Deli and I have been doing... decently? Nothing has gone wrong, at least. Due to work continuing to be life-consuming my conditioning miles have been less than I'd like. I've tried a couple different saddles without finding anything better than what we have. And honestly, Deli's back feels great. This was confirmed by my chiropractor (who is also a vet).
Considering she would get sore spots on her shoulders from our custom-fitted dressage saddle (and her lower back would lock up with miles) I think we are in a good place right now. I do hope to alter the rigging of my treeless saddle, as I think that's what causing the issues I'm seeing. Can I just say that the dealer for GHOST saddles is the best customer service I've ever experienced. Just impressive!
I've even moved shims around in my Skito pad and gotten a better sweat pattern. Though she has been attacked by bees several times since the hot weather started. Have I mentioned that managing her various issues is always exciting? Ha. No.
Sweaty and bee-sting-ed.
Grass-brain is a problem here.
Milo McIver State Park. A good place to ride!
Sweat and a dusty horse = yuck.
Deli has been incredibly sassy. Though our last ride of 18 miles went fine (read: it was hot and we were all lazy), she refused to load to go home again. So this week she is getting off work but I have been reinforcing that particular skill. Much to my redhead's chagrin. She is claustrophobic and I kind of get the feeling this issue is going to rear it's ugly head every now and then.
The only other news on the horizon is: time to do something official?! If all goes well, Deli and I will be headed to our first LD together at Mt. Adams. I'm loathe to say anything because I've become increasingly superstitious over the years of mishaps and failures. There is still so much that can go wrong before this Saturday (not to mention things that could go wrong during the ride).
I am very lucky that my best friend and husband is coming to be my crew and someone to absorb my anxiety. Oh, and help me pack since I still have a full work week ahead of me.
The Ghost saddle may not work. And the thought of doing more saddle shopping right now makes me want to Give Up On All Things Horse.
I don't think it's the horse in general, but the fact that so many areas of my life right now are being met with disappointment and a lack of answers (specifically with health problems I am having). I guess I'm just worn out and discouraged and this is more of the same.
I'm getting some clear pressure points now that I've experimented with saddle pads that make her sweat more. Another reason for the experimentation was seeing some edema.
The edema I'm seeing shows up on her spine (as demonstrated by ghost finger above) after rides. Based on conversations with experts this is a sign there is pressure alongside and fluid is squeezing into the spine channel. This edema disappears within a minute and none of her back is painful to any kind of palpation. In fact her back generally feels good, though I feel it won't last given what I'm seeing! This is comparing to our old dressage saddle which had a more even sweat pattern, no edema, but DID make her tender to palpation! It seems like every saddle we've tried has some issue, though I have yet to have the same issue with different saddles.
I got a new Skito pad that is very shiny with a shim set I was certain would at least help. I rode 7 miserable miles in it yesterday and... NOPE. Same issues. The shim set I got for the Skito pad (which is gorgeous, by the way) was intended to fill the "dip" in her sway back... which is the area I'm seeing the pressure and edema.
My new Skito.
Possibly this problem is contributed to by the saddle wanting to slide back. It will slide back a good three inches on big uphills and I can't get my breastplate any tighter. It already interferes when she puts her head down to graze.
Another thing to note: the Ghost is treeless. The dry spots and edema are right around where my weight is. Possibly I'm just too heavy for treeless, though I am within the recommended weight range for this saddle right now.
I don't know.
Another example after a rinse that shows the curve of her back better.
I know lots of recommendations for saddles to try will come flooding in if I look for them, but I can't afford something more than around $1k right now (and that's if I sell this NEW saddle, ugh). If only saddle brands did rent-to-own stuff! Plus, there is no guarantee that a more expensive saddle will help at all. This saddle performed great in my trial and is the most comfy saddle for ME that I've tried. That's one reason I wasn't sure I wanted to make this post at all.
It would be great if I could borrow saddles to try, but Deli just isn't shaped like many other horses. Part of me thinks treeless is our only option. How else to you accommodate a sway-back, wide as hell, forward-girth groove, sensitive skinned redheaded pony?
