Equine Holiday

It was a gorgeous fall day here, so I thought I'd try riding Gus again. I hurt my back after buying the saddle so haven't done much, but I'm feeling better so it seemed like a good day. My very kind husband carried the saddle down to the pasture for me, and watched with amusement -- and, unfortunately, a camera -- while I saddled Gus for only the second time. (For some reason, those pictures wouldn't upload to Blogger. Very strange.)

We did some trial-and-error and discovered that I really need the step stool to be able to mount without pulling the saddle over to the side, since I can only tighten the cinch so far. I ended up on top of him with the saddle, and me, listing to the side like a sloop in a strong wind. There were some amusing pictures of that, too...perhaps even a video...but once again, technical difficulties prevent you from seeing those. Darn.

Doesn't Gus look great with his saddle on?



Unfortunately, he didn't feel as good as he looks. He was vaccinated and dewormed the other day, and hasn't been himself since. We thought he was feeling better, but he obviously did not want to be ridden. I really appreciated that his method of showing me that was just not to move when I asked him to...as opposed to the more dramatic 'dump the novice rider on her head' method. He was so good last time I rode him that I knew he just wasn't feeling well this time, and there's always another day.

Halley the cat came to investigate what we were doing, of course. She needs to know about everything that goes on. It was fortunate that she stopped by, because it turns out that a saddle is the best cat toy EVER.



It has great smells...it has strings attached to play with...and you can hide under it. What more could a cat want?