The Horse is the Cheapest Part!

My dear Rileigh got his saddle fitted on Friday ...to the tune of $560. He needed the tree widened and the flocking adjusted. I'm very glad that I didn't have to buy a new saddle, and my saddle could be worked on that day - but I really was not expecting to spend so much money! There's a noticeable difference in Riles' way of going in his newly adjusted saddle, though; he seems much happier, so I guess it's worth it.

I took a lesson yesterday to prepare for our show next weekend. Rileigh was doing fairly well.
That horse can't find distances to save his life! He's so funny, and totally lacks confidence in his ability to get to the jump. Honestly, the jumps don't intimidate him as far as I can tell, but getting up to them does. Even if I set him up well and see a perfect distance, he still would rather run into the jump trying to get closer than take the good spot, unless I very clearly tell him exactly when he needs to get his butt off the ground. Even then, he does it because I ask him to, but one can feel/see that he's still unsure. It's kind of weird; he's never had a crash or traumatizing experience from missing a distance, and at the heights we're doing he's more than capable of going quite long and getting over nicely. We're working on it though!

See Exhibit A: My doofus horse jumping like a freak, per usual. It's not like he's barely getting over them!


My trainer swears to me that most of these fences are around 3' ...they look quite small to me, though.




I completely love this photo, taken the last stride in front of a jump.


In unrelated news, I accidentally shaved my head last night and now have a very short buzz. I was a tad upset, but there's nothing I can do but embrace it. Hair grows, anyway.