She isn't sore so I'm going to keep riding and tweaking things to see if I can make some difference. But I'm not feeling super hopeful today.
Here's what I plan on trying:
Less stretchy girth (may help the saddle from sliding back but historically Deli has been intolerant of a non-stretch girth).
Moving shims around.
Trying NO shim in the Skito pad.
Swap back to the slimmer panel to see if that makes a difference (probably not).
See if I can get to a place to have a fast FLAT conditioning ride to determine if the sliding back is a contributing factor. Or bore our brains out doing laps in the arena...
I switched to the wider panel which is supposed to spread out the weight more.
Feeling very "grey" today, despite the sun finally being out.
I am still planning on our first endurance ride in late May. Conditioning-wise Deli is looking good for a conservative LD. I suppose if the greater distance does make her sore then I will have my answer and truly return to the drawing board. (And probably be out for another season. A thought which I can't stomach right now.)
The month of February has been very busy! I have my notes
from the PNER conference mostly written up, but they still need to be edited to
make sure they are read-able.
I wanted to get a quick blog post out to talk a little about
my experience with the GHOST prototype saddle I’ve been testing out this month.
This prototype – termed EVA – is very different than the
other GHOST saddles. It has a “tree” made out of the same material as Crocs. It’s
very lightweight and has some flex to it, but is much stiffer than other
treeless saddles I’ve seen. It also does not have panels, but they are not
needed: this thing has no problem maintaining a vast spine channel even when
using a normal pad. Pretty cool,
right?
The EVA on Deli (with GHOST pad).
Pony modeling the EVA.
I did end up needing the pommel bolster insert on the EVA as well to lift up the front of the saddle. As discussed in my trial of the GHOST Firenze, Deli’s conformation means saddles sit downhill on her. Though the EVA looked like it was sitting perfectly with a tight girth, the front of the saddle would squish down when I sat on it – the form is obviously more flexible there.
The front of the saddle. The front does squish down some when rider weight is added.
The pad ties onto the back ring of the saddle. You can kind of see how the seat is Velcroed on in this photo.
The rigging is awesome: adjustable like the other GHOST models, but with a wider spread. This added to front-to-back stability.
These are the rings for the stirrups. Note that they are attached to the tree like other GHOST models to prevent pressure points from the stirrup weight.
The stirrup position wasn't quite
right, to be honest. I ended up in the forward ring like I did with the Firenze, but I did
feel like if my legs were even a little more forward it would have been
perfect. In part this could be because I was having some discomfort from the
seat pommel so maybe I wanted to push my legs out more in front of me.
The seat did kinda bust my girly bits in the front, if you know what I mean (I had a similar issue with my County dressage saddle). I think I prefer a flatter seat because of this. And generally my horse isn’t a complete loon – though she has clearly been feeling some spring fever this month. (I think she wants me to start conditioning, right?)
Don't mind our creep barn llama, Flipside...
The EVA with the Thinline.
It felt pretty stable once I switched
to using my Thinline endurance pad, though I did notice the back end in
particular kicking off to one side or another sometimes. This has been reported
with other riders: some side-to-side instability. I think in part this is
because the existing GHOST pad wasn’t quite wide enough for the stiffer saddle
base on this prototype. I tend to like a pad with a little extra space beyond the
saddle footprint and the GHOST pads, in general, are pretty minimalist in that respect.
Both my Deli and I are dealing with one-side-weakness problems so it could be a
rider/horse problem rather than a saddle problem. It rolled a little, certainly,
but I think on a horse with a less pronounced barrel-shaped body and actual withers
it wouldn’t be an issue at all (and the roll was about
the same as the Firenze, to be honest, and I got some side-to-side roll with my
old traditional treed dressage saddle as well). The Thinline had a wider base for the
saddle to sit on, so I think that helped. And my horse seemed more comfortable
with that pad setup more so that the GHOST pad.
