More updates

Saddle without the shim.....wants to slightly drop down and push into the shoulder in front...

I know, I look all wrong here..but I am trying to see how the saddle feels with the shim...trying to stick my hand under the front of the saddle and feel the shoulder area..I think I was also trying to move the sheepskin under the pommel some (it was a BIG piece that needs trimming and I was tucking it away to take better pics).

Ok, the blog has not been very exciting lately, but I have just been too busy to do much riding and it often rained when I wasn't (I know, I suck as a "real" endurance rider...I should be out conditioning Storm in rain/showers and whatnot...but I can't bring myself to do that. So it will just take longer to get him in shape I guess! :) ). I did take him to a local horsemanship clinic A week or so ago, just to get him out and "mingling" with other horses, since it is now spring and I wanted to make sure he wasn't going to have a hormone overload at the next endurance ride (esp since he was all hot and bothered by Ari when we took them to the vets together). Turns out I think he really DOES know when he is "working" and when not...he acted like his normal ol self most the time, and only 'looked' at some of the attending girls when he got bored (arena work is not our thing...we both were bored pretty fast and he expressed his displeasure at having to do the same exercises over and over again, LOL), but was easy to refocus back on me. He did really well though (it was a windy day and some of the other horses were all riled up) and got many comments about what a quiet boy he was and how handsome. We had a whole mix of horses from a Gypsy cob looking thing, a blind Haflinger, and a Welsh Cob, to two mules (one gaited) and you usual stock horses and a TB... It was fun in its own way (though not really my thing) and we got done what I had intended. I have also been looking for saddles for him, while waiting to get his custom saddle made. I found a used one (amazingly! You rarely find them!) of the brand I am looking at (Advantage Saddles... http://www.advantagesaddles.com/ they are AWESOME!) and I just got it in the mail...I took it on one ride and it looks to be SLIGHTLY too wide...tried a sheepskin shim under the front in the roundpen yesterday, and I think that might just fix the problem...I sure hope so! It would be awesome to have something that works on him well (currently I am riding in a Wintec dressage, which is "ok" for him, but not quite right either...as I increase the distance I ride him, I will need something a little better). Anyway, we are leaving for Lost Padres and Mt. Carmel on Thurs, then I should have lots of fun pictures and updates while we are on our 3 week adventure :)