I have been thinking a lot about the new challenges Shannon’s Arab-Welsh mare Cider has been presenting me.  I went through my old calendars and I started riding Cider regularly in 2006 until January 2012 when I switched to riding Merlin and Bobby until I could get Cider a saddle that fit her properly since her back had changed.  At the end of those 6 years Cider was super responsive to the bit (Dr. Bristol snaffle), aware that a twitch of my little finger was a valid aid to…

Many, many decades ago Piero Santini wrote in one of his books that one reason to wear the knee high boots was that when the leather of the boot was against the leather of the saddle flap the rider’s grip was stronger.  It has been decades since I rode in the high leather boots, but I do look back at them with fondness, and every once in a while I consider getting high boots again but they look so HOT.  With my MS anything that makes me hotter makes my MS symptoms worse so I…

This has been a slow week for me since I have not gotten back my energy after being sick with a head cold weeks ago.  By the time I get to the stables, the horses are groomed, tacked up, and I get to the ring and mount I am already tired, and after the second trot I am exhausted, wrung out and hung out to dry.

Wednesday I got my lesson on Mick, using my new EZ-Fit treeless saddle of course!  This time I decided to go back to the Mullen mouth bits since I seem to have…

After a long week and a half of no riding I was excited to get out this morning.  Last night when I talked with Shannon she told me that her mother was sick and would not be out, so I asked if I could ride Cider (an Arab-Welsh pony mare), and she said yes!  Cider is one of the horses that I got my EZ-Fit treeless saddle for and I was really wanted to try it out on the widest back that I ride.  Since it is finally getting warmer down here in NC I went out an hour earlier,…