About a week ago, I stopped by a little tack store near my physical therapist's office. It's always a little fun to check out new places. This is a new/used/consignment shop.
While I was wandering around, I saw an endurance saddle. I checked the price. $200.00. Humm. It's a nice saddle, although not high-end. I thought it looked like it might fit Hoss, and I was already a little concerned his back had changed enough I needed to get him a different saddle. I didn't do anything about it that day, just tucked the information in the back of my head for future reference.
Fast forward to our ride in the Lagunas, and I was sure. We needed a new saddle. Sure, I could get by with the one we have for quite some time, if I were supremely careful with it. But the knowledge of a saddle sitting in a shop for $200 was there. I stopped back by after my next physical therapy appointment and picked it up.
I was driving my daughter's new-to-her car, due to mystery coolant loss. We had just had the head gasket replaced, and done quite a lot of work on it, so I wanted to be sure things were going well. After having all that work done, I was reluctant to rely on my daughter to know what was going on. When my husband's not home, I'm the designated grease monkey.
I took the car back to our mechanics, who were practically panicking about it. I assured them it hadn't overheated, although I had added nearly a gallon of coolant in the previous twenty-four hours. I hung out while they checked it out. It turned out to be a bad radiator cap. $8.00 later I was on my way.
My daughter needed her car back, and I wanted the Jeep back, so we met for lunch and performed the Great Vehicle Exchange. By the time all was said and done, I got home a little after 2:00pm.
I really wanted to try out the new saddle. I changed into a pair of riding tights, then got Hoss out to try the saddle on. It appeared to fit him quite nicely, but I needed to ride him in it.
I was thinking I had plenty of time. I needed to leave for bell choir rehearsal by 6:00pm, so that left me with a good two hours to ride. I got Hoss loaded up, and the dogs in the truck, and we headed down to Hollenbeck Canyon to try out the new saddle.
It took a little longer than usual to get saddled up. I had to set up the new saddle with a girth and fiddle with things. The stirrups are a bit on the long side for me, but they're as high as they go. If I commit to this saddle, I'll have to have more holes punched in the fenders. It is a little on the larger side for me, being a 17 inch seat, but it's comfortable.
We headed out on the trail, and the first thing I noticed was Hoss carrying his head lower than usual. That's a good sign. He felt relaxed and comfortable, aside from being a bit foot sore. He was really trippy on his left front, and I got off to check the foot. I didn't find anything obvious, but after clearing his frog, he walked better for a time.
We did some trotting, and it was the most relaxed and forward I've felt him in some time. Again, I could tell he was foot sore, but his head position told me a lot.
When we reached the top of the single track trail it dawned on me I'm an idiot. I need to be at bell choir at 6:00. Oh, dear. I didn't have enough time to go as far as I'd like!
With this realization, I headed Hoss along the ridge line trail to cut out much of the trails. I didn't have my GPS (it was just a saddle trial ride; I wasn't considering it a conditioning ride, so the data was irrelevant) so I don't know how many miles I cut out by making this choice, but it was enough to get us back to the trailer in just enough time for me to get home.
Along the ridge line trail, Hoss stepped out nicely. This trail is very soft and forgiving. On the downhill side, he went down much more aggressively and confidently than I've had him go in a long time. Recently it seemed like going downhill, he would use every evasion he could think of not to have to go straight down the hill. This is yet another clue that I had missed that the saddle was creating issues.
When we got back to the harder trails, Hoss slowed down and I felt him being touchy about his feet. I'm thinking he's getting too much grain. Carbohydrates and sugars can increase foot soreness. So I will be cutting back on his grain and see how that changes things.
We got back to the trailer and I untacked him. Aside of evidence of the saddle slipping forward, he had no sore or dry spots. The slipping forward can be easily explained by not being able to get the saddle as tight as I would have liked. The off-side billet is too long for Hoss, so I couldn't tighten the girth enough. Unlike the other saddle when not on tight enough, it did not roll on me, but stayed in the middle of his back.
I drove home as quickly as I could, and didn't bother to back the trailer in properly. After all, we need to do a nice long trail ride to test out that saddle, so I didn't need to unhitch the truck. And since I have the Jeep back, I don't need my truck to go to bell choir. After asking my roommate to feed the animals, I got in the Jeep and rushed to bells, where, while I was late, I wasn't as late as usual.
For our next trick, we'll take that saddle out for a nice long ride!
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