Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

My big plans for my Paso Fino mare have fallen through.  I am still wanting 
to try for my first LD this spring.  I want to do this this so badly that I 
am resorting to desperate measures.  I pulled my 17 year old Arabian mare 
out of the pasture and rode her for the first time in 5 years.  The last few 
times I had ridden her years ago she laid down with me and was rearing and 
tossing her head.  She really scared me.  I had been afraid to ride her 
since then.  This weekend I decided that if I really want to get started 
with endurance I will just have to bite the bullet and start riding her 
again.  In the past few years I have learned alot about saddle fit and 
realized that most of my problems with Lady were probably stemming from 
saddle fit.  She is a very broad mare.  She is about 9" wide at her withers. 
 She has alot of substance and is a VERY easy keeper.  I borrowed a 
friend's super wide western saddle and it seems to do the trick.  I will 
continue to use the saddle for the time being partially because I feel more 
secure in it and also because I am saving my money for a treeless so this 
saddle will have to do in the meantime.  Anyway, back to riding-

Besides looking very startled when I started saddling her, Lady took 
everything in stride.  She even placed her head in the headstall for me when 
I held it out.  She held still for me to get on and we walked around my 
small pasture, did some figure 8's and trotted just a bit.  She was fine.  
At one point when I had gotten her close to the barn she started to fight me 
and was sidepassing down the hill.  She slung her head and bounced a bit on 
the front end (never actually reared).  We turned some fast tight circles 
and she was OK after that.  All in all the ride was uneventful.  This was a 
big confidence builder for me but I am still wary of Lady.  When I used to 
ride her before she was prone to random, highly athletic spooks at mundane 
things like orange mailboxes.  I have to ride by myself so I want to stay 
safe.

I am looking for some advice on directions I should go with Lady to get her 
ready for my goal of an LD ride in mid March.  I do not have a trailer yet 
so I am limited to riding her on the farm.  She is very out of shape, but 
also very tough and can take a lot.  Are there some things I can do with her 
while riding her around the small pasture to get us both ready for riding 
farther away from the barn and other horses (out on the farm)?  I don't want 
to get myself hurt, but I have confidence that this will work if I do things 
right.  I am just not sure how hard to push Lady and what I can do to make 
us have a better working relationship.  I am hoping to take her to a local 
fundraiser trailride on Nov. 13th just to see how she does with a crowd.

The other thing is that I would like to breed her next year for my "dream 
foal"  I have the stallion picked out and have started stuffing money under 
the matress to pay for his fee.  This will be her last foal so I don't want 
to mess anything up.   What would be the optimum time to breed her next 
year, or does it matter since all I am wanting to do with her is LD for the 
time being?

Thanks in advance!

Mel

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