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12/02/2004: "The Good, The Bad, And The Just Plain Ridiculous – Originally Posted October 19, 2004"

I will now TRY to relate what’s been going on this past week, and anyone who reads this can decide for themselves which category everything belongs to…

Okay, I have this new saddle – Wintec Endurance Pro – with the adjustable gullet, and was using the widest gullet plate available on Indy. Still, the saddle didn’t seem to fit. Not that Indy was complaining – yet – but the saddle pitched and rolled even worse than DJ’s old saddle did, and I was still having to cut Indy in half with the girth to keep the thing from turning when I mounted. This with a supposedly non-slip pad AND girth. Hmmm…

Not only that, I’m becoming increasingly aware that the saddle doesn’t fit ME any better. I believe the problem is that there is a limit to the amount of adjustment one can make to a given saddle and get away with it. To make more than minor adjustments, you have to have a saddle that was designed that way from the beginning. Stuffing a much wider gullet plate into a saddle that was optimized for a much narrower one creates more problems than if fixes.

Actually, I noticed this the first time I mounted – when I had to swing my leg out MUCH more widely than I had EVER done to get it to the other side. At the time, I thought of it as a minor inconvenient, Then, there was the fact that the flaps held my legs out so far that it was really difficult to get them to touch Indy’s sides. The twist had become extremely wide and flat as well, and I almost felt as if my legs had to come straight out from my hip.

All these things didn’t seem to be that bothersome for short periods at the walk, and I felt some of it would correct itself when the saddle “broke in.” Now, I doubt if the saddle will ever be correct at this extreme outer limit of its design.

What happened to change my mind? Last Wednesday, I took Indy out into the field for the first time. He wasn’t excited really, but he didn’t understand that this was a working expedition, not a grazing one. Why would he, after all? With only the side pull on his head, he could easily out muscle me to put his head down, and, although he would lift his head and move on when I asked him to, he was frustrated and confused.

After about 15 minutes of this, I had decided to take him back to the paddock for now and not bring him out again until he better understood what the heck he was supposed to do. As I turned him up the hill toward the barn, he started to trot – not toward the barn, but past it to the front fence line where there is some particularly tasty grass.

Since he definitely was NOT rushing back to the barn – and I felt we’d already pulled on each other more than I ever wanted to - I decided to let him trot on, knowing he was going to stop at the fence anyway. Now the problems with stretching the gullet to the max REALLY came into play.

Indy has a very smooth trot, but we were going down the slope of the hill, and I felt as if I were being tossed about while doing a split on a tabletop. I couldn’t sit “into” the saddle at all, nor could I get my legs around Indy. My balance quickly became very precarious, and I felt totally disconnected from Indy. I was just trying to stay on until we got to the fence.

Then, since I wasn’t giving him any signals to the contrary, Indy went into a canter. It was a smooth transition, and he wasn’t running or bucking – just a nice working canter. Incredibly, it still was more than I could handle under the circumstances, and I fell – HARD.

I don’t think my helmet ever touched the ground except when I rolled over onto my back, trying to breathe. I had landed – as I ALWAYS do – on my left ribcage, and the wind was knocked out of me so completely, I couldn’t have gotten up if my life depended on it. When I was able to pick myself up, I realized that my already bruised up left ribs had taken yet another BAD hit.

All my life doctors have told me that I have an extraordinarily high pain tolerance. As my hip surgeon put it, “You’re tough as NAILS.” Uh huh, right. Tell that to the bruised, strained muscles and cartridge of my left ribcage. Mike has had to do ALL the barn work for the last three days because I can’t even BREATHE without gasping with excruciating pain.

It IS getting better, and I HOPE to go out and at least do a bit of grooming this afternoon. I won’t be good for much else today though, and probably won’t be for several more days. What a freaking BUMMER!

It wasn’t Indy’s fault at all, and I’m not the least bit hesitant about getting back on him – but NOT in that saddle.

It is now TWO days later…

I can’t BELIEVE I started this two days ago, and am just now getting back to finish it. Yesterday morning one of the muscles at Ground Zero went into spasm. Every time I moved –or even took a breath for that matter – it went into an absolutely excruciating spasm. Needless to say, I wasn’t able to be at the computer. It is better today, so hopefully I can get a few things done. Sigh…

So, what about my saddle problems when I AM able to ride again? Stay tuned.