Saddles, Horses, and Birds...Oh My!
fiesta831 has already detailed most of the account of our time at the barn, so I won't repeat the obvious.
Sunday was certainly an education: about new saddles, listening to your horse, and muscles that clearly haven't been developed much, if at all.
We finally managed to acquire a saddle for my big butt, via eBay (I know, I know). Its fairly nice, but the leather is *very* stiff. Part of that is being new, but part of it likely falls in the "getting what you pay for" category. The strap that hooks the cinch (I'm sure there's a technical term for it, but that's my name for now) was incredibly stiff, making it difficult if not impossible to effectively hook the cinch to the saddle and secure it properly. Inability to do that was reason number one (of many) why I landed on my backside. I plan to work the saddle a bit with some mink oil or something close to loosen it up some and we may replace the cinch strap for something a little more flexible.
In getting Freckles ready to ride, something just didn't feel right. There was a lot of activity going on, as Paige had some lessons going on in the ring behind the barn. That had Freckles aware and listening, but she still seemed a bit on edge to me. I made note of it mentally, but it didn't mean I was going to put her back in the pasture. Unfortunately I seemed to forget that once we started to get on the trail. She fought me as we left the barn, and clearly wasn't interested in going on the trail. Eventually, though, she seemed to resign herself to the idea that we weren't going back for now and started to follow.
She was fine, my head, though, wasn't on her, it was on the saddle and trying to get comfortable in it and worrying about how secure it was. That's the wrong place to be on the back of a horse. Sure enough, some birds popped out of the bush and spooked Tucker, which spooked Freckles. She pulled up and left, and my saddle went with it. You know how this story ends if you read Nat's account.
In hindsight, I don't know that anything would have prevented the spooking, or the result of me being on the ground. What I do know is that I didn't secure or test my saddle well enough to give me the confidence that it wasn't an issue and thus I allowed it to take my attention off of where I should have been. Either might have kept me upright, but that's a little moot at this point. A few lessons were learned, however, and that's the important thing.
As for the muscles comment, its clear that my legs, more specifically my hip flexors (which may be an oxymoron at the moment) and some of the supporting muscles will need a lot of work before I'm fully comfortable being in the saddle. The new saddle only heightened this problem because its bigger to fit my tuckus and the seat is raised in the back so its a little more difficult to get my leg over when mounting.
The circuit class I attended last night I think is a start in the right direction in developing/stretching some of those muscles, but it will need more than 1 class a week to have an impact on riding. The class, however, served as a stark reminder of the difference between losing weight and getting fit. I'm trying to do both, but one I think has gotten shorted a little in the process. Point taken.
Ironically, in spite of this all, I wouldn't call Sunday a bad day at the barn. I know Nat did but I really didn't have a bad time. I was outdoors, spending time with the woman I love and a horse that is soon to be (if not already) a larger part of my life. Yeah I got some muscle aches, and some life lessons associated with them (pain is a great teacher), but to me that's living. I'll take that over sitting my butt on the couch any day.
And as for Tucker, if he thought Sunday was a successful attempt to get rid of a potential sister and competition for Natalie's time, he's mistaken. :) *
Doc
* That was a running joke at the barn after Freckles ditched me. Tucker is a wonderful horse and of course wouldn't contemplate such things, but its an amusing idea nonetheless.