Cob Jockey

Lyss, formerly of Gooseback Riding and now of Chantilly Tales, commented on my blog post about Wow saddles to say that she had two barnmates that both had Wows they were looking to sell, and long story short, it ended up that one of those saddles was in my and Eva's exact specs (which are very likely to also be Disco's specs). The seller's horse had hated it and she only rode in it for a couple months before getting something else and putting it in a closet, so it was nearly new.

Not unattractive either, but those f****** blocks (we'll get to that)

Wow has three front-to-back tree shapes: curved, semi-curved and flat, with flat being the most rare, and naturally that's Eva's tree shape. Of everything on the saddle, the seat/tree is the most expensive, so it's the only thing you really want to get right. Everything else (panels, flaps, blocks, billets, headplate) can be easily/relatively cheaply swapped out later.

Because of that, I didn't ask too many questions or request hardly any photos once I learned it was a flat tree in my size. The price was fantastic, the saddle was gorgeous, and the tree was right, so I could deal with anything else being wrong. Lyss ended up facilitating the entire sale for both of us through email, which was awesome.

It wasn't until it got here and I saw the underside of it for the first time that I realized the likely reason why the seller's horse had hated it: that saddle's panels have a combination of features that my own fitter won't sell, and in fact she confiscates them anywhere she finds them, because they create a pressure point on the horse's back that she has seen lead to pain and injuries in horses many times over the years. Her words: "Do not even sit on her in those panels."

The good news? My fitter can add a stitchline to these panels to make them safe to use, AND I had just ordered new panels for Connor's Wow that are basically the same as Eva's except that they don't have tabs, which serve to lower the panel on wider horses with less withers.

Thanks to Wow being Wow, I spent 5 minutes in my living room with a screwdriver moving panels between saddles and voila, I had a saddle I could start Eva in. It fits beautifully, aside from Connor's no-tab panels sitting higher than they should on Eva.

The fit is just freaking perfect. I am in awe of that little plastic Wow saddle fitting gauge every time I see this saddle moving perfectly with Eva like it was custom made for her. Dr. M and the gauge told me what parts to look for, a blogger helped me find it, and from the moment a saddle was ever first put on her back, it fit her.

Such a lucky horse

I love it for me too. The balance is incredible and it sort of disappears underneath me. The only thing I don't love are these giant honking thigh blocks, which do move, but not enough and not in the directions that I want them to.

When I came off Eva, Kate joked that those blocks were like a pivot point for my body as I flew off, lol

Fortunately, Dr. M is both a leatherworker and a Wow enthusiast, so short term, I am just going to take the blocks off the saddle, and long term, she is going to help me fabricate a custom block. Like anything else on the saddle, the blocks are modular and are held on by two flat screws.

You can just tell my body wants these blocks out of my way. With them gone, I will be able to move the stirrup leathers forward and my leg is going to hang in a great place.

So, a big hearty THANK YOU to Lyss for helping me find this saddle. I think I am officially on the Wow train after this experience!

A few things have come together lately to make me feel like we are about to go through a blogging renaissance. And I have decided I'm going to say that out loud so that I can will it into existence.

I mean, first of all, Google finally fixed the "Insert Photos from Google Photos" UI, which, to be honest, I thought would never happen. I thought they'd let Blogger die on the vine like so many Google products before it, and they would leave it almost unusably broken forever until they killed off Blogger. But no! It's fixed! And it's not only fixed, but improved! Better than ever!

For those that don't use Google Photos, if you allow it to back up your photos from your phone, any photo taken on your phone shows up here within seconds. Extremely handy for blogging.

It loads in a second or two, and it now integrates Google Photo's incredibly powerful search right into it. So you can type "saddle" and it will pull up all your recent photos of saddles. "Brown dog" and it won't show you your photos of white dogs. "July 20, 2024" and it will pull up your photos from just that day.

On July 20, 2024 there were lots of Eva photos

I didn't realize how much it was affecting my desire to blog when it was so difficult to add photos these past couple of (seriously) years, but it turns out, it was. A lot. And now that it's not only fixed, but better than ever? Watch out!

