What a difference a week makes

A week ago yesterday, I took my first ride on "Flash's Carmela DeAlegria"...barn name "Ally"...we will be doing a major horse camping trip soon, spending 10 days on the edge of Hells Canyon...and no one has ridden Ally for a couple years, as she has been spending time raising babies...so, I knew she would need a tune up to be a safe and enjoyable mount for our trip. Mike is Ally's rider, but I knew she needed a tune up on some level, and a little extra training would not hurt either.
I have an instructor who is wiling to come here to our place for my lessons, and since Virgil does not like to teach from the ground, it was a chance to get some good professional training on Izzy at the same time I rode Ally...

Last weeks lesson was less than stellar on my part..I have been having some trouble with my hip, and Ally did not seem comfortable or her usual self at all, she was not real willing to go forward, though we did get going after a bit, it just seemed hard and not a whole lot of fun :(

Fast forward a week....during the week, I went back to saddle fit on Ally and also added a crupper to her saddle, to help the saddle stay where it was supposed to be....When we finished our lesson yesterday, we BOTH were comfortable....Saddle fit is so important...esp when fitting a gaited/bred mare...as the cinch really only has one place to lay, yet you must stay off her shoulders and with my obsession with saddle fit, it made all the difference in the world! Virgil and I rode my lesson, circles, backing, roll backs, lots of move the feet exercises, lots of quiet, steady work...and afterwards? the sweat patterns on Ally were PERFECT !!! all parts of the saddle were in contact, yet, I stayed completely off her shoulder, letting her have the freedom she needed to move ;-)

Virgil is making great progress with Izzy....after my ride, we continued work with Izzy, this mare is going to be an exceptional riding horse, and I might add...LOL..she IS for sale ;-)

After our camping trip, I will turn Ally back out on pasture, and concentrate on Izzy's training...I plan to have her through all the levels of our Creekside Trail Horse Deluxe by spring. Did I mention she IS for sale....?

Linda