Trial of the Girth

Tired and sunburned from the day before I was happy to go see Willy. Sundays are pretty quiet at the stable he’s at and holiday Sundays are even more quiet! I’ve normally been in the indoor ring, sometimes the small outer ring. Today I decided it was best to stay well out of the sun. Again, Willy was not in the same run he’d been in, he was back with Buttons…I think that’s he’s name! Willy was happy to see me with pricked ears and a gentle nuzzle. I had the new girth along with the rest of my tack, so I crossed my fingers that the girth would fit him.

Grooming is always a favorite time for me, I love going over the horses coat and making it gleam. He’s a bay so the shine really comes out in the sunlight! The only issue I had with him is that he fights with his hind legs, he wants to keep them up really high in the air and he struggles when I try to get his leg rested on my thigh for support. Oh well, at least it’s expected so I’m not caught off guard. Once I got to saddling I realized the girth was just a bit too short, so I ran to the tack room to borrow the white string and fleece one I borrowed last time. Mental note to self, a measuring tape is always a good thing to have easily accessible, perhaps I should keep one in my car…there are so many times I could use one, not just for horse related things either!

I put on Willy’s bridle, so happy now that I’ve realized my difficulty with Willy and Divine have been that my thumb is too short. There may be a proper way to hold the bridle but if I find a way that works for me, and my stubby fingers, and it doesn’t upset my horse by banging the bit on their teeth then so be it, that’s just how it has to fly! I tighten the girth a couple more holes and then mounted up.

Willy has been doing much better at being quick to respond for stopping. We worked again on circles and figure eights. I did trotting in both directions, trying to work on the sitting trot but honestly feeling like I was torturing myself and the horse so we eventually switched to posting trot. The figure eights were difficult, it seemed each time I changed diagonal Willy would start to slow down and try to walk. We’ll keep working on that! We also tried backing up; Willy is such a good boy! I also did some leg exercises, lifting both legs off the sides and balancing just on the seat.

After our ride he was much more relaxed with his hind legs and the hoof picking. One thing I love about him is that he’s very huggable. I returned him to his stall and put on the fly mask that was way too big for him, they have to have some that fit him! Then I returned the girth I borrowed after comparing its length to my other one, that way I’ll know what size to get at Equiline on Monday. I rolled up the four polo wraps, gathered my tack and then headed home to relax with the hubby. No fireworks this fourth of July for us, we were tired, I was sunburned and a night watching movies was just the ticket! Happy trails everyone!