Riding in the EVA! I did not get any arena pictures because my husband only seems to come along during "trail rides" (i.e. walking up the road because everything else is MUD).
At least these roads have some decent hills! I did try different stirrup lengths (this being the shortest).
The seat on the EVA was very secure but I tend to like a flatter
seat. People that like to feel like they won’t move when the horse does some
crazy antics will like this seat. I did have one crazy antics ride on Deli in this saddle and felt very secure
throughout. Deli does not rear or buck, though, so I can’t speak to that kind
of misbehavior. Epic spooking and thinking galloping around a slick muddy
corner is a good idea is all I can contribute to this test!
The underside of the EVA. The velcro strip down the middle is one way they secure the seat (which you can peel up to add bolsters, or adjust the seat size). This saddle technically is an 18" seat.
I am very curious to see how they
develop this. With a somewhat flatter seat and some other minor adjustment, I
think I might want one! It feels more like a treed saddle but with the
flexibility it could really work for lots of situations. I think, with some
work, this could be an awesome saddle for
heavyweight riders or riders wanting a stiffer/more secure feel while getting
some of the benefits of a treeless saddle.
There are some things I preferred about this prototype when
compared to the GHOST Firenze I trialed. First and utmost was the wider spread
on the rigging. This seemed to help the problems I had with the saddle sliding
back were much less with this rigging set up, though I also took the time to
adjust my breastplate tighter before I hit the road hills!
I also like that you don’t
need a special treeless pad with this saddle. And it's lightweight while still offering the kind of support you might expect for a treed saddle.
I think overall Deli moved more freely in the GHOST Firenze, Which is fine, because I bought a Firenze! It arrived yesterday and I am very pleased. I can't wait to try out my new saddle, especially since I got custom blocks (instead of the bucking rolls) done that I think will work well. This means the EVA prototype is going to be sent along to the next person. The hope is that, since this saddle is still in development, rider feedback will shape the next prototype.
My new GHOST Firenze with custom "banana split" block!
My (newish) cat, Jovian, checking out the custom block.
"What do you mean I can't sit on the new saddle?"
Fingers crossed this is THE saddle that will get us through lots of trail miles with comfort and happiness. I know I am going to have to play around with bolstering the front and I have plans for pad experimentation (including getting a laminated foam Skito that I can place on TOP of the Thinline pad). If there is an interest in these things I can endeavor to make an effort to catalog them here.
Fingers crossed March is the month where we start conditioning and building fitness for the long haul. I am looking forward to more saddle time and trail riding. So far 2016 has been turbulent with my own health problems and I need the relief some long trots on the horse I love will bring.
This past weekend was spent in Portland, Oregon at the Pacific Northwest Endurance Rides Conference. I’ve
made it a must-tend event for several years now, and it’s an easy thing for me
to do since I live in Portland.
The highlight of the long weekend is both seeing familiar faces and
meeting new folks in the endurance community. It always reminds me that PNER is
just that: a community. There are cliques and insular groups within it, of
course, but by in large they are welcoming folks. Green Beans such as myself
are welcomed in this region – probably in part because the leaders of the “movement”
originated here!
The next big highlight is, of course, the speakers and round-table
discussions. I always learn something valuable and take extensive notes so that
I can eventually share my thoughts and the information with others. One of my
favorite things about horses is the constant need to learn and adapt (says the
perpetual student), the Conference speakers have a ton of valuable information
that is applicable both to endurance and horse care in general. The speakers and panels I attended this year included:
Moving Up – Smart Conditioning for Every Distance (though I missed the beginning
of this), Managing Equine Liability, “10 Things You Can Do Better” (by Dr.
Susan Garlinghouse), Endurance Foot Care, Beyond Conditioning, and Running on
Empty (the Do’s & Don’ts to Avoid Dehydration). I also attended a
round-table discussion on competing the non-Arab in endurance. If you are
interested in any of these topics, stay tuned! Over the next month I will be
posting my notes and thoughts on each of these panels and discussions.
Pretty GHOST saddles on display.
