Since I had noticed that Mick’s back felt better when I used a bit versus using a cross-under bitless bridle I decided to see if I could get him to move his tongue more while being ridden.  I had three choices from my bit collection, my egg-butt center copper roller snaffle, my regular Wellep bit and the Wellep Lever cheek bit that acts like a gag bit (these bits are no longer made, you can see them at wellep.com.)  Since I think…

Last week I offered Debbie the chance to see if my old German made dressage saddle would work for her Arab gelding Tercel.  This is an old calf-skin covered saddle I had found in pitiful condition in my feed store almost ten years ago.  It obviously had been ridden by someone in jeans (the leather jockeys covering the stirrup buckles were sadly worn,) and the saddle had obviously not been stored right because there were wrinkles in the calf-skin on the flaps, luckily not…

Mia, the nearly 30 year old Arab mare I ride, seems to be going through various issues as she ages.  Bits that used to be fully accepted start bothering her and she always lets me know in a few weeks if she wants me to change then.

Mia, in the past, has not particularly liked bitless bridles (old jumping caveson bridle, LG bitless, Nurtural cross-under bitless, Dr. Cook’s cross under…

Debbie, my wonderful riding teacher and manager of a big stable (38 horses or so) has a dream of doing long distance riding.  She has her horse, Tercel, an Arabian gelding, but since he is an Arab it can be difficult to find a saddle that FITS him.  If you are going to ride a horse long distances, a well fitting saddle is essential if you want a sound, usable horse at the end of the ride.  She already bought one saddle that ended up not really fitting Debbie or Tercel, and…

I have been thinking about writing this ever since I first ran into the idea that it is ALWAYS wrong to allow the horse to enter your space, an idea I found mostly in the modern aspects of Western horsemanship.  This seems to be tied into the idea of teaching the horse to “respect” the human.

All through the 44 years I’ve handled horses I have reacted strongly to any horse that rudely and suddenly invades my personal space.  My reactions range a sudden harsh scolding…

Well, I seem to have survived the summer heat.  It has been a challenge living without air-conditioning but I got a wonderful surprise, this summer I had a LOT more endurance when riding in the heat.  My youngest son, who has a BS in Biochemistry, told me that organisms have a mechanism when it is hot that protects the body’s proteins, and when the weather turns cold (or if a person is in air-conditioning a lot) the body stops doing this particular protective…

The heat has definitely arrived here in NC, not full summer heat and humidity yet but it has been a challenge living without air-conditioning.  Bless the person who invented the electric fan!  I have managed to stay cool enough so I am staying stable physically with my MS, but my memory is not as good as it is during cooler weather.

So Wednesday I forgot to do my final check-off of all the stuff I take to my riding lesson and forgot my Corrector pad.  If my saddle…

When I was riding Mia on Friday I had a great time.  She continued to keep contact with her JP single jointed full cheek snaffle, reaching out confidently and not flinging her head or curling up when I made a mistake with my hands.  When I made a mistake with my hands she would start inverting, but when I corrected myself and sent her on she would reach out again and accept the bit.  She was quite alert and looked around intently whenever I stopped to rest.  We trotted some,…

The heat has started to come to North Carolina, and due to thousands of dollars of unexpected expenses plus expected money not coming in I am having to adjust to living without air-conditioning this summer.  Just today we got an air-conditioner in one room, the room we fixed up after our water pipes froze last winter, the smallest room in our house.  So I am not doing as well as normal, but that has been the story of my life this year.

Since Debbie went off on vacation…

After several sweaty rides it cooled down this week.  We had to go through 3 inches of rain first, but for my last two rides it was cool with a pleasant breeze, cool enough that Mia protested standing in the breeze since she is now in her summer coat.

