Trying to Get Riding Fit with MS at the Speed of a Snail

[RMJacobs]

Can you try wearing the ice vest around the house to see if it will aggravate that muscle? It might feel good. I’ve given up trying to predict which of my body parts will do better with heat versus ice. For everything but my lower back, ice seems to be the winner.

As for the leg jerks, some horses will surprise you. I have hand tremors that have just continue to get worse. I drove my own ponies without contact, and could get away with that with my been there, done that guys. But it worried me when I was taking lessons earlier this year. I drove two different minis with proper contact and got no complaints from either one. I was pleasantly surprised.

I really hope you can get on a horse again soon.

Rebecca

[Jackie_Cochran]

Right now I am sort of hopeful and excited.

I ordered 3 things from Total Saddle Fit and they came today!

Of course in the normal course of events in my life it may be weeks before I can try them.

I bought the Western Squish saddle pad. I went with the Western since my ability to ride is going downhill lately and I need all the help I can get so I will be trying out different types of saddles (endurance, Spanish. and if necessary Western). I also got the shims for this saddle pad. I bought this pad because the TSF site claimed that it dampens the side to side movement of the saddle for both horse and rider. The last two times I fell off a horse I was picking up “comments” from the horse that the saddle going from side to side was IRRITATING them.

The one thing I am excited about !!! is the Slim stability stirrup leathers. Maybe, just maybe, these will give my seat even more stability than my regular Millbrook stability leathers. I realize that the gap in frictional grip when my thigh goes over where the buckle is may be adding to my insecurity in the saddle (in spite of the silicon full seat breeches and my Rider Grip rubber pads near the knee rolls of my saddle (these are no longer made, sniff, I should have bought more of them!)) This is near the area of my inner thigh where one or two muscles have completely stopped working. These muscles used to activate when the horse moved oddly, but now they seem to be totally inert.

I hope I get to try all this stuff soon, along with my new bitless/leather snaffle “double bridle” and my new Sure Seat saddle pad with the velcroed straps around my thighs.

I got all the saddle fittings that looked to me like it might help me stay in the saddle. Now I just have to wait until my body stops hurting so much when I move “wrong”. Then I will be able to try them and give you all a report on their efficacy for my unique situation.

Next is to try the traditional Spanish saddle.

And maybe I will be able to gradually build up my strength enough so I can ride in a true Forward Seat again–hope, hope, hope. It is so much more fun to ride Forward in a Forward Seat saddle than to ride a chair seat in any saddle. If that happens then I can save all this stuff that does not work for riding Forward Seat for when I get old(er) and need more security on horseback.

I am 73 now, my inspiration is Queen Elizabeth, if I make it into my 90s I want to be riding until I die.

[3PonyFarm]

I hope you can try everything out soon!

[Jackie_Cochran]

I finally rode a horse today, 12 weeks after I fell off.

I rode Cinnabar (sp?), an aged grey part Arab/Mustang/Morgan gelding whose preferred top speed at a walk is 2 MPH. Even competitive trail riding did not get him to move on out. He, according to Debbie, is mostly unflappable (every horse freaks out sometime.) He is one of the two lesson horses Debbie has that she can put unconfident beginners on until they can relax when riding a horse. JUST the type of horse I needed today! I had ridden him for several months several years ago, apparently he remembered me and gave me several nuzzles.

I forgot my helmet but being a lesson barn they could come up with a helmet that fit me.

I rode in Debbie’s trail saddle. We used the Total Saddle Fit Western Squish pad and we put the velcroed Sure Seat on the saddle. We used my bitless “double bridle”, with the Light Rider bitless bridle and the Fager Adam leather snaffle bit on it.

Cinnabar had no problems with this stuff. When the pad was put on he just stood there while all the girls around him said that when a saddle pad was put on him he immediately tries to shrug it off. He gave one twitch of the muscles over his withers moving it back an inch or two and the Squish pad stayed centered. With her trail riding saddle Debbie usually uses the BOT/ThinLine Contender II saddle pad which is thinner, her dressage girth was almost too short to girth him up but Debbie managed.