Another exciting thing to happen at the PNER Conference: I ordered a
saddle! There were lots of saddle vendors at the conference this year but I
stuck with what I’d tried. I ordered a GHOST Firenze. Fingers crossed I get it
sooner rather than later, but the saddle ships from Italy and it will take time
to make as well (particularly since I’m getting some “custom” accents). I am
still doing a game of international telephone to see if the saddle maker can do a block or
knee roll that would better suit my leg conformation. But I do know I am
getting a black saddle in the oiled nubuck (the same material as the demo
saddle I tried). I briefly considered getting the synthetic material, which was very
nice, but I kept coming back to the rich pliable nubuck. And the black? Well,
Deli’s official colors are “black & blue”, which suits us.
I also left the Conference with a saddle prototype in-hand. Also from
GHOST, this prototype uses the same material as the Croc shoes as a tree. The
result is a stiffer “treeless” saddle which may offer more support for
heavyweight riders. Based on what I’ve felt of it, it also seems to offer a
more definite “twist” than most treeless saddles. I’ve done one short ride in
it just to see Deli’s immediate response – no rejection so far. It feels very
different and I am excited to experiment and give feedback. How often is it
that someone gets to influence the design of a saddle! I’ll report on my
findings for the prototype as well and I am very happy to have a saddle to experiment
with while my Firenze is being made.
Deli tacked up in the GHOST EVA prototype.
I don’t know if this is Deli and my year when it comes to actually
getting to an LD (or two, or three), but I’m trying to remain positive while
letting the universe do its thing. There is a lot I can’t control when it comes
to riding in endurance. To a certain degree I can control Deli’s health, but
given our history I’ve had to become accustomed to meeting the emergencies as
they come and with minimal
During the conference someone I was in a discussion with made a good
point: the real reason this sport is called “endurance” is because of
everything it takes to get onto the actual competition trail. The conditioning
miles, tweaking horse nutrition, keeping your horse healthy, figuring out tack,
and working on mental readiness. It’s all hard work. It all takes serious
problem-solving skills. I really like problem solving – it allows me to always
be in the mindset of a student, which is a role I enjoy. But I’ve been lusting
after that elusive endurance trail for eight years now. That longing was only
intensified by my one and only LD.
I joined both AERC and PNER for the first time this year. The new job
and a more predictable income allows for little things like memberships. I’m
curious to see how these memberships affect my place in the endurance
community. I still need to get my one LD completion attached to my new AERC
number. Deli also has a number now.
I am not making plans other than a goal to: hit the trails. Whatever
that may mean at the time. For example, this month (February) is busy with business
trips and jury duty and meetings upon meetings. It’s still mud season in the
Pacific Northwest so I am allowing February to be Deli and my month of
stretching, yawning, and cleaning out our literal and figurative closets.
I ended up keeping the Ghost Firenze for an extra two weeks on
trial. This was a good thing. Due to the weather it had been difficult to ride
as much as I would have liked that first week. The extended trial was appreciated.
I got to experiment with some other things which is making my decision-making process much easier:
Different girths, moving the girth around (the rigging
allows for this).
Different pads. I tried my favorite endurance Thinline with
sheepskin (pictured), a thicker Western pad, and combining the Ghost saddle pad
with the Thinline.
Longer periods of dressage work in the (often slick and ooky)
arena.
Trotting small cross rails (she just trots big over them).
Different stirrup lengths to test knee comfort while
half-seating (since I prefer cantering in half seat or two-point).
Riding with a crupper.
Riding with a saddle bag (it makes me think I’d want more
rings because the placement doesn’t quite match my bags).
Riding through a huge bolt-spook and not budging.
A trail ride! Not as long as I would have liked (only 4.5
miles), but I was able to trailer out to the nearby horse and hiking park Tryon Creek for a ride on some good hills. (Also it was an awesome trail ride
adventure in and of itself – a good test for Deli which she passed with flying
colors!)
And very important: different bolstering.