Real glad it got fixed just in time for me to document every breathe Eva takes

Next up, I have at least one report that commenting is working again. For the record, this was a global problem that had more to do with browsers preventing sites from tracking you (good) which Google apparently didn't like because they want to track your every move and advertise to you (bad). 

If you're still having issues commenting, turn off your preferred browser's version of Enhanced Tracking Protection for each affected site. In Firefox, that's the little shield in the toolbar:

And finally, I am seeing more people blog again in general, including at least one new blog that I know of, and that's my right hand woman/barnmate's blog, Pinto Party. Please give her a warm welcome and a follow!

To those who have kept blogging and commenting, you guys are awesome and I commend you. For those who are waiting on a sign to start, or re-start, this is your sign!

A couple of weeks ago, Kate came to visit. Kate and I have hung out many times at this point, but almost always in California and never at my barn.

We were supposed to go trail riding in the state park, but a slight lameness and a girth gall on my barnmate's horse nixed that plan. Instead, we spent the entire day at the barn. And as much as I wanted Kate to see our amazing trail riding here, I had no idea how much I needed what she ended up giving me until it happened.

She spent the morning doing groundwork, bodywork and just generally speaking horse with my boys in the indoor. I will never forget watching anxious little Connor's eye soften as she made him feel good and he got so completely comfortable with the way she invited him to participate and never forced him.

Disco's groundwork lesson was even more interesting. Most of it was on defining space around herself that he was not allowed to move into, but without even touching the horse in many cases. She also gave me her read on his personality, which is that he does have an angry streak in there, but it should be something I can work with (or avoid) and not against, and if we can help him learn to channel it positively, it will give him brilliance later on. 

He has truly internalized these lessons too - since she left he's a lot more respectful of human space in general and seems to have transferred her lesson to all of us.

But it was the under saddle work that meant most of all. She got on first, and I told her just to enjoy him, she didn't need to feel pressure to make him look good, but she ended up doing both. Standing there watching him go so well for her after being out of work all summer and hearing her infectious laughter as she discovered how enjoyable he is to ride felt so good. More than once she exclaimed, "He's just FUN! I love him!" and threw her arms around his neck.

My motivation to ride, at an all-time low this summer, got just high enough watching her enjoy herself that when she got off and gently coaxed me into the saddle, I could be persuaded. And I am so glad I did.

Disco as his lesson was ending: IDK what just happened but please god never let her come back 😂

She ended up giving me a bite-sized biomechanics lesson. It's not the first time she's given me a lesson, far from it, but it was the first time on my own horse. And quickly she zeroed in on something I will dive into in another post, but it got right to the core of something that causes most of my problems with this horse, that other trainers and coaches and physical therapists had triangulated around but never truly uncovered.

And in that moment, after seeing how much fun my horse was to ride and remembering in the biomechanics discovery why I love Dressage so much, I felt the spark come back. I wanted to ride again. 

Since then, I've pulled his mane for the first time since April, ridden three times, started doing Pilates again, cleaned all of my tack, and just generally felt motivated to do more than just keep my horses alive for the first time in months. And I'm going through a lot right now, and my heart and soul need to be in the saddle more than I can possibly say.

Me and Connor during my lesson with Kate

So Kate, thank you again and publicly for being the incredible horsewoman that you are and for coming to visit, and for giving me the gift of becoming myself in the saddle again 💓 It means absolutely everything.

I left one of my most fun 2021 adventures out of my year-end recap, because I hadn't written about it yet!

I gotta be honest, when I write posts about the Castleberry Cob babies, especially in-depth posts, one small secret part of me wants to see them end up with a blogger. Partially so that I can follow their journeys with a microscope, and partially because I want to see as many people as possible end up with one of Lisa's amazing ponies.

So I was thrilled when my post in May about Olivia's baby got the wheels turning in Kate's head. 

You remember this guy?

At the time I wrote it, he was already spoken for by someone else, but fate intervened, and a couple of months later Kate asked me if I would be willing to help move her new Castleberry Cob to her dad's farm in Michigan, now named Castleberrys Opportunity, or Oxley for short.

Um, five straight hours in the truck with Kate, who pre-pandemic I would sit with on uncomfortable restaurant chairs for hours talking until they kicked us out, anytime work sent me to California? That I hadn't seen in years? Yes! Blogger road trip!

Two of my favorite horsewomen on the planet meeting each other for the first time!

Indiana weather was not kind to us that weekend, although it could certainly have been worse for December in the Midwest. Tornadic thunderstorms the night Kate flew in followed by highs in the upper 30s and 45-60mph wind gusts on shipping day did not make for a pleasant trip for the little guy, although my rig performed great.

I'm not overtrucked, I'm adequately trucked for 100% of situations, including the corner cases like this one when I need to haul in 50mph crosswinds. Although I definitely had a couple of white knuckle moments, to be sure.

People I love that I never would have met if I hadn't started blogging

I was already excited for what the future holds for these two - a half Olympic SJ-bred Warmblood half-Castleberry Cob in Kate's hands, of all people? That's dynamite. 

But watching Kate interact with him got me even more excited. He wasn't sure he wanted to leave the known quantity of the trailer and step out into the cold darkness in a strange place. She gave him as long as he needed to think about it and never forced him. When he did finally step off, it was with confidence, after a couple of tentative steps.

Gotta keep looking at his perfectly balanced baby pictures because he's in a hide-em-behind-the-barn stage right now! Still cute as can be, though.

I'm so excited for both of them, and so glad Kate and I got to have this adventure together. Be good, baby Oxley!

 July

My barn officially became a co-op using a hybrid plan I came up with, and I became the "ringleader." I sent Connor off for a two-week tuneup with CGP before National Dressage Pony Cup, and NDPC was a freaking blast with friends from all across the country coming to support me. We won my first ever neck ribbon!

Family, friends and framily!

August

I went trail riding with my new barnmate, Mary and I discovered my CWD's tree was compromised, and I showed at Lamplight for the first time ever!

One of my favorite photos of me and this horse ever.

September
I bought a bunch of Jump4Joy jumps from my Aunt Paula, Connor gave pony rides to my gym friend's autistic son, we freaking brought it to win the Second Level IDS Championship title for 2021, and my saddle finally arrived...but it was missing some features.

October

The fitter decided to completely re-make my saddle to fix her errors at no cost to me. I bought Annie a baby saddle, and Connor showed with all three of us, me, Mary and Annie at the Welsh North Central Regional. Disco won literally almost everything, and was Champion C/D Colt, C/D Grand Champion, and was Supreme Champion all ages/sections/sexes under one judge, and Reserve Supreme Champion under another. After that show, I sent Connor to CGP's for flying changes training.

I had no idea that I'd get not only my first, but also my second and third neck ribbons ever in 2021!

November

My CWD came back, repaired! I brought Disco home, and cleaned up at our GMO's year end awards. CGP made incredible progress with Connor.

December

I only posted five times this month as I struggled with a period of growth in not only horse ownership and riding, but also at work. Disco was a good baby for everyone at the co-op, and Connor made lots of progress with CGP but less with me as I struggled mightily with some imbalances in my body. Connor came home on December 26th.

Disco's geriatric best buddy

The day after I clipped Connor, Monday evening after work, I made the four hour roundtrip to drop Connor off at CGP's for flying changes bootcamp.

Connor in his "dorm room". Thanks T for the photo!

It was harder this time than it was last year. Maybe it was having seen him tote baby Annie around the day before, or how much I've grown to appreciate this horse beyond any competition goals we could possibly achieve together, but whatever it was, leaving him there looking over the stall grate was incredibly difficult.

Miss this face already. Photo by T.

Guess whose freaking GORGEOUS best deal of the century Double D this is

T was there with her half-Welsh Cob mare (by Cardi) Karma, and it's thanks to her that I have media for this post, because I do not recommend oversleeping and forgetting your Pivo. I won't write about T's lessons myself, but I was personally grateful to get to watch them, as I haven't seen CGP work with many young horses yet, so it was great to see just how much progress T and Karma made in a single lesson with her!

I don't care how small your horse is, I will make it look huge

Just like last year, after three training rides with CGP I could already tell a huge difference. After she had him for two weeks in July, his canter was effortlessly uphill and it felt like there was nothing I could do to break it. After our USDF season ended in August though, it got flatter and flatter. But after three training rides, it was right back to where it was in July.

So far, all she'd worked on is strengthening and improving the canter, and after focusing on nothing but biomechanics through September and October, it felt great to work on Connor again. The focus of this lesson was getting him to step up with his hind legs when I closed my legs, rather than striking off first with the forelegs and leaving his hind legs behind.

This was.

Hard.

Connor is a pulling breed. I've talked a lot here about how he's most comfortable pulling his body along with his bodyweight over his chest. He likes to strike off from the halt into the walk by moving his forelegs first, and we were basically asking him not to do that. 

You can see in the GIF above how badly he wants to walk forward with his forelegs instead of stepping the hind feet up closer to the forelegs. This is physically difficult for him, with his hind legs hung off his hindquarters in a way that's more conducive for pulling than pushing, but not something he's completely incapable of.

Would so much rather look at the sexy pony in the mirror

But!

He did finally get it, and when he did, what do you know, suddenly those simple changes were just there.

I need to be able to get them this easily all the time

"This is the type of carriage and canter he needs in order to do flying changes, otherwise he's just going to splat into those the way he likes to splat into the simples," she said.

You mean...I don't just get to wave the white flag over simples and forget they exist forever? Sigh. Like I know it's the right move but sometimes I just don't want to eat my broccoli, you know?

(Actually I love broccoli, but I'm trying to make a point, okay!)

Trot's not looking too bad either

The quality of the canter and therefore the success/failure of the simple changes also had quite a bit to do with where I was sitting in the saddle. I don't sit on my outside seatbone enough in the canter, which has a lot to do with me, and potentially something to do with some body soreness on his part. More on that soon. But when I actually sat deeply on him, suddenly the simples got a lot easier, and we had good success with them overall.

Happy boy with his new friend, Fish

That would be the last time I see him for two weeks and the longest I'll go without seeing him this whole autumn, as Nick and I went out of town for the weekend for the first time in ages!

I've been blogging for well over a decade now, and for the first time, I don't know where to start after last weekend's Welsh North Central Regional. Any one of these things is an entire post by itself!

I fell SO in love with Disco. And so did the judges.

I still cannot believe how big Disco won, omg.

Connor was a fun fire-breathing dragon for me in Ridden Cob.

OMG WTF WHY ARE THERE PEOPLE THERE CANNOT BRAIN

And then took such good care of Annie in her first ever horse show.

Connor and I won the pants off the English division.

English Pleasure, you say? I can look pleasurable.

And then he carried Mary safely around her first hunter course in over a decade - even if he would have preferred a jumper round to a hunter round.

SUDDENLY REMEMBERED I'M AN EVENTERRRRRRRRRR

And I have the ability to document this show at all because LEAH drove 11.5 HOURS to spend a long, cold, mostly sleepless horse show weekend with me, and took every picture in this post, and I am just so incredibly grateful I can hardly put it into words. She captured the most special memories.

A full run-down is coming, but perhaps not for a day or two as I have to ferry Connor to Flying Lead Change School today!

Sitting in Lisa's living room with Erika after Pony Cup, we both flipped through the many photo albums she keeps out on her side table of all the ponies she's bred over the years. I've seen them all before, but one photo caught my eye in a new way:

Erika's Gavin on the left and Connor on the right

"Oh my gosh it's Gav and Connor together!" I said. Gavin, who's younger than Connor, looks sweet and innocent while Connor looks like he's about to start playing, which is funny because as adults Connor is the sweet one and Gav is the mischievous one.

And of course a baby Connor post isn't complete without my favorite baby picture of him ever:

Someday I'll get this scanned to where it doesn't wash out quite as much, but it's still cute.

Happy Friday, everyone!