Then there was the challenge of putting my decidedly odd “double bridle” on him, then we had to fit the bridle to him by shortening the straps by several holes.

I sat during most of the grooming and tacking up. I did manage to walk out to the ring but that made me pretty tired.

I needed all three of them helping me to mount. Debbie was holding the horse and keeping an eye on my left side. I just could not get my right thigh over the saddle and it took both grand-daughters to help me get it over. Debbie had to lengthen the stirrups some too.

Cinnabar was a very good boy today. When I asked him for contact he took contact like the leather snaffle was just another bit, one that needed to be obeyed. He remembered all the stuff I had worked with him on several years ago, he kept steady contact, he reacted to my rein aids, and he even remembered how I give aids for a turn on the hindquarters. He did not seem to care if my rein aid or my contact was with the bit or the bitless noseband, rein aids with both were obeyed promptly.

Occasionally he even extended his walking stride a little bit in response to my spurless leg aids. I know he was obeying my aids because I had neither crop nor spurs, so he was not obeying me out of any fear. I reduced my leg aids to just tensing my alternating calf muscles and he still acted like I gave him a valid leg aid (and I had never used the tensing of my calf muscles as a leg aid on him before.) Of course, like before, I had to use my leg aids every stride to keep him moving just a tiny bit faster, but I was happy that he responded.

I lasted 20 minutes before I got too tired. I needed help dismounting too, I managed to get my right leg over the cantle by myself but my right foot had to be guided to the three-step mounting block. I got down SLOWLY and he was patient with me.

After my lesson Debbie was going to coach her UNCC equestrian team. She told me that several more students had signed up for the team, and that she also had several new regular students. So many new people want lessons from her stable that she has had to stop accepting new riding students, and I think her stable is FULL as far as boarders go.

It was so good to ride a horse again! It was so good to get a lesson from Debbie again though we both had to get used to my “new” seat, the seat most riders used before Caprilli invented the Forward Seat and dressage became super popular. It is a chair seat, with my legs forward aiming so that my heel is under my knee joint, with my seat further back in the saddle while I try to keep my back straight and vertical.

With both the TSF Squish pad and the Sure Seat velcro seat cover I did not slide around in the saddle. I felt guilty because in this seat my weight is directly over the weaker part of the horse’s back because there is nothing under the rib bones to attach to but cartilage. I told Debbie this and she agreed that this was not as ideal as my Forward Seat but since people had been riding like this for thousands of years it was not automatically horrible for the horse. I think that the Squish pad ameliorated some of my weight there, this pad is rather stiff and gives a good, solid foundation for the saddle.

I rode a horse today!

[Alterwho]

I’m so happy you were able to ride. This made my day

[3PonyFarm]

Yay! Cinnabar sounds like such a good boy!

[RMJacobs]

I am so, so happy for you!

Rebecca

[NaturallyHappy]

Me, too!!!

[Jackie_Cochran]

Shannon came by today.

I rode my Home Horse for around 17 minutes, mostly just balancing (Shannon said I was good from side to side) with some mild slow “walk”. I was using my “new” chair seat again. I also got up into 2-point once at the halt.

After my HH session Shannon helped me by getting all my new stuff on my saddle that I use for my lessons, the Sure Seat velcro saddle seat cover, and my new Total Saddle Fit Slim Stability stirrup leathers which have a loop at the top like the Webber stirrup leathers do. Combined with my Total Saddle Fit Western Squish saddle pad this set up should help me feel more stable in the saddle. I also hope that this set up will reduce the side to side movement of my saddle which should make the horses a lot happier with me.

[3PonyFarm]

I hope you get to ride this week!

[Jackie_Cochran]

I had my lesson today with Debbie on Cinnabar.