Specifically bolstering the front pommel WAY more than before and trying to
fold the felt inserts given in different configurations. This made the biggest
difference in my comfort.
My final thoughts:
As I’ve said before I really like this saddle. Deli moves
much more comfortably than she ever did in my dressage saddle. With me
bolstering the saddle way more in the front I felt like I was in a much better
position and I had no back soreness or issues from her after that. The bucking
rolls were hardly noticeable with the bolstering. I might do a wedge-shim in
the PAD plus a wedge in the saddle itself when I eventually work things out.
The
trail ride showed me that the saddle wants to slide forward and back QUITE a
bit. She didn’t seem irritated by this
slipping, oddly enough. I WAS irritated by it, though!
Saddle after coming up the biggest hill. WAY back.
I think this can mostly be solved by a tighter breastplate.
I should have just adjusted it on the trail ride but my fingers were freezing
(it was 35 degrees). I was also curious to see how much she fussed, to be
honest.
Deli wasn’t a huge fan of any of the girths except her
sheepskin-floof covered and VERY stretchy Montana Cincha. This might be in part
because she isn’t clipped yet and any hair catching irritates the heck out of
her. Also she does like the softness of the stretchy-mess. So inevitably the
saddle does have some tendency to roll if more weight goes into one stirrup. A tighter
breastplate and even the addition of a crupper for those longer rides would
help that. Honestly every saddle I’ve had on her rolls to some degree.
I am thinking of trying a mohair girth or something similar
on her, since the Ghost totally allows for our number one problem (saddle being
pulled forward into the shoulder by her forward heart girth). Notice the angle of the girth on the above picture? That isn't "forced" per se, though in that shot the saddle is sitting too far back. The rigging is really nice for horses with conformation like Deli's (that forward heart girth & round rubs and laid-back shoulder combo) but would work for a horse with more "straight" conformation too.
Posing with the Thinline pad.
Most treeless saddles require some kind of built-up pad. I've avoided a lot of treeless saddles because Deli certainly needs a nice spine channel. The Ghost has panels that support the seat above the horse's spine. Since Deli does not have a protruding spine or a narrow frame i thought I'd try it with this pad.
She did fine without the super-padded treeless pad (ie. my
Thinline), but even though it didn’t touch I didn’t like how close the “tree”
came to her spine. Since both Deli and I love the Thinline I am interested in
getting a Skito half-pad (with their heavyweight foam) to place on top of the
Thinline to account for it being treeless. This material-type combination is
what we use for our bareback riding that has worked so well. I like the Ghost
pad as well but I am someone who likes having backup combinations. I imagine if
we ever get to LDs I’d like to change my pad during the vet check if I have
time.
For our little trail adventure we mostly walked in part to
riding with a greenie horse and also because the park was very crowded. It was
the day after Christmas and Tryon Creek is within Portland city limits. The
trails are very nice and totally winter-ized, however. We trailered up to the
park and unloaded. Deli looked around calmly. I had popped her boots on prior
to loading so save the hassle in the parking lot. Deli basically ground-tied
while I saddled her, watching curiously as other riders pulled their rigs in
and out of the parking lot. Ready to go I mounted awkwardly from the truck tail
and off we went. Deli eagerly moved out at a nice walk. She was a little slower
at the walk but she usually is when leading the pack – which she did the WHOLE
way! Tryon Creek is forested but not tightly closed in and Deli eagerly looked
ahead the whole way. She put her muscles into the hill climbs (she excels at
climbing hills – going down, not so much) and never put a foot wrong. We had
some balking at the first of two of the bridges we had to cross, but not a
difficult fight. Mostly I am proud of her for how good she was around the mobs
of hikers/walkers, families, dogs, joggers, and other riders. It was the day
after Christmas and CROWDED. Deli was also a great example for the greenie who
had a few brain farts when crossing culverts. She is communicative of things
that are worrying her – basically you are just aware she is aware, though. She
was awesome. She even got called a “trail schoolmaster” which makes me LAUGH
because, NO WAY.
Red Hawk Pony in Tryon Creek.
