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Apr. 16th, 2008 07:51 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
diaryofariderThis spring is kinda pissing me off. It's often been cold and snowy, when it's not cold, it's windy, and then yesterday it was like HOT and WINDY. My house was 78 degrees at 10:30 last night!!!
I went out to ride and it was windy. I thought, "Eh, might have to ride a test in the wind, we'll ride outside." Led Trudi past a lightly flapping tarp which she ignored (yay), groomed her, tacked her up, took her outside to the arena. She was a little looky but not bad, and I climbed on and she was like "Ok, we're going to work, I guess I don't care about the wind."
Till this HUGE wind came along and raised this massive cloud of dust. We could see it coming from the far end of the arena and there was nothing to do but brace ourselves- it was so big it stretched the entire width of the arena, and so dense we could hardly see through it. Trudi, bless her heart, stood there and trembled but didn't move as we got nailed with stinging bits of dirt. After the cloud passed I spat out some grit and said "Screw it, it's too windy" and took her inside.
Inside we could still hear the wind and a bit of bailing twine twisted softly in the breeze at a crack in the door. A shaft of sunlight bisected the arena, and Trudi did a good job of ignoring all this shortly after we got going. I tried to keep things interesting for her and used more laterals and transitions in our warm up (dummy, I don't know why it never occurred to me that these things are good for warming up, they don't necessarily require a warmup on their own...). She was energetic and a little tense, but very responsive and really not bad. I was having problems with my seat (of course) and not sitting well. I did some work without stirrups till my legs were dead, but I still didn't feel like it helped much. When I picked up the stirrups again they felt very short, but again, I didn't feel like I was sitting better. I noticed Trudi not bending very well to the left- she seemed like she wouldn't go into the outside rein, and I realized she was kind of leaning against my inside leg and I was probably not sitting to the inside enough. I tried to work on NOT bringing my hands into my lap, and on keeping her forward even when it's too quick and/or she's not through, but I haven't really mastered getting her back on the bit all the time with my hands as forward as they should be. Meh. Overall, really proud of my horsie, pretty annoyed with me. And hot? I was wearing a long sleeved T-shirt and Trudi still has most of her coat, so we were both very hot and very sweaty...
I went out to ride and it was windy. I thought, "Eh, might have to ride a test in the wind, we'll ride outside." Led Trudi past a lightly flapping tarp which she ignored (yay), groomed her, tacked her up, took her outside to the arena. She was a little looky but not bad, and I climbed on and she was like "Ok, we're going to work, I guess I don't care about the wind."
Till this HUGE wind came along and raised this massive cloud of dust. We could see it coming from the far end of the arena and there was nothing to do but brace ourselves- it was so big it stretched the entire width of the arena, and so dense we could hardly see through it. Trudi, bless her heart, stood there and trembled but didn't move as we got nailed with stinging bits of dirt. After the cloud passed I spat out some grit and said "Screw it, it's too windy" and took her inside.
Inside we could still hear the wind and a bit of bailing twine twisted softly in the breeze at a crack in the door. A shaft of sunlight bisected the arena, and Trudi did a good job of ignoring all this shortly after we got going. I tried to keep things interesting for her and used more laterals and transitions in our warm up (dummy, I don't know why it never occurred to me that these things are good for warming up, they don't necessarily require a warmup on their own...). She was energetic and a little tense, but very responsive and really not bad. I was having problems with my seat (of course) and not sitting well. I did some work without stirrups till my legs were dead, but I still didn't feel like it helped much. When I picked up the stirrups again they felt very short, but again, I didn't feel like I was sitting better. I noticed Trudi not bending very well to the left- she seemed like she wouldn't go into the outside rein, and I realized she was kind of leaning against my inside leg and I was probably not sitting to the inside enough. I tried to work on NOT bringing my hands into my lap, and on keeping her forward even when it's too quick and/or she's not through, but I haven't really mastered getting her back on the bit all the time with my hands as forward as they should be. Meh. Overall, really proud of my horsie, pretty annoyed with me. And hot? I was wearing a long sleeved T-shirt and Trudi still has most of her coat, so we were both very hot and very sweaty...
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Date: 2008-04-16 06:06 pm (UTC)On the saddle front: is it possible to try another saddle? Maybe you've changed and it doesn't quite fit you any longer? I didn't realize I was fighting my saddle until I rode in something different.
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Date: 2008-04-16 07:45 pm (UTC)Man, I don't want to have to buy a new saddle...I've only had this one for a year and a half... and I had it resized for her and everything...
If it would let me sit well without fighting it'd be worth it, but I'd hate to get a new one and be in the same boat a few months from now, when the answer is really "get in better shape, you slob" ;)
But, it would be good to try some others... just not a lot of dressage friends around with different saddles. There is a local tack shop, but I'm thinking theirs are mostly new, and I can't afford that. Plus it has to fit the horse too- bleh, I hate saddle shopping. Worse than buying a swimsuit!!!
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Date: 2008-04-16 08:04 pm (UTC)When I decided I needing something different from my Prestige, I knew why I liked trainer's Kieffer - there's literally nothing under my thigh, very close contact-feeling, and more room in the seat.
So I thought I would be stuck with something kind of bare-bones like a Kieffer or a Passier. But then I tried his wife's Custom, which looked to my untrained eye very similar to my "structured" Prestige, and yet the Custom feels wondrous. It looks like a saddle that would "hold" you in place, yet I feel like my body just drops right where it's supposed to!
You have a Prestige Top, is that right? Look high up under the flap, right behind the stirrup bars: my 2000D actually has a big padded bar running horizontally from the stirrup bars back to underneath the cantle, and it was pushing my thighs outward and forward. Now I realize it's no wonder I couldn't get out of that chair seat!
So, maybe it's the structure of the saddle that just isn't right for you. But maybe you just need a slightly bigger seat, to allow you more room from hip to knee? Those big thigh blocks are great, but they're hell if the saddle's even a tad too small.
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Date: 2008-04-16 08:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-04-16 08:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-04-16 09:10 pm (UTC)That evening, I had windows open and it was cruising along in the low 70s until 2am when it dipped to 68 F. Oooo.
Cue to the next day. 32 and snowing.
*pause*
what. the. heck. ????
bipolar doesn't even begin to describe.....!
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Date: 2008-04-17 01:40 pm (UTC)And now we have an inch of snow on the ground, and the forecast is 70 degrees this weekend. o_O