I Start Riding Bingo More    

During my lesson on Bingo on Wednesday, he did fine until we were trotting around, when he did a twisting evasion so he would not have to trot at a particular place at the rail.  He had caused another rider a problem at the same place during another lesson (by breaking into a canter), so Debbie went to that spot, dug down, and concluded that she would have to have the base of the ring repaired at that place.  Bingo was obviously trying to tell everyone…

We Stabilized My Pegasus Butterfly Saddle on Cider’s Back    

Last Sunday I got to try my new Pegasus Butterfly saddle on Cider again.  I found my only string girth, washed it, and I prayed it would fit Cider.  When I got to Shannon’s farm we both put the Pegasus pad on Cider’s back, I explained how we wanted the top part of the pad (the part right under the panels of the saddle) to be sort of flat, and we ended up putting all four shims in the second and third pockets on…

My Pegasus Butterfly Saddle

First of all, my condolences to Ronnie, who sold me my Pegasus Butterfly saddle, his mother-in-law died and he was at her funeral the day I first used my new saddle.  I chose not to interrupt him during that difficult day, so my challenges with my new saddle are not his fault, or the fault of the saddle.  At least he went ahead and sent me the saddle when he said he would, so I got to ride in it this week.  He also told me last week that to “break in” the…

Bingo Was Not Behaving

Last Sunday, while I was riding Cider at Shannon’s farm, I decided not to use my upper thighs to influence Cider’s spine.  Instead I concentrated my attention on keeping my heels down, thus making my seat more secure.

Well, Cider was quite good.  My work with my upper thighs the last few weeks certainly pain off!  At no time during my ride did Cider scrunch herself up into a pretzel, and while we were not quite as straight she cheerfully accepted contact…

Gee, I have Written 300 Blogs so far on Barnmice!

A little over seven years ago, I started writing blogs on Barnmice.  I appreciate my readers (though a little more feedback would be appreciated) for continuing to read about my boring rides, stuck in the riding ring, proceeding mostly at a walk.  I do hope that you, the reader, have been inspired by my writings to listen to your horse!

Last Sunday Shannon figured out how to put my new Amigo Fly Rider flysheet on the…

I Finally Got My Grandson Up On a Horse!

During the decades that I owned horses, I had a fantasy of horses in my grandkids lives.  However real life interfered long before my grandson appeared on the scene.  Since I no longer have horses  my grandson did not get to meet horses, and I could not just pop him up on a trusted horse.

But now I have a big enough house to have a spare bedroom, so my son, Tally, and grandson, Will, can stay overnight, and since they live just a few…

Further Adventures with My New Saddle

This week I rode three horses using my new saddle.  Doing so made me appreciate my Corrector saddle pad even more than before!  While my new Crosby looked like it fit the horses’ backs, withers and shoulders much better than my other English saddles, the two horses I used it on without the Corrector shortened their strides at the walk, did not move their backs as much, did “stabbing” trots, and otherwise indicated some…

Debbie Says I am Looking Stronger in the Saddle

I have ridden three times since my last blog and all three times I made it to thirty minutes, and on one of these rides I made it to 37 minutes!  I am losing track of time in the saddle since I no longer get totally exhausted after 20 minutes.

Both Mia and Cider are accepting contact better, so my weakness obviously affected my stability in the saddle.  Both mares had been rather polite about my worsening hands, but as patient as…

I Finally Rode for Thirty Minutes Again       

Last Sunday I rode Cider, barely made it to 25 minutes, and I got even more discouraged about the present state of my body.  Cider did great, when she started twisting herself up she readily obeyed my aids and straightened out, she kept contact fine, and she started backing up from me just advancing my waist.  By the time I hit my endurance limit at 20 minutes, my back and thighs were hurting so much I got horribly depressed, and decided…

I Wish I Still Had Some Energy   

In the past two weeks, I rode three times.  The weather down here is still going up and down, from the low 20’s F to almost 70 F, the horses are still shedding out early, and the ground never seems to totally dry out.  This winter is challenging for both horse and rider.

I have been on Gilenya for almost 4 months, and my muscles are still suffering from greater exhaustion.  Because of this, I am going backwards in my physical activity instead…

After Five Weeks off Cider Turns into a Pretzel Again   

Last Sunday I finally got to ride Cider again.  She did not seem too thrilled about the prospect when Shannon groomed her and tacked her up.  She did nothing bad, she just did not seem to like the fact that her vacation was over.

Going into the ring was fine.  Everything was fine until I asked her to walk by the fence on contact, the Cider started twisting herself, head toward Shannon, bulging out against my outside leg,…

I Got to Ride Christmas Day!

The last two weeks have been sort of odd.  First, my gut decided that something was not right and acted up too much to ride, and when I did ride I got exhausted after only 20 minutes in the saddle.  I got my gut issues under control enough so I could go see my oldest son finally get his PhD degree, a process that has taken many years.  Between all of this I just got to ride twice, a much needed ride on Cider so I could get back to walking steadily on my…

Cider Responded, Mia Did Not

Last Sunday I told Shannon to pick me up at my mailbox because my driveway now has major difficulties where it was dug up, now there is no place to turn a vehicle around on my land unless the driver wants to risk getting stuck.  Since I was not able to carry my dressage saddle down I told Shannon I would ride in the EZ-Fit saddle I gave her, and I was so glad that I did not have to worry about bringing a saddle!  But Shannon turns out to be much better at…