It was a veritable blogger fest, Cindy D. and TC were there as was Nuzzling Muzzles and her hubby and CutnJump and her girls joined us later.
...And I am kinda pissed that my cheering section wasn't wearing Team Tiller gear! Hahahahaha. Just kidding. I threatened life and limb if banners and such are actually produced.
More than anything I was praying that Moon wouldn't pitch a fit at the gate. He was not good at Buckeye. But he was actually perfect in AJ.
I'm getting the distinct impression that these open fairgrounds, with room to get away from the arena and warm him up is more his forte'. Him and I hit the desert for quite a bit of long-trotting and just wandering around out in the open for about 30 minutes before we went to the arena and waited for our turn. Moon was as quiet as he has been in quite some time and headed into the arena with only one spin out...Which is not uncommon for any barrel horse.
He didn't fire hard, just started his run with a nice ground eating lope and built up a little speed. The total opposite of what he felt like 2 days ago. And I'm getting smart enough not to push him. This is what I have been working so hard for. A cool, calm, thinking start to his run. And that is when Moon clocks the best. That light, effortless, ground-eating stride...THAT'S his signature and I was grinning to myself, thinking, 'There's my boy. We are going to have an awesome run.'
And Moon set into the 1st barrel and the next thing I know...I'm going over his head, scratching and scrambling for anything I can get my fingernails into so I don't bite the dirt in front of all of these people who came out just to watch us. Sheer embarrassment is ALL that kept me from going right over Moon's head. Luckily for me, he didn't whip back around that turn or I would have been toast. He just glided out a little bit and let me catch up.
Nuzz caught the frame after whatever happened and it's not pretty...
I think Moon set into that turn thinking he was going to slide on the ground and he didn't. He stuck. He went down in the front end and I was committed to the turn and got popped plumb out of the saddle.
Cindy D. video-taped and even put some music to it. It's rather appropriate. LOL...
The 2nd barrel felt a lot better than it looks. I did keep my eyes up...AND my hands...LOL...
And that picture tells why it's so hard to get Moon around that turn. He doesn't want to run around the barrel, he wants to set in with his shoulder and flip around it. I honestly don't know it I will ever be able to fix that entirely. I can only keep working on driving him deeper and deeper into the pocket and hope that he will eventually get more correct. His poor hind legs are in such an awful position, it's not hard to see how he hurts his stifles.
These are the pictures that I found the most interesting, because by all rights, our 3rd barrel was by far the best set-up turn we had and I am slid forward in the saddle...
And then down in the well...
That should not be. This is telling me I have a real saddle fit issue going on. For me. This is the only saddle I have that fits Moon. I have known this to some extent and it was my intention to buy a new saddle this year...and then I took that money and invested it into injections and Back On Track sheets and Little John. :-/.
I am going to run this saddle up to a saddle repair place and take the Sharon Camarillo that has the deep seat that I love so much (but doesn't fit Moon!) and see if they can build up the front of the seat on Moon's saddle in the next couple of days. That aught to help keep me from sliding forward. Slopping around in the saddle like this has to be a big reason I have such a hard time staying with Moon. Unless I sell Little John, I can't afford a new saddle now...And I'm torn. I really need a new saddle...and I really like LJ. Hopefully, having a build-up on the front of this saddle will keep me from sliding around...And then Moon and I can win some checks and buy a new saddle?
Of course, there was lots of other conversations going on between Friday evening and Saturday afternoon, but I'll share those in the next post. :-)
7 comments:
I was hoping those pictures would help you to see whatever it was you needed to know. After your post about looking up and looking at the next barrel, I noticed that the snapshots I got of a lot of other riders showed them looking down at the barrel. One gal was even looking behind her. One lady looked like she was berating her horse the whole way, and another couldn't stop smiling. I hope you are in the position to get a new saddle soon.
Oh, they helped a ton Nuz!! I really appreciate you taking the pics and sharing them with me.
I can clearly see that every time he 'sets' for a turn, he's popping me up in the saddle. I never should have gotten out over him the way I did on that first barrel.
It was fun getting together again, even if it was only for a little while. Pictures don't lie do they? We may not think something is happening, may not feel it either, until we see it in digital or on film, and then there's no denying it. Even what others may consider a bad shot, might show us things that explain exactly Why it happened the way it did.
I hope the saddle issue gets sorted out soon. That can literally be a pain in the butt.
Okay so your threats about life and limb mean nothing to me. I just ran out of time, but I have a full month till QC! LOL
I know that like me, when you see the pics and the video's you only see what was wrong, but I saw whole lot of right also.
These are things I never would have known if it weren't for you blog and I was able to compare your riding to some of those other gals.
Mostly I'll just sum it up with saying that your riding is smooth. That has to make a big difference to the horse who is in there trying to do his job. Some of those girls are in there flopping around on those horses like rag dolls (which is exactly what I would be doing- just saying)
But even with your mishap, your riding was smooth and professional looking.
The saddle will come...you know it will (wink wink)
LOL...Yea, I know...I really have a tendency to point out the bad or not-so-great aspects. But the thing is...Right is just..Right. There is very little to say about it. It feels good and looks good. What looks bad can be that way for a multitude of reasons and that is where my descriptive nature runs riot.
Since there is nothing a person can do about it, I'm forcing myself to not be irritated that I was still only a few tenths out of the Incentive money. My goal this year is to just keep trying to get smooth, clean runs, without pushing Moon too hard. He can run that 7/10ths off fairly easily and if that is where we are successful, then I'm happy for it. :-)
Where's the damn like button!
wow! you must have really wanted to stay on!I would have eaten the dust big time! Hope the saddle fix helps
Post a Comment