My Heels Creep Up Again

In my search for more stability while doing the “rider's push-up” exercise, it occurred to me that my double-offset Prussian sided stirrups might be destabilizing me while I bent my hip joints so I could touch the horse's neck with my chest. So I dug out my pair of regular Prussian sided stirrups, bought another pair of the Super-Comfort stirrup pads, put the new pads on…

I Get to See Debbie Riding Bingo

This week at Debbie's stable I got to show her how I “customized” my new Free Jump Collar so I felt comfortable using it on a horse. I used a combination of a Western curb strap, a 1” metal ring and a doubled up stirrup leather attached to the girth to keep the collar down at the base of the horse's neck, I added a pair of “breast-plate Ds” to the breast-plate…

When the Weather Interferes With My Riding

It has been a frustrating week for me as a horseback rider! I missed out on riding Cider last Sunday because the weather forecasters were predicting rain in the morning, so I called Shannon and we canceled my ride. Sunday morning there was no rain and I was miffed, until later in the afternoon when there were…

Have I Found “Another Piece of the Puzzle”?

Ever since I started doing the “rider's push-ups” six weeks ago I have experienced many moments of feeling quite unstable on the horses' backs. I achieved some feeling of stability while doing the “rider's push-ups” on Bingo, a gelding, but I never really got rid of the feeling of teetering in my stirrups while on the mares, Cider and Mia. At first I…