I Got Myself New Safety Stirrups

After I fell off Coach last year I realized that getting safety stirrups might be a really good idea. I started looking around at the various types of safety stirrups, some relatively cheap like the Peacock stirrups, and some extremely expensive ($600.00 USD on up.)

I was familiar with…

On Friday I Forgot My Ice Vest

Southern summer, hot and humid, mid 90s for highs, mid to high 70s when I ride, and the air feels like you could carve it with a knife.

After hearing my story of my minor adventures with Bingo during my homework ride, Debbie decided on Wednesday that it was time for a lesson in the…

Is the 2^nd Riding Ring in Another Universe?

Due to some chaos on Wednesday morning I did not get my lesson with Debbie. I did get to ride there on Thursday, and when we set it up I asked Debbie if I could use my double bridle on Bingo even though I would not be in a lesson. She had no problems with my request which was nice, it means I am using the double bridle correctly and not…

The Heat Wave was Hard on Me

I ride earlier in the morning during the summer, 8:00 AM, and while the temperatures were somewhat lower in the heat wave it still felt like a sauna when I opened my front door. I wore my summertime technical fabric riding clothes and my ice vest so I could at least ride some without too much harm but between riding and getting my house ready for house-guests that…

I Try Another Bit with Bingo

Hot, humid weather down here in the South. The lows have been in the mid 70's F, which sounds really pleasant until I open my front door into a sauna. I really appreciate being able to ride earlier in the morning during the summer heat, but the humidity tends to be worse earlier in the morning. My ice vest is really helping me to cope with the heat, I am so glad I…

Bingo “Forgets” Stuff at Summer Camp

Last week I had to delay my lesson from Wednesday to even earlier on Thursday since the stable got a load of timothy hay delivered, and they wanted to store it right away since rain was forecast for later in the day. All week I had obsessed over how Bingo did in the camp, but I did not call because everyone at the stable had a busy week.…

I Work on Stabilization

Debbie's first summer camp is next week so both of my rides on Bingo this week were geared to continuing his preparation for being a lesson horse for a kid who may not ride well.

I found this mildly frustrating, it really needed to be done but I had to take a break on developing Bingo's impulse. Bingo…

I Prepare Bingo for Riding Camp

First an update on ice vests. When I realized that my FlexiFreeze ice vest was causing me an allergic reaction to the neoprene I went on-line to see what other ice vests were available. I found the Kool Max ice vest from Polar Products. It is not as flexible as the FlexiFreeze vest since instead of lots of ice cubes enclosed in plastic the Kool Max vest uses 4” x…

Trying Out My New Ice Vest

I have MS. Heat is bad for people with MS. This year my body told me that my wonderful technical fabric summer cooling shirt and breeches were not enough, and a long term forecast I saw warned of the possibility of over a month with no relief or rain (fortunately that forecast was not completely accurate, it has cooled down a little and we are getting rain…

Bingo's Mouth Stayed Closed!

But first an update on Cider. She has been flinching just about every step (though more or less trotting “sound”) so when it came time in my budgeting I finally gave in and got her some Back on Track stuff. I bought her exercise boots, for both the fore legs and her hind legs, and a BOT exercise sheet. It is getting hotter so we just use the exercise sheet after we…

A Single Jointed Bradoon Improves Contact

As I lay thinking about my previous week's lesson I decided I had to do SOMETHING about Bingo's bradoon on the double bridle. Since the French-link eggbutt bradoon seemed to be encouraging sucking back, iffy contact except for a few steps, and great resistance to halting and backing up, and I decided that Francis Dwyer might have a good point about…

The Final Cold Morning of the Season

This Wednesday morning it was quite crisp, 45°F with a brisk breeze at dawn and it did not warm up much in time for my lesson. I had to put my cold weather breeches back on and I could wear my BOT back brace without getting too hot. I even used my home-made bit warmer on the bits.…

Is the Double Bridle EASIER for Horses to Understand?

This week was the fourth time I used a double bridle on Bingo. I continue to be totally amazed how this horse who was VERY resistant to hand aids has settled down and is now showing definite signs of understanding my hand aids. Even though my curb rein is sagging enough so that I do not bring the curb chain into action, when I give hand aids…

I Rode Bingo Twice This Week

This was a good week, I got to ride Bingo 30 minutes at a walk twice this week, once for my lesson and then I FINALLY got a “homework” ride in.

Wednesday I was so glad to see that clouds of hair did not come off Bingo when Debbie groomed him! He is still shedding, but a lot of his undercoat and…

We Check Out the Weymouth Curb

One of the advantages of the double bridle is the ability to communicate with the horse at a level of great subtlety. The bradoon give the snaffle effect or course, like the Weymouth curb gives the curb effect, and the subtleness of the double bridle comes from how the rider uses both bits in combination. For most purposes the individual bits are used to indicate…

I Introduce Bingo to the Double Bridle

My French-link Egg-butt Bradoon bits finally arrived on Monday. Yeah! I got out my cob size bradoon hanger, found my longest Micklem bit straps and my new reins. My Hinterland notched reins stayed on my Wellep double-jointed snaffle since I really did not expect for Debbie to tell me to go ahead and use my made-up double bridle, but I went ahead and put my…

Bingo Slowly Improves

The shedding season is in full force and the bug season is just about to start down here. Bingo hair is all over my saddle pad, my girth, my riding clothes, and tracked into my mini-van and house, Bingo hair is taking over my universe (with some help from Cider.) You'd think after weeks of weekly thorough groomings that the quantity would decrease, that his coat would look…

Learning How to Use My Upper Thigh

Several weeks ago I had run into a quote from Stephen Peters that said that the lower legs do the driving aids and that the thighs do the collecting aids. From what Debbie has told me about how she gives her halting aids I knew that Debbie had already figured this out long ago, even it she had not put the idea forth in a pithy statement. After discussing this…

Bingo's Selective Memory

Due to Debbie's endless list of tasks to get her stable ready for a show today I had to take my lesson on Thursday. I'm just glad that Debbie was able to fit me in!

When I got to the stable I noticed a sign in the wash stall, to NOT shed the horses out in the wash stall because all the hair had…

Bingo's Vacation Ends

Bingo had a 8 month long vacation with nobody riding him at all. He's been fed, his hooves trimmed, and blanketed when needed (he lives outside), more than enough time for his body to heal from any little undetectable injuries. Debbie had started grooming out his winter coat the week before my lesson, getting a lot of hair off outside the barn.…