to go to the barn and ride because I've needed to borrow J's County which she 1. is understandably reluctant to let students use and 2. uses on some of the lesson horses when she has to. 

Here is the glorious thing.

It's a Passier Vector which I'd never heard of before and seems to be fairly rare. It has a medium tree, 17" seat, upswept panels that keep it short enough for Katai's back. It also, oddly enough, has foam panels which I'm happy about in this case since this is the only saddle that has fit and foam is soft and supposed to hold up better than wool. Of course it can't be adjusted but this is a bargain basement saddle so if/when Katai outgrows it I'm not too worried about passing it along and buying something else.

Soooooo happy!

I also had my lesson tonight and Katai, who's been behaving absolutly beautifully, had an off night. However, it was a great reminder of just how far we've come as well as just how good she is. We had a couple minor dissagreements but she never did anything dangerous and worked fairly well over all. It was dissapointing to have J see her the worst she's been in awhile but she seemed to believe me that she'd been better and she has finally approved me starting to trot her so she must have been happy overall.

I did manage to find someone to take some pictures while J was lunging and they aren't great but at least you can see Katai. I know I'm lacking in the picture department so here you go!

I love this picture! I just wish it weren't as blurry.

and an even blurrier picture but you can kind of see how nice she is moving in this one. I love the pink blur of her boots :)

Now to just get her to carry herself like that when I'm riding her!

Saddle Tryouts

I knew when I acquired Katai that I would need to buy another saddle because her back is shaped so differently that Myshla's. I did hope that Myshla's Niedersuss would fit her well enough to use for the first couple of months but alas it wasn't to be so and so I've been using a western saddle when I've been working with her recently. Over this winter with fewer hours and smaller payroll bonuses a saddle wasn't in the budget but I just received my profit sharing bonus so I finally had a good saddle budget :)

Time for saddle shopping, yay! (Dripping sarcasm)

I started out with the local tack shop since they have about 50 or so dressage saddles that you can take out on trial. I ended up choosing a Kieffer Wein 16.5" with a medium tree and a Thornhill Danube 17" with a wide tree. I thought that the Kieffer would be too narrow and the Thornhill would be too long for her back.

I tried both on her without a saddle pad and, while they both fit, the Thornhill looked like it had been custom made for her. Then it was time for me to try it out since a rider can change a lot. I was nervous that since I hadn't been on her back since December she would be a naughty pony but she was perfect! She remembered everything that we had done at out last ride and was stretching out her back and relaxing which told me that the saddle did still fit well. Even better I love it as well, its sooooo comfy!

I was originally hoping to spend less than either saddle was listed at and thought that if either did fit I would go online and try to find a good deal just like I did with my $450 Niedersuss but the Thornhill seriously fit so well and was in such great condition that I just drove straight back to the tack shop and bought it.

Pictures will follow :)