This weekend I asked Shannon to help me get all my new stuff on my regular jumping saddle. Since the Total Saddle Fit slim stability leathers cannot be run up I had to get creative, since my safety stirrups have the outer branch that opens I hung my stirrups on my grab strap. Shannon also helped me get my Sure Seat velcro saddle cover on so it would stay on. It was so much easier for me to ride in my jumping saddle than in Debbie’s endurance saddle! I still needed help getting my right leg over the cantle both mounting and dismounting however.

I felt secure enough so I could do some “rider push-ups”, and some very limited two point at the walk. Next week I will bring my crop, Cinnabar deemed 1.5 MPH as his proper speed today, OK I am guessing about the speed but he was SLOW. At least my lower legs got a good workout today.

I told Debbie about me getting the Spanish colt breaking saddle and I described it the best I could. She has a somewhat challenging horse in for training and she said that she would like to see the saddle and possibly borrow it. This is a DIFFERENT saddle as far a modern riding goes, it looks more like the Spanish Riding School old type saddles that they use in their shows. Centuries ago the dressage saddles did not look like today’s dressage saddles. One thing I have noticed is that there is a clear channel for the rider’s thigh with the far ends of the cantle curve in the back and the far ends of the pommel swells in front. Along with the sheepskin on the seat and in front and back of the rider’s legs it looks like this saddle should give the rider more security that a jumping, dressage, saddle seat saddle, and I suspect it might give more security than most Western saddles. This saddle’s billet straps are so long that I imagine that it could handle several lengths of dressage girths. The way this saddle is constructed using a regular girth is possible, but probably uncomfortable for the horse since there is no leather under where the girth buckles would be. I need stirrup leathers on it, and since the stirrup leathers are attached to a ring instead of a stirrup bar I would hesitate to ride it unless I have safety stirrups on it.

I rode almost 27 minutes today. I got really tired, but it is so worth it getting back up on a horse.

I just hope that some day I will be able to mount and dismount like I could before I fell off of MJ almost 3 months ago.

[3PonyFarm]

Very interesting about the spanish saddle. Glad you got to ride today!

[Jackie_Cochran]

Shannon came out today.

She liked the look of my Spanish saddle.

I rode in my Crosby PDN for 14 minutes. Then Shannon switched the saddle to my Spanish colt breaking saddle which I got to ride for 6 minutes before my energy disappeared.

After sitting in my Spanish saddle I ended up with a huge question. Why in the world aren’t more colt breakers using this saddle??? The sheepskin on the seat kept my butt from sliding around in the saddle, I felt supported in the front and back, and this saddle felt like it had more substance under me than my EZ-Fit treeless saddle. There is a convenient groove between the pommel swells and the cantle for my thigh, a channel that does not allow for much movement. I think that I could, even with my horrible balance now, manage to stay on the horse if it teleported to the side without any warning.

This Spanish colt breaking saddle should be good for ANY type of riding that does not include jumping or roping cattle (no horn to dally the rope to).

I felt cradled in this saddle. I know that a horse can get any rider off his back from any saddle if the horse is determined enough, but I think that this saddle, out of all the saddles I’ve ridden in my entire life, is a saddle that would make the horse WORK to unseat his rider. To me my seat felt so much more secure than it ever had even in Western saddles.

Shannon then tried the Spanish saddle. She liked it just as much as I do! Even though she is a bit bigger than me she fit in the saddle fine. She was dreaming of using it for trail riding in the mountains. Like me, if she ever has to break a horse to saddle again she wants to use THIS saddle or one like it.

With the leather tree this saddle will (gradually) fit several horses. The billets are long enough so several different lengths of dressage girths could be usable. The stirrups are hung rather forward on the saddle, right below the pommel swells. This saddle uses a loop/D-ring to attach the stirrups leathers. This saddle comes with a dedicated attachment for a crupper if one is needed, plus two other smaller rings on the sides of the cantle and in front to the sides of the pommel swells so if I ever have to tie myself in the saddle I will be able to. I am now waiting for a cheaper pair of safety stirrups, the ones with the outside branch of the stirrups being super wavy so the the rider’s foot will not get hung up in it because I tend to get paranoid if the stirrup leather cannot just slide off if I fall off the horse.

