E-MAIL: trajectory1780@gmail.com

Sunday, July 17, 2016

Second Ride

Riding this morning for another 2 hours.  Red tested me a little in the beginning, but quickly settled down.  At 1 point a small tree limb plucked my hat from my head.  I turned her around, got off, fetched my hat, then got back on.  Not an issue at all.

A very short steep slope was not an issue for the mountain horse, but not as easy for me.  I leaned back but not enough.  She hesitated at the bottom and I almost pitched over her head.  I didn't have my feet far enough forward.

She's a fine horse.  I still want to learn how to ask her for the rack.

Two hours was plenty for me.  Butt is a little sore, and definite groin pull.  Damn stiff as I write this.

Friday, July 15, 2016

Decisions

So I want a better saddle, one that isn't so hard on my butt.  But what for a racking horse?

Was thinking about Australian, but read that they're not flexible enough for a racking horse.  The same for most western saddles.

Also read that saddles made for gaited horses are also too stiff to allow adequate muscle movement.

Then there's flex tree saddles, which may not adequately distribute the rider's weight.

There are flex tree gaited saddles, but I hesitate to pay more for a saddle than the horse.

What to do?

Sunday, July 10, 2016

Good Ride


The Boss and I went riding this morning. I think we were out for a couple of hours, but hard to tell, never checked the time.  It was a very good ride.  The new mare did everything asked of her without fuss.  Passed horses going the other way and a car passed us on the road heading to the park.  No issues at all.

Being a mountain horse, she's not as smooth walking as a Tennessee Walker, but I've gladly traded that for such a calm and willing horse.  When she speeds up a little and gets into her gait (rack) she's very smooth indeed.  If she doesn't get crazy every 3 weeks as some mares do, then she's the perfect horse for me.

Added

The Walking horse is a smoother ride at the walk, but they don't seem to pick their feet up as high as the Mountain horse.  The new mare walked over all kinds of stuff on the trail without a single stumble.  Not sure my Walker would've been able to do that.

The Walker mare and I became close.  We bonded in both directions.  I hope, with time, I'll have the same relationship with the new horse.

Saturday, July 9, 2016

New Girl

Went looking for a new horse. So far I've seen 4.  The first just wasn't for me.  The second was a TWH black mare.  Too much like the one I just lost.  Today we looked at 2 more.  The first was a real nice TWH black gelding.  I liked him a lot, but his markings were identical to the mare I lost.  Emotionally that was just too hard.

The second was almost the perfect horse for me, and she would be if she was a he.  The owner said it was hard to tell when she was in heat.  I hope so, because we brought her home today.  The Boss and I both rode her.  She did everything asked and only when asked, and has a nice smooth 'racking' gate.  When the Boss rode her down hill, with stirrups too long, she fell off, and the horse stopped in her tracks and waited for her to get up.  Now that was impressive.

So now we have 2 Sorrel mountain horses.  A 13 YO gelding and a 8 YO mare.

If I could've afforded the extra, I might have brought home both of them.

The one in front is the new mare.

Monday, July 4, 2016

Horse Heaven

The injured mare was doing well enough that we slowly re-introduced her into the rest of the horses.  It was going very well.  She was almost walking without a limp, and I saw her canter for a very short distance.  Saturday night she rolled on the ground like horses sometimes do, but had troubles getting back to her feet.  When she finally got up there was a loud pop.  The poor thing broke her hip.  Thankfully a vet was available to put her down a couple hours later.  I'm missing that girl.  If there's a horse heaven, that's where she is now.

This picture was taken last August when I first acquired her.  She was just 7 years old.  I'm sure missing that pretty girl.