I learned something interesting today

A back pad makes a huge difference on your horse. I've always been pretty old fashioned. I grew up riding my horse bare-legged, jumped without boots, rode in just a regular square pad, and heaven forbid...I rode in my saddle in jeans. Go figure, nothing bad ever happened to me or my horse.

Now that I dabble in the big leagues, my horses (once they're broke) flat in polos, jump in open front boots, get cushy sheepskin back pads, and expensive saddles that don't ever touch denim anymore. Ugh, what an expensive hobby.

Anyways, last summer when I was making money I invested in a really nice Thin-Line half pad. I paid a pretty penny for it, but the barn I rode with swore they made a huge difference in their horses, so I figured, what the heck? I mean, I love my horse and if it makes her happier, then hey, why not right? She already had the $3,000 Antares saddle, I mean, what's another $150 for a saddle pad? Now, my saddle fit her almost perfectly, but it had been drilled into my head that riding without that extra support was terrible for her back. So the day my overpriced luxury pad arrived, I slapped it on and took it for a test drive. Naturally, I thought she felt amazing!! Forward, loose, relaxed. However, up until today, I pretty much just told myself that I felt a difference because I didn't want to admit I wasted that much money on something so silly.

Now, my trainer rides every horse in a riser/wither relief pad. He swears it's all you need, and you do need it. His Olympic horse wears one, his up and coming grand prix mare wears one...you get the idea. Anyways, I never saw the point, since I was so in love with my Antares/Thin-Line combo, but Patrick and Bailey's saddle is just a little off and was in actual need of a riser. So on Wednesday, I bought one.

Here's the interesting part. Patrick has picked up his leads perfectly, and been much more naturally balanced ever since I put it on him. I knew he needed it, and it's made me feel terrible for not buying one sooner, but I simply couldn't afford it (I didn't even actually pay for it, my trainer did!).Bailey was also very content in it, but she's pretty easy to please. Today, I swapped out my Thin-Line on Bella and gave the riser a try. She was sucked back, off my leg, and couldn't do lead changes to save her life. Now tell me that doesn't get your wheels turning? Needless to say, she's going back in the Thin-Line for good, and I'm going to pray it truly was the pad switch, and not something in her brain that turned off the auto-lead change function.

On a not so funny note, Patrick quite literally engulfed my waistline trying to bite me today. I literally had a slobber line that went from my back to my stomach. Thankfully he didn't chomp down! Then when I wheeled around to get after him for it, he just pricked his little ears and had this devilish look in his eye. He's such a little rat...Usually fillies are the clever ones, but I just got lucky I suppose.

One good thing about today, I saved $250 buying a year's worth of dewormer from Smart Pak =)

Tomorrow I'm jumping Patty for the first time. I have a photographer (aka Mom) and a videographer (aka my sister) coming to get footage of the grand event. I'll let you know how it goes!

In the mean time, giggle at this picture of my cat, L.B.