So what’s next? Over the past week I’ve been ruminating on
the saddle issue. If I want to have the opportunity to ride more I need
something more than my bareback setup. Deli has been, historically, not easy to
fit. The Ghost seems to be a good fit. One of the bigger points in its favor is
how adjustable it is. You can add bolsters, exchange seats, adjust the stirrup
positions, etc. I can even get one made without the bucking rolls.
I still have that worry of: what if it doesn’t work
long-term for what I want to do with Deli (Which is, limited Distance rides,
extensive trail riding, schooling dressage). I suppose I will NEVER know that
with any saddle though!
I am probably going to get this model. I like the forward flap quite a bit. My legs are more underneath me that they ever were with my dressage saddle! Clearly that one had problems beyond the girth-fit issue. One thing about this Ghost saddle is that the price seems very competitive. That’s a huge draw for
someone like me! I still have to figure out whether to get it with or without
the bucking rolls, what material (different kinds of leather, fleece, and
synthetic are available), and what color. The demo I tried was the oiled
nubuck, which I liked. My life on the wet side of Oregon has me considering the synthetic option, though.
I am just finishing up my saddle demo for the treeless Ghost saddle. It
wasn’t the best week the demo a saddle because of the epic storm that has been
thrashing the Pacific Northwest since Tuesday. And my “epic” storm I mean
downed trees, SIGNIFICANT flooding, closed freeways, mudslides…
And for those who don’t live here and think its weird someone living in
Portland would comment about the rain: this isn’t normal.
I still got a couple good test rides in on the Firenze, though no long trail
rides unfortunately. I am fairly new to treeless saddles but I’ve tried a
Startrekk and a Freeform on Deli before. She disliked both and there is little
more to say. I have personally ridden in an older Ansur, but not on Deli.
Ansurs are WAY out of my price point, anyway.
The Ghost Firenze with Ghost pad - size 18" seat.
The rigging , the pad, and the stirrup attachments.
The best “trail” trial I had for this was riding 3 miles up the road
and back in the freezing rain today (luckily, I have a waterproof saddle cover that fit). Deli was kind of pissy (wanting to go home), but
it was hard to tell whether it was the weather, all the cars, or the saddle. We
did some more trot work in the arena upon returning and she was nice and
forward still, which is usually a good sign.
My general impressions:
Well-constructed,
fairly minimalist with a more ridged but flexible base, a stiffer pommel arch
which gave it the most structure, and areas for both the leather seat and
panels to be Velcro on (seats are interchangeable). This would allow the panels to be adjusted. I messed
with that very little.
The Ghost pad also
seemed well-constructed - the foam is different than what I'm used to seeing in Skito, though.
I like the panels
system that gives the spine lots of clearance (*note, when I tried the Freeform
it did NOT have the sympanova panels, just a bulky treeless pad).
Sit’s “higher up”
on the horse due to the extra padding – typical for a treeless.
Initially it was tipped
way to far forward due to Deli’s sway back and the fact the saddle does squish when you sit in it. The saddle
dealer included some felt seat inserts which I placed under the seat as a bolster.
That really helped. I might want an even bigger bolster if I get this saddle.
Deli was initially
wiggly, and then really moved out nicely for some easy arena work. She seemed
more comfortable than our old dressage saddle and than just the bareback pad
just based on her willingness to trot on and relax her head down with little
urging.
Comfort for me was
decent after I figured out where to have the stirrup leathers (there are two
spaces to put them) – except for the bucking rolls. I hate those things. I have
a VERY long upper leg and big thighs. Bucking rolls just do NOT work for me.
Luckily this saddle comes with the option to have them removed so I tried to
ignore them and focus on other aspects of the saddle.
I absolutely LOVE
the rigging system (see pictures). It worked great for my forward-heart-girth
& laid-back-shoulder gal. The saddle did slide forward and back a little
when we did some hills.
You have to cinch
it up much tighter than a treed saddle. Saddles always roll on Deli because she
is a barrel, so I had to be mindful of that.
