Trying Some New Things

80 minutes - 76 degrees!

Solo Ride

1) New rhythm beads

2) New "old" saddle

3) Walked beside her for the first 20 minutes of our ride

4) New commitment to 2 days work, 1 day off

4) Need to work on standing still for mounting

5) New saddle needs more flexibility

I made Morgan a new set of rhythm beads ... they're a bit too long, but that's an easy fix

I pulled out my Bona Allen saddle that I bought last year.  The right fender got a small tear near the stirrup, so I put the saddle away while I decided what to do with it.  I took it to a saddle shop yesterday to see about repairing it, and he said it could be ridden as is. So I did.

I walked beside Morgan for the first 20 minutes for three reasons. 1) I need to get in shape if I really plan to do endurance riding. 2) It seems to help her leave the rest of the herd. 3) I read that she should walk 20 minutes, then trot for 5 minutes, add a 20 minute walk as a cool down to help her get back into shape.

Also, no more riding once a week.  Her topline is losing definition.  Need to work on building that back up. 

I noticed we stopped jingling somewhere in the dunes, so I had to turn Morgan around and try to find them.  Took us 10 minutes, but here there they were.  

So, I dismounted and tied them back on Morgan's neck.  Then I tried to remount and Morgan was moving off before I could get sat down.  Four times.  We need to work on this, badly.  

It's totally my fault.  I need to be more consistent when I mount. Sometimes I let her move off, and sometimes I don't. Sending mixed messages doesn't do either of us favors.

This is Morgan's pissy face after our 15 minute "discussion" about standing still while I tried to mount.  Neither one of us was happy with me at this point.  I'm disappointed in myself more than anything.

I think the new schedule will really help us both. I noticed how much our rides improved in the summer when we had consistency and at least 3 days of saddle time a week.  My fault, but it's something I can remedy.