As my youngest daughter was only planning to lead George on the walk, we put the Wintec Endurance Cair Panel saddle on Rose. It has a good feature:
namely you can adjust this strap so that the girth can fall more to the back or front. |
End of ride, so the pad has slid back, but you can see how the girth is farther back. |
This is Rose discovering the neighbour's sheep. She looks way less alarmed than either Bridget or George when they first saw the woolly peril. |
In the field it's Rose who leads, however, and pretty soon she made it clear that she wanted to go in front. She was full of forward motion but stayed loose and stretched out until we reached the sheep. At that point, she got a little tight again. This was also the spot where there was an option to go down a lane to the right, and Rose was certain she wanted to head in this new direction. Our neighbour down the lane has horses, and as we approached, Rose got more and more tense. George, in the meantime, stayed lop-eared and calm. No worries for him - Mom was leading the way. Rose and the other horses whinnied to each other, and after a few exchanges, it seemed like a good time to suggest turning toward home.
Rose became progressively more relaxed the closer we got to home. By the time we reached our fence she was really stepping out and stretching, and her eye was calm and happy. As we walked up the drive, Rose gave Bridget (who was on the other side of the fence) the evil eye, which is what she does when she's getting attention and wants Miss Bridget to go away.
With the horses reunited in the field, we stayed to schmooze for a while. Rose must have felt that our expedition had given us a new connection, as she crept up to say hello to me - something she rarely does.
I dunno - I kind of all felt we were all one happy family.
Lovely! Rose looks really confident and it's so interesting to see the change in George. What type of bitless bridle is that, is it a sidepull?
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure what you'd call it. It's an EquiRoyal "Hackamore Jump Bridle". http://www.amazon.com/EquiRoyal-Hackamore-Jump-Bridle-Brown/dp/B002KS0Z82
ReplyDeleteAll the pressure is on the nose or, I guess yeah, sideways. There's no poll pressure or under the jaw pressure. I suppose it's a bit crude, but at least it probably won't make the horse feel trapped.
It only comes in "full" size - which is slightly too big for all our horses' heads unless you make extra holes. There's a buckle on the crown - need to monitor that that isn't rubbing. Also you can see that the wide cheek pieces might rub - I may need to add fleece. The price is right though. Next time I might spring for a fancier make.
Rose looks very happy in those photos. I am interested in the girth options with that saddle also.
ReplyDelete