Mustang Saga

I need a saddle! I'm obsessing! I can't stop looking for saddles on all the online advertising places I can think of. I even went and brought one home today and tried it on Tonka and Mack. WAY too narrow for either of them, so I'll have to take it back tomorrow.

Before that I rode Tonka for a good 2 hours today, just dinking around. Went down past the neighbor's at one point and he wanted to hang out and visit, there were horses on both sides of the road. Took some doing to get his feet moving again. Other than that we worked on obstacles, basic stuff like backing, trotting, side passing, pivoting, spinning (slowly) in a box, etc. I had him position himself right next to an old workbench/table we use to mount when we ride bareback. He thought it was moderately suspicious. I was able to dismount onto the table, circle him around it, reposition him 3-4 times, and then mount again. Oh yeah, and we worked on not rushing down steep hills. It was a fun ride, and he actually worked up a sweat somehow, even though we weren't doing any speedy stuff. When we got done I detangled and brushed his "fabio" mane. He wasn't too thrilled about that.

We were doing so well, I got to thinking maybe I should enter the trail competition at Ride the West. But no, I think not... Not unless we get something phenomenal going on by then. He is so easily distracted, and there will be distractions galore there.

Tomorrow I'm going to haul him up to my riding lesson with me. Not sure exactly why I'm going, my lesson will be only 1/2 hour long tomorrow, but oh well... I can at least maybe get some input on this saddle and how it feels funny. I think I figured it out. It sits slightly higher in the back of the seat than it does in the front, which tips me slightly forward, legs back a bit much, and then my hips hurt. That's my theory anyway. But maybe I'm used to riding incorrectly with my legs too far forward, and this saddle sits me right but I'm not used to it. I don't think so though... Could also be the stirrups are too long, but the holes are unevenly punched and I can't take them up a notch without them being way too short. Blah, blah, blah... Sorry, I guess I'm babbling... Good night!