It was on Mia that I triggered my hip bursitis the first time.  After a nice ride walking around with no problems I decided it might be a good idea for me to practice gripping with my calves (NOT my heels) so I would be…

Down here in central southern North Carolina we are now paying the price of our plentiful winter rains.  The gnats are truly horrible.  Debbie has ALL of her 30 plus horses in face masks and she asked me 1) if gnats are poisonous since she has swallowed so many of them this year,  2) if gnats are good for anything, and 3) if there is any other critter that eats them.  I could not give her an answer, I guess I better start researching gnats someday.  Debbie even tried the spot…

I had a wonderful week of riding all three horses.  We have had absolutely wonderful spring weather and everything worked out.

Last week I just got to ride once, on Mia, with the JP Dr. Bristol bit that I used with her before I tried the JP copper roller full cheek bit.  This ride with the Dr. Bristol was fine, but my next ride was a thorough review of all of Mia’s bit evasions and protests.  This was following a general deterioration of contact with Mia’s mouth that I…

I had another wonderful week of three rides, and all my rides were in absolutely beautiful spring weather.  The only downside is that it is becoming more and more apparent that I’ve lost just about all the physical progress I’d made over the past 6-7 years.  I post the trot for maybe a quarter of the ring and I have to rest.  My previously taut muscles have lost all their tone.  I get off the horse and I am so tired that I do not walk well.  And there I am on Mia and she is…

Maybe the Universe is starting to smile on me again.  Maybe I will be able to stop the relentless degradation of my body.  Maybe I can finally start to recover from my MS exacerbation.

The first week of December 2013 I rode four times.  Since then the most I’ve ridden in a week was two times around a month ago.  I am walking a little better but my physical fitness took a big hit this winter, I am weaker and my muscles just won’t work as long as before.  Before December…

I finally got to ride on Wednesday, the first time in two weeks.  Between all the extra traveling I’ve had to do, the lingering effects of my MS exacerbation plus an absolutely horrible head cold I was too sick and exhausted to ride last week.

Wednesday dawned bright and cold.  Mia  was NOT happy to be brought in.  I could not really blame her, the wind was from the North and it was bitterly cold.  Debbie groomed her, but I did not rasp down her toes as I was just…

First, my apologies to my readers for not having a blog for a month.  These first three months of 2014 have been among the most challenging of my life and I have not been able to ride more than once a week, a BIG comedown from three times a week.  Amazingly I have made some progress with the horses with using the Back on Track stuff for just 30-45 minutes a week.

Fortunately, before my life fell apart, I ordered more Back on Track stuff for the horses, the poll cap…

When I first mounted a pony in Chile  57 years ago I was NEVER invited to consider the horse.  At most there was a small consideration for the horse’s mouth, but in 99.999% of the cases it was assumed that the horse had earned whatever abuse it had to suffer.  I also ran into the same assumptions in Uruguay, and in the USA when I returned to this country in 1963.  I found this assumption in riders, riding stables, instructors and trainers, both in person and from books and…

The winter weather is not helping my riding at all.

Wednesday morning it was raining, of course, but luckily Debbie was willing to give me my lesson on Thursday.  On Thursday morning she called me worried about the super sloppy ring and the possibility of ice, but she agreed to giving me a lesson when I told her that I was not up to much beyond the walk and that I was not physically able to do anything more ambitious than a slow sitting trot.  Then, with not…

Last week I got to ride twice.  Riding is out for this week, it is just too cold in the mornings!

Sunday the 19^th I got to ride Cider.  I just walked since I was too weak to do anything more.  I tried the same aids for the shoulder-in I used on Mia, but I just got one or two slight hints of Cider actually doing a shoulder-in.  Now Cider used to be used for eventing so she has had at least some dressage training, so it could be that she had no idea of what…

I seem to be slowly recovering from my latest MS exacerbation.  I’m still walking though some days are better than others as far as my mobility is concerned.  I do know that I am a lot better than I would be if I had not gotten to ride Mia this week.  My exhaustion is slowly abating but doing anything gets me tired quickly.

I did not get to ride at all the week of the big freeze, either the mornings were COLD (the worst one at 6° F on…