Dappled Delia (edited to include a link)

Still waiting for that saddle fit kit to come in the mail....
Be sure to check out this link on wither conformation : Wither Conformation- seeing damage
Rode Delia in the Wade saddle, only for about a half hour, and here is what the sweat marks looked like after- I made sure to have the saddle as far back as I could to keep it behind her shoulder blades.

You can see the dry spot just to the right of her mane on this left side;

And a bigger area on her right side. Also, the back of the saddle is too rounded for her and doesn't sit right back there.

 I kind of feel bad putting a saddle on her that doesn't fit, so I might have to do like I did with Beamer and ride bareback until I can get her a good fitting saddle; only Beamer is really well broke... Delia not so much! But she is pretty easy to get along with so I shouldn't get into too much trouble riding bareback.
I put my spurs on last time I rode her, to help her get over her tendency to just stop suddenly when she doesn't know what the heck I want or just doesn't want to pay attention (like when she hears Josie call). I use my spurs judiciously - if you look where my stirrups hang in the photo above, you'll see that my foot hangs low, so I don't have the spur against her all the time. It worked well, and she started paying attention when I put a leg on her to ask for lateral movement or to get her  crossing over in front, and for turns on the forehand. Before, she was pretty much ignoring me. I have big blunt spurs, with a wide pressure area, and I don't do sudden jabs, just apply pressure after I apply leg pressure. She's learning! She does still have issues to the right, and I was reminded of something I read on Kates blog, where she said that she had to think about opening her hip when turning to the right, and I visualized that and it really made a difference. I thought I had no leg pressure on the right when I asked for a turn to the right using my left leg, but as soon as I tried that visualization. I could feel that I was lighter with that leg and my horse turned better. Thanks Kate!
Still don't have her teeth done, and Delia is getting much better in the bosal, I only have to use a leading rein now and rarely have to bump her. She's also starting to move off the neck rein/same side leg combo nicely.

How do you like those dapples? Pretty cool markings on her back legs above the hocks too.
Gotta trim those feet again though! No I didn't turn her loose with a halter on, there is a lead rope around that post behind her.
I am all paid up for the Buck Brannaman clinic now, pretty excited for that, but want to get her in better shape. Guess I'll have to suck it up and do a lot of bareback riding!

Sunday Silence

Horse backs

One of the things that amuses me when I look at peoples ads on Facebook for saddles for sale is the way people are always focused on the gullet size. That is an important part of saddle fit to be sure, but it is only a small part. A 7.5 inch gullet in one saddle may fit completely different than the same measurement on a saddle that is built with a different tree, different bars, etc.
 Here is a link to Rod Nikkel's page that explains some of those differences: Understanding Tree Measurements  and this page gives even more explanation on fit: Factors That Affect Tree Fit.
I took some photos this morning to show the difference in the backs on my horses, so you can clearly see why my saddle that fits Beamer and would probably fit Josie if she was old enough to start, won't fit miss Delia. She has a completely different back from them.

I will have to use my Wade saddle on her until I can get the new one, but I will probably also do a lot of bareback riding too.

Update on Rio and Kai

I get Facebook updates from the owners of th' boyz, so I get photos of them that I am allowed to share. Thanks to Alana for these photos!
They recently had Rio and Kai at a clinic working buffalo- both colts are ridden by teenage girls. Alana said that the boys did amazing and that it was breathtaking to watch. (insert BIG grin!!!)

I'm button-poppin' proud of those colts and the young ladies that ride them. This is why I do what I do- raise affordable high quality horses.

 Here they are getting instruction....

and learning to move the critters.

Rio, getting into it....

Kai- he always did like making things move so he should love this!

Relaxed, not hot, just doing the job. Perfect.

What's happening here

This last week has been busy around here. During the week, I was helping my sister with her job search, did a lot of yardwork including thinning the dead canes out of the raspberries, and this last weekend made a trip up to Janice's to pick up some flowers for all my baskets- today I planted most of them; it's hot here and no frost in the forecast for a while! Yay!
Ted rototilled the garden for me, as well as fixing the little 1942 tractor so we can clean the horse pens now and move compost to the flower gardens.
We worked an auction on Saturday, a fundraiser for a local church. Sunday I laid out a pen with electric tape for the mares- the lawn, which takes me an hour to mow with a riding lawn mower is now repurposed into two horse pens which use up over half the space- might as well let the horses eat it, as I have no pasture here any more.
Today I took Delia out for a ride, I wanted to go bareback and in the sidepull, but she wouldn't even leave the yard.... so I saddled her up and put the snaffle bridle on her and away we went. I wanted to know how she would do riding out by herself but still within sight of her buddies- she is kinda herdbound. She walked out real good at first, keen and interested.

We turned down a road that runs through the fields, parallel to our place, so she could see Josie in the distance. She called a bit but not too bad. I asked for lateral flexion a few times and got absolutely nothing! She's iron jawed in a snaffle- I get better flexion in the bosal so that's what I'll use next time. My dentist apparently doesn't want to come to Creston for a few more months so I am going to have to get a vet to do her teeth. Which makes me a little cranky because the vets here are not exactly good at horse dentistry, but hopefully will do a good enough job.
On the way back she was really doing the quickstep, focused on Josie who was galloping around the pen calling, but she did stay in the walk as I asked. I've got a long way to go with this mare before I can remotely call her broke! Wish I had my round pen up, it's a shame on my landlord that I had to take it down and use it for fencing.
On the plus side, nothing bothered her, there was traffic and strange things in the ditches, and one guy hauling a boat that made a lot of rattling and banging as it went over bumps.  When we got back I worked her for about 5 minutes on circles, and watched Josie as she ran hard and tried to stop but wiped out and slid into the panel fence... could have been a wreck but it wasn't.
Tomorrow is plant the garden and hopefully another ride, this time in the bosal. I have decided that I am going to either have to get a saddle custom made for Delia or sell her- both my saddles leave dry spots on her very wide withers. Since I like her, I will probably get a saddle made.... (grin).

She is "double backed" which means that the muscles on either side of her spine rise up above her backbone, and although she has a high enough wither, her shoulders are really wide. Even setting my Wade saddle behind the shoulder blades it still leaves dry spots. So I have ordered a Dennis Lane fit kit from a saddle maker in Alberta, it should be here in a few days. Once I have her profile figured out, I'll get the right tree ordered from Rod Nikkel and have the saddle made at Top Hand Western Shop in Claresholm Alberta.
In other news, I had my collie Tess bred at the end of February, and her due date is May 1st- but I am doubting that she caught, sure doesn't look or feel like she is carrying any puppies. If I'm lucky, there will be a couple. I have orders for 5 pups, so it's disappointing! Tess is going to be 9 this fall, and unless she comes back into heat this year, she won't get bred again. I really wanted a female to keep, as grandma Reba is really starting to go downhill, she will be 14 this September.

Sunday Silence

A good Easter weekend

Hope you all had a good Easter, however you celebrate it. I had family over- yes, the minions and their mama, my sister, are here. We attended Good Friday Services, and Sunday Mass, and the kids got lots of horse time in. They rode both Delia and Beamer, but I think I'll have them ride Delia the most as she is the horse they will eventually be able to trail ride and go to little shows on.

They made lots of progress, learning how to ride in a bosal instead of the curb bit that they use on Beamer. It required some effort too, as Delia is nowhere near as broke as Beamer! It was a really good learning weekend for them, and it showed me that Delia will someday become a good kids horse.

This is the youngest minion, she will be 7 next month. Her favourite thing is trotting on Delia! She did a little bit of steering today. The other two, who are older, did a lot of learning how to steer and stop and progressed to the point where they got to ride her solo for a bit today.
As for big girl stuff: What I need to work on with Delia- Overcoming herd bound, learning how to move individual parts of her body, turns on the forehand and haunches which are rudimentary right now, sidepass which is barely there. Once she gets lighter in response to my leg aids ( I may need to put my spurs on, she is pretty dead sided) I will be able to get her performing nicely in lateral moves too. On the ground, I am working on teaching her not to crowd me, and not to dive for grass when she is being led. She has a bit of un-learning to do in that department! Once I have all those elements at a walk and trot, then I will see how she does at the lope.
Over all, I am pleased with this mare, she isn't a fancy show horse or a speedy games horse, but if I can develop her into a steady mount for me for trails and Cowboy Dressage, and be able to put kids on her for fun shows, she will earn her keep.