Cob Jockey

Worst bridle model ever. Plz enjoy his giant spit bubble, thanks, alsike clover.

At least it comes labeled?

Straight out of the box, no conditioning

I expect this to conform a bit more to his face more over time, but honestly IDGAF, he's been going amazing in this bridle ever since we got it.

Yep, we're on the top hole, but we've established that small horse-sized Micklems Do Not Fit, so this is the right size in this bridle, as much as I hate all the excess strap length. My one major regret with Micklems in general is that you can't do mix and match parts with them. Connor REALLY likes them though, so I will deal with it.

Forgot to take a picture, but you can see them in this straight-out-of-the-box photo.

Surprise!  We're back in a Micklem:

Don't look so excited, Connor.  Still playing with fit - it's sitting a little low in the noseband for my tastes, but fits well everywhere else.  Work in progress.

Back in December, before we knew it was back pain causing Connor's reluctance under saddle, CGP suggested changing things up with the bridle and bit scenario.  Jan happened to have her old Micklem in her trailer, which definitely does not fit her new gigantasaurus, so she let me borrow it temporarily.

My friend that built this barn came back to visit!

You may remember we had a Micklem years ago.  That one was small horse/cob sized, and I got rid of it when I realized it was exerting too much poll pressure on Connor when appropriately adjusted everywhere else.  It's the one bad thing about these bridles, they either fit or they don't fit at all, there is no in-between.

July of 2013

The one Jan is letting me borrow is standard horse sized, and although we're on the top hole on the chin strap, it fits a lot better over his head.  And you know who is happy?

To be clear, lots going on in this photo, but it's a Happy Horse

I've noticed in the past that this horse seems to be happiest with a strap to stabilize the bit (NOT to keep his mouth closed!), and I don't know why I didn't follow my own advice sooner.  He IS happier with the Micklem, which I've now been riding in since early January.

I'm not saying it's magically fixed his problems, but he's steadier in the contact with it, and hasn't tried to get his tongue over since I put him back in it.  That problem is caused by more than just the bridle, to be sure, but I'm not messing with success regardless.

Is it great leather?  No.  Is it trendy?  Not anymore.  Is it as beautiful as my Schockemohle?  Not even close.  Is my horse happy?  Yes, and that's all that matters. 

On that note, is anyone looking to sell a brown standard horse sized Micklem?  In the six hours since I posted this another blogger has already sold me one, you guys are the best!

Time for an informal blog hop!  Stephanie of Hand Gallop asks, "What's your every day tack setup?"

I have spent the last few years slowly working toward my ideal setups on both the Dressage and jump side, (with some awkward moments in between, anyone remember the black reins on the brown bridle phase?) and I'm almost there on both!

For jump:

I know it's a show picture, but all of my tack pulls double duty.

1. CWD SE02 16.5" short/forward flap.  I'm sure everyone is tired of hearing how really really ridiculously life changing having a properly fitting saddle is, but one more time: life changing.

2. Ovation RCS Jumper Bridle (used)

3. Nunn Finer soft grip rubber reins (new)

4. Total Saddle Fit Wither Relief Girth, 42" (new)

5. Supracor half pad (used)

6. Compositi wide track stirrups (new)

7. For jump schools: Woof Wear front boots (used).  For XC schools: add Majyk Equipe XC hind boots (new)

8. I still haven't found a schooling pad I am in love with, but I go back and forth between a Toklat Tango and the Lettia Coolmax AP pad right now.

9. ETA: almost forgot, Nunn Finer 3 point hunt breastplate (used)


For Dressage:


1. Wintec Isabel 16.5" (used)

2. Micklem Competition bridle, small horse (used)

3. Nunn Finer soft grip rubber reins (used)

4. Total Saddle Fit Wither Relief girth, 20" (new)

5. JenJ's old Classic Equine Dressage pad with velcro girth loops which they sadly do not make anymore and I will probably use until it's a pile of shredded fabric on his back.  I only ride in something else when this one is in the wash.

Seriously, this pad.  I love it and I wish I could find more of them.

6. Majyk Equipe Dressage boots all around, because they're the best. #fangirlstatus #stillwaitingonsmallXCfrontsguys

Sexy neck.

I'm back to flatting in the Micklem/loose ring combination.  You may recall, my trainer asked me to flat in the elevator for a while to help retrain my sense of feel, and because Connor went super awesome in it.  That lasted a while.

Then I started to feel like I wore out my welcome with it.  He wasn't very consistent in the contact, and started tossing his head.  So I got off mid-ride one night and put the reins on the elevator's loose ring ring.

He was heavy, of course, without the leverage to help me.  I looked in the windows as I rode past (they're a passable mirror) and I saw the same thing I always see: even with his head on or in front of the vertical, we just look backwards.  We are going fast, but not thinking forward.

Dressage was good here.  This looks forward.

I have a confession to make: my Dressage has felt stuck for about six months now.  It's been eating at me.  I love Dressage, and I feel like we should be farther than we are at this point, even though there's no reason for that feeling.  Green horse, more or less green rider, of course this is going to be a slow process.  We make steady progress thanks to a great trainer with the ability to train through teaching, but it's never going to be like putting him in full training.

Thinking backward.

All of my major breakthroughs have occurred with 1) positional improvements on my part, 2) being more aware of myself, 3) riding off of my seat.  The only reason we're not moving forward, literally and figuratively, is my inability to internalize this stuff.  Translation: I learn slow.

So I sat there in front of a window, bareback with my elevator-turned-loose-ring, and didn't want to be backwards anymore.  I made a conscious effort to do the following:
- Look up
- Feel more
- Half halt ALL THE TIME
- Feel like I'm pushing the bit forward
- Use my new understanding of how the outside rein should work to improve turns and circles
- Keep both legs on him at all times

I won't pretend like it fixed everything instantly, but it was a very different and very good ride from what I've gotten recently.  The work in the elevator did help both of our feel.  I can now whisper in the loose ring the same way I did in the elevator, and the half halts really kept him from getting heavy - I just had to do them constantly.  He went along in a long, relaxed but energetic outline.  It's a start.

There's never any "resting on your laurels" in this barn, and after a whole weekend of watching us and reading my Dressage scores, my trainer came out knowing exactly what she wanted us to work on in my lesson last night.  As usual, the exercises we did were seemingly unrelated, yet actually very related, to our weak points and bad marks this weekend.  Consider:

Most common negative Dressage comment: "stiff through back"
Training exercise in my lesson: ribcage control and hind leg engagement
End result: Connor's back loosens up and he carries himself better than ever.

Most common jump problems: Not being patient enough to add a stride, not sitting down on his hind legs
Training exercise in my lesson: 3 poles end to end, with the top and bottom ones being vertical, and the middle one being horizonal, so they make a tiny zig zag.  I had to keep him together and make some very sharp turns to hit the correctly colored pole that she would call out for me to go over.
End result: Some improvement in the patience and sitting departments, but it was hard for both of us.  When he wasn't put together, we felt like a pile of limbs trying desperately to throw ourselves at the poles.  But there were some good moments.

I also played with the Micklem fit last night.  I was happy with where it was before, but I was in a mood for experimenting with Connor's preferences.  Last night I dropped the cheekpieces a hole and raised the bit straps a hole, and this happened:

Brown keepers on my black bridle.  Details, details.

Hard to see, but that line on his lower lip was the "high water mark" of his foamy mouth during the Dressage part of our lesson, and you can see the foam still sitting behind the flash strap.  That's the most foam I've ever gotten out of him, and given how well he was carrying himself in the Dressage part of our lesson, I wasn't surprised to see it.  Definite improvement.

Going to have to keep the goat beard in check with this bridle.