I am voluptuous! Hehehe

Everyone loves a girl with curves ;) and I am the curviest of them all!!!!! Despite my small stature of 15hh, I have managed to fit into a 38cm XW tree saddle that was custom built for a CLYDESDALE! 

Katie is grumbling about it because it means that it will be extra hard to find a saddle worthy of my voluptuous back, but I think it means that I am just so incredible that all the saddles made for boring regular horses can't handle all of dis curvy bodacious sass. ;P

My ex-nemesis, now bestfriend, Chelsea, is a fellow curvy babe. We gotta stick together and scratch each others' back. Can't trust a skinny mare with back scratchin'

Note from the editor (Katie)

Saddles. Good lord, I hate searching for a new saddle. And it doesn't help that I have the most round, wide shouldered, sensitive backed, weirdly shaped horse ever.

About a year ago, I had to go through the search to find a dressage saddle for basic flatwork training of the mare. With the help of a saddle fitter, I took multiple road trips to multiple tack shops multiple times, looking for a decent fit. 16 saddles later, I found one that was out of my price range, but I sucked it up in order to get the (only?) saddle that fit my horse. And then it needed to be reflocked, dropping even more money into it. (***EDIT: Now this saddle no longer fits because LITTLE MISS SHOULDERS had to go and get muscled. So now we need TWO new saddles***)

Now, I am looking for a jumping saddle, hoping to start teaching the beast to jump in the summer (when I get back from school). Like the first attempt with the dressage saddle, I set out to find "a cheap saddle that could work." Cue unrealistic expectations.

Now it seems that I will be partaking in another exhausting region-wide search to find a saddle that fits Beauty and me, probably spending much more than intended.

UGH. BEAST, Y U SO WEIRDLY SHAPED?

A difference of expectations...

It has come to my attention that my person and I have very different goals for the coming year. Examples:

My goals for the year:
-Eat
-Investigate everything
-Nap
-Occasionally a ride with Katie
-Be awesome

Katie's goals for the year:
-Good canters!!!!!!!
-Start jumping under saddle
-Hacks (without spooking at everything)
-Trips off property to get used to riding in new places (prep for shows)
-Showing intro level dressage tests
-BRING PONY TO COLLEGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
-Generally being awesome/getting more awesome

So you see, Katie's list requires effort on my part and hard work. And concentration, which I tend to lack--HEY LOOK AT THAT! oh sorry, what was I saying?

Unfortunately, Katie will not be here for some of this, since she has 'college' so Amy Barn Owner will be riding me, and maybe some other people, like Amigo the Appy-loosa's owner and my boyfriend, Andy's, owner.

ALL THE THINGS!

MY GIRL CAME BACK! She is on break from 'college' and so she is home for SIX WHOLE WEEKS!

 

This is my best "GIVE TREATS NOW" face. Katie calls it "moose nose"

Anyway, we have done ALL the things. We have ridden lots, including canters and we have done free jumping, where I showed off my perfect form over 3' (who says Morgans can't jump!?)

My proud face!

I have shown her that I have made friends with my former enemy, Chelsea.

And we played in the first snow of the season! We lunged in a big field and then rode a little, but Katie did not get any pictures, since she was too busy trying to get me to calm down (but it was SO exciting, how could I be CALM?) So we just got pictures afterwards of us playing in it.

I like having my girl back :)

Long time, no stuffs!!!

Hey, I forgot about this bloggity thing! Mostly because I have been so busy and distracted by the daily pressures of pasture munching and bossing my horsey friends around.

But mostly I have been coping with the grief of losing my girl! I mean, not LOSING losing, she's still alive and all, but she's gone! Her mom tells me she is at a place called 'college' where she is in training like me, but for people stuffs. I am super sad that she isn't here with me, but I get loves from her mom. Amy Barn Owner is riding me while Katie is gone. I have been learning a TON of stuff to impress my person when she comes back, but it is hard and sometimes I do not like Amy Barn Owner for making me work so hard. But Katie will be SO proud that I can now trot all fancy dressage pony-like and ever CANTER with a person on my back now!

I can't wait for Katie to be done with training so she can come back and spoil me with treats and kisses and easier rides!

Thoughts on lessons

Every week or so, my person, Katie, rides me in this thing called a lesson. This is when Amy Barn Owner tells Katie how to ride me better. Sometimes, like today, Amy Barn Owner rides me before Katie. This is weird, because Katie is usually the only one to ride me, so I tell the People this by tail swishes and I look at Katie to make sure she is okay with this (she doesn't care). Amy Barn Owner rides me to figure out what kind of riding makes me work best, so she can better teach Katie. She asks for harder stuff than Katie does.

Over the course of these lessons, as well as generally being ridden, I have discovered something very important! When you try to say "I don't want to do that, I do what I want!" you get rein pulls, leg bumps and more working. This is not fun, so you make more grumps about it, but it only makes more work for you.

But, when you try what the rider is asking, even if you don't get it right, as long as you try, the asking goes away and you get "Good girl"'s and shoulder scritches. Also, even when the thing they ask you to do is hard (like trot with a bend and with one's head down, versus in the sky, like is my first preference), it usually feels better! When your head is in the air, it hurts your back and shoulder and hips, but when you use your back, it takes pressure away!

Dis ma game face - bring on the trots!

So I have decided I like shoulder scritches and "good girl"s and less ouches better than rein pulls, leg bumps and more work. So I think I will do what the People ask me from now on. With exceptions, of course. ;)

Good girls get their forelock braided! :)

Belly ouches

Last Saturday, I had the belly ouches (*colic*). Katie came after feeding time and I was trying to nap away the ouch.

Here I am looking pitiful but still cute!

I never lay down when stuff is happening because everything is SO interesting and how can you be so passive when stuff is HAPPENING!

I hadn't eaten my ponydinner or my hay. And I was all hot and sweaty. 

Katie had Amy Barn Owner come check me out and she listened to my heart and belly with a cold metal circle with tubes to her ears. Normally, I would have investigated this odd device, but I felt so icky that I just stood with my nose on the ground. Katie hugged and patted me and was clearly very worried. Amy Barn Owner said I was not too bad, but Katie should walk me around and they squirted icky goo in my mouth that was supposed to make me feel better. I did not feel like walking, but Katie insisted, so I did, with my nose about an inch from the ground. I was super sad looking. :(

But I am back to my normal self now! The People think it was because I was running a lot in the afternoon and I got really hot, then chugged my water in my stall. Guess I won't do that again!