Shannon had some difficulty getting the stirrup leather through the loop, mainly because this saddle is made so that there is padding over where the stirrup buckle goes and the stirrup hanger loop is rather high up.

Debbie wants to see this saddle too since she is working on a sort of challenging green horse. I will be taking it out to the stable for my next lesson, not to use it myself (right now I am riding the least challenging horse in the stable). If Debbie wants to borrow it for a while I will lend it to her until she gets her current challenging horse settled down. Debbie is precious to me and I do not want her to get hurt. THIS saddle should work to keep her butt in the saddle even during the sideways teleportations that horses love to do.

I simply do not see why this saddle is not more popular. I think that a lot of riders would be pleasantly surprised if they rode in one. Yes, this Spanish saddle is useless for training jumpers, but it would be very useful for training dressage, the rider’s weight is in the right place, the rider is not shifting around and confusing the horse, and since the rider’s seat is stronger there is much less chance of abusing the horse’s mouth.

PLUS these Spanish leather tree saddles are thousands of dollars cheaper than decent jumping and dressage saddles. I could buy a new one, plus all the fittings, for less than $3,000.00 US if I wanted one of the fancier looking ones. Since I tend to go for the plainer looking saddles I could end up with a leather tree Spanish saddle of a different brand (like the saddles on Hugyourhorse.com for around $2,000+ US with fittings (the Hidalgo brand of Spanish saddles.)

So if a rider who does not know all the nitty-gritty about proper saddle fit and who mainly just wants to ride around feeling secure on the horse’s back this is the type of saddle I would recommend. Useful, affordable, fits a wide range of horses, very secure for the rider and so very comfortable to sit in, PLUS it is made for introducing horses to the saddle.

And after 20 minutes in the saddle today I am tired!

So now I have a saddle that I can ride in safely when I get totally into little-old-lady territory since I no longer jump or gallop fast cross-country.

[3PonyFarm]

I am curious to find out how the saddle works on the green horse.

[Jackie_Cochran]

I am curious about that too.

I had “broken” 3 horses to saddle. Each of them, even after some months of lunging with the saddle on, had “questions” about this thing on their back that really did not move with their body. When I mounted these questions still existed. Eventually my horses accepted that this was the way it was and adapted to it.

I think, looking back, that my horses could possibly have had fewer questions about the saddle with one that actually moved a little bit with their bodies. IF that had happened I could have succeeded in less time.

My Pegasus Butterfly saddle will move with the horses’ shoulders, getting out of the way for the cartilage that is at the top of the scapula. BUT some of the horses I have ridden in it have made some comments about how that saddle just may move a little bit too much for that horse. Since I ride a horse just about 30 minutes each week I just do not have the time nowadays. to explain stuff as clearly as I could decades ago when I rode my green/just broken horses 6 days a week, each time for as long as it took to make whatever point I was making that day.

I am hoping that Debbie “falls in love” with this saddle enough to give it a good tryout on a green broke horse.

Shannon made a point when she rode in it to make sudden moves to the side great enough so the saddle would have shifted on a horse. She had no problems staying in place and balanced, and she had no problems recentering the Home Horse back to center, all without a girth holding the saddle stable.

This paean for this saddle is completely from what my butt is telling me. My butt is asking me why in the world I had never discovered the Spanish saddles before this. Well, part of the reason is that I ride Forward Seat and I used to jump and the Spanish saddle would not be good for this, but for all those trail rides up and down the steep hills I have a feeling that if this saddle is put on correctly, the girth is tightened correctly and the rider had better balance than I do that the green horses may have ended up less confused than they were with my treed jumping saddles.

I am hoping that Debbie will use this saddle on her current “problem” horse and give me a report. Since Debbie has ridden many hundreds more horses than I have, since she has trained lots more horses to saddle than I have and is a true horse professional I am sure that she will give me a report that will answer many of my questions.

After I get her feedback I will try this new saddle myself on a lesson horse. Debbie keeps a close eye on the horse’s expressions when I ride and then I can get more knowledge than what my butt is telling me right now from riding in the saddle on my Home Horse.

Just think of all those dressage riders going through saddle fitting hell. If they invested in one of these saddles they would have a saddle that would not torture the horse while they work out fitting a treed dressage saddle to their horse. That way they could proceed with training while finding THE dressage saddle that will work well for themselves and their horse in a dressage class at a horse show.

At least that is what my butt is telling me right now.

[Alterration]

Jackie, I must have missed it - which one did you pick up? I love my Spanish saddle. I’m so glad you got to ride and I’m glad you like yours!!

[Jackie_Cochran]

It is from the Monturas Artesanas de Talavera. On the Iberian Connection web site its number is #116-en. In the Talavera site it is listed under the Portera saddles. Neither site shows the sheepskin on the seat, pommel, cantle and mimicking thigh and knee “rolls”. It is made for colt breaking. I figured that if this saddle helps horsepeople stay on just broken colts with all their uncertainties that it might help me stay on the lesson horses when they get surprised by something.

I have not yet ridden in it on a live horse, just my Home Horse.

[Jackie_Cochran]

I had my lesson this morning. Just at a walk, a good bit of standing around (admiring well ridden jumps), some rider’s push-ups and I got up in 2-point a short while to relieve his back at a walk.

I also wore spurs (Spursuaders) and carried a crop. Cinnabar seems to have a “minimum requirement” of a crop to move faster than a lesson horse 2 MPH or less.

I even got him to extend his walking stride for at least 2 sessions, the first one walking to the gate and the second one walking away from the gate. His extension going toward the gate was the best of the two.

This morning was exhausting to me. Getting up, getting ready, carrying stuff out, remembering everything I need, riding in the car to the stable, and then walking around the stable some. Debbie told me to sit down while she did everything. Then I had to walk out to the ring and after my ride I had to creep back to the barn where I was told to SIT DOWN while Cinnabar was taken care of and given his treat.

My DH had put my new Talavera Portera saddle (my new Spanish colt breaking saddle). He got it out, Debbie looked at it, took it from DH and carried it around some, then told me she was not going to borrow it. She told me she wanted to be able to feel the horse’s back. I told Debbie that this saddle was my "little® old(er) lady saddle for when I age more.

I am waiting for my safety stirrups. Since I will not be riding Forward Seat in this saddle I can “afford” to spend 10% on a more old-fashioned safety stirrups, the ones with the bendy outer branch. $40.00 USD is so much cheaper than $400.00 USD! If they were considered suitable for Queen Elizabeth in her early 90s I figure that I can use them with some safety.

I just do not want to ride in a saddle without stirrup bars with regular stirrups, even the 50 year old hunt seat ones double off-set ones with the deep bell. I have been falling off horses for 67 years, I am going to use safety stirrups.

[Jackie_Cochran]

What type Spanish saddle do you have?

How does your horse like it?

If I had know that there was this type of Spanish saddle available 60 years ago I might have tried dressage. Hunt seat tack, clothes and lessons were SO MUCH cheaper back then and I just could not afford riding dressage at all. But had I known my riding history might have been somewhat different. Right now my main thoughts of this saddle is that I may finally have a saddle that is truly suitable to train a horse in the ABCs of dressage up to at least a BA in dressage.

Would not work for showing though. Those riders seem doomed to a very expensive dressage saddle hell.

[Alterration]

Oh it is lovely Jackie! I ended up with a Hidalgo Vienna, but I have had my eye on some of the potreras as well. I love the Spanish seat and despite me feeling somewhat chair seated the horses seem quite happy with it.