Visual of how it all layers together:
Me on Deli (but before I put the bolster in the saddle pommel:
After I put the bolster in the pommel:
More shots of the "inner workings" of the saddle:
Showing the foam in the pad.
The panels can be peeled off the flexible frame.
Potential issues to be addressed or actual problems:
I am heavier than
the “maximum weight” of 175. Not much heavier – and given the diet I am now on
(for specific health reasons other than losing weight) I’ll probably be 175 or
less by the time the weather is nice enough for longer rides. Still. I will
never be a lightweight and I have a mental block about the treeless + fat person
issue.
Her lower back was
somewhat tender after our last ride (in the area she gets fatigued easily).
MY lower back and
crotch were also a bit sore after riding up the road. Again, it’s hard to say
why. I still felt like I was being tipped forward sometimes so If I get this
saddle – maybe a bigger bolster? Shim the front of the pad? Not sure. I don’t
get any soreness when riding with the bareback pad, and I’ve done around 5
miles pretty regularly (before it started raining every day) with that. Related
to this: I feel like I could sit more comfortably without the bucking rolls
hitting me uncomfortably.
The saddle did
slide forward and slide back when we hit some minor hills. Not enough to make
her fuss, but it was noticeable.
I’m concerned about the slight back tenderness today. Hard to tell if
it was saddle related or because she was so tense and “up” for the whole of
riding up the road. I also haven’t asked much of her dressage-wise for several
months since we have not had a saddle. Still, we only went 4 miles. Can her
back remain good for 25 if she’s iffy after 4? Her back didn’t feel tender like
that riding 5 miles in the bareback pad, but she was tenser today (due to the
weather/timing) and I asked her for more in the arena.
I would like to be able to use Thinline somehow since Deli does really well with that. I think Skito COULD make a treeless pad for this saddle, or I could add Thinline shims into the pad itself (or the panels!). There are lots of ways to adjust and self-modify this setup, which is a plus.
I tried putting our Thinline pad
UNDER the Ghost pad, but Deli wasn’t a fan of the layered pads. I wonder how much a treeless pad is
needed with the panels and a barrel-shaped horse? I should have tired just the Thinline
in the arena but it didn’t occur to me till just now.
Otherwise I am seriously considering getting this model. There were
lots of things to like and in general Deli seemed comfortable. She did her
lovely power walk reliably without being nudged a lot, which is usually a sign
she feels good. She certainly moved more freely than in our old dressage
saddle! The pricing on these saddles is also very good – I could get one NOW.
The other saddles I was considering (Trailwise, Alleghany, maaaayyybe
Stonewall) would all be double the price of this saddle or more. And there is
no guarantee they would work long-term either. Finding a treed saddle to fit her particular conformation has been difficult if not impossible so far.
One VERY note-able observation: when I first rode her in the arena when it was dry she picked up the canter easily. With the dressage saddle it was always a struggle in the arena. I thought it was just her but not I'm not so sure... I couldn't canter again after that because parts of the arena were semi-flooded and it was too slippery to canter at all.
It bears musing. I wonder if it's a good idea to get this so I at least have a saddle to RIDE in. If it does not work for Deli and I longer-term we can always sell it (like we would any saddle that did not work). I certainly recommend this saddle based on what I've seen so far.
This post is all about our “test” of other things that pertain to going
down the trail with a healthy mind and body. And my long-winded thoughts, of course.
Tack – pads, saddle, and boots
(oh my)
My current tack setup seemed to work fairly well. Deli’s back felt
great after the ride and stayed in good shape in the following days. There is
still some backwards-forwards sliding of my saddle so I have endeavored to
tighten my crupper another hole. It really needs to be tight with this saddle,
but so far that doesn’t seem to bother Deli. I’ve been smoothing coconut oil her
tail and working it into her tail-hair roots after rides to keep the area
happy.
Deli loves my new pad – the ThinLine
Endurance Sheepskin pad – that I got for my birthday. It’s sad how quickly
the sheepskin gets dirty, though, and ThinLine recommends I don’t wash the pad
more than 3 times in its 10 year lifespan. Yikes! I did (and continue to have)
issues with the pad sliding back which I’m not sure how to fix. Perhaps sewing
billet keepers onto the pad is something I should look into doing.
More like "A+"...
My saddle is still painful for me to ride the miles with, but doing
more trotting at the Klickitat Intro Ride confirmed that trotting is far more
comfortable for my various bits than long hours of walking. The trotting issue
shouldn’t be a problem when it comes to endurance competition…
Speaking of hoof boots, her boots stayed on and worked well for the entire
ride. But I was foolish and agreed with my trimmer to get a smaller size
Easyboot Glove than I thought would work. I got them on, But Deli’s wide heel
bulbs and heels and general made it way more of a PIA than I ever want to struggle
with. I went back the Renegades I’ve been using on her hind feet on a trail
ride yesterday and I think for the time being (until I can afford another set
of Gloves – anyone want to buy the basically new 0.5 wides with powerstraps I
was convinced to purchase?). I’ve been using the Gloves on her fronts
successfully for YEARS, but have never been quite satisfied by any boot on her
hind feet, which are more irregularly shaped and have that fat fetlock scar on
her right-hind to contend with.
Vetting in – before and after
our intro trail ride
The front of our ride card.
Dr. Foss was the ride vet who checked Deli in and out and he had some
valuable comments for us. Our starting evaluation she wasn’t as forward for our
trot out, which is easily explained to the somewhat rocky area to trot on and
Deli freshly trimmed feet. She’s always very careful about stepping on rocks
and it seemed like that was the case here. The weird weather we have been
having seems to have made Deli’s soles more sensitive than usual anyway – but since
I boot her for pretty much all of my trail riding and she moves out comfortably
with them on, I wasn’t too worried. Once it dries out more and stops being hot
AND wet, her feet will be more comfortable.
And the back of the ride card.
I’m sure many other Western Oregon/Washington folks can agree that
standing on damp soil all day long is never the best thing for horse feet. I
like the rain and the cool weather, but it’s not a natural condition for our
horse beasties.
With her boots on Deli trotted off for our final vet check big and
sassy.
The A- in attitude at our vet-in is related to her not being super
forward on our trot out and her fussing some for having her capillary refill
checked. We have been working on THAT quite a bit at home and she is loads
better. As in, he was actually ABLE to check it this time unlike the vet-in at
our Grizzly Intro ride.
At our finish, I did ask the vet what he thought about her ability
to do a slow LD since we were the only ones there at that time. He asked some
questions about my pacing for this intro ride, how stressed she seemed, and our
normal “conditioning” regime. He concluded that he thought she could do a slow
LD and recommended I work a little bit to increase her cardiovascular fitness
in the meantime if I was worried. As it relates to that the vet said our
mostly-walking trail rides at home did seem to be getting her in decent shape
muscle-wise, and her heart-rate was in a good place for having trotted into the
vet check, but that some added cardio work would make an LD less tiring for her
(probably).
He also commented that she was a bit chubby, but that I probably knew
that. Yessier, yessir I do. Both Deli and her pasture mate are on a sort of-diet.
Their hay ration was decreased and they are eating down what they have in their
small grass pasture area.
Deli's favorite thing is eating...
which I hear is good for an endurance horse.
As for the “B” on gut sounds coming in, the vet said not to worry about
it unless she SEEMED off. He added that many horses have “Bs” on their gut
sounds coming in from the first loop – which is essentially what we were doing.
My endurance mentors concurred with that statement and Deli immediately began
attacking both food and water at our return to camp.
The vet also stated with respect to us TRYING an LD: you won’t know
until you try.
I’ve heard that quite a few times from people that have been in this
sport for a long time.
Deli’s skin issues and allergies
A couple days after the ride Deli had another flare-up of her dermatitis
in her chest and between her front legs. All the classic signs: inflamed skin
leading to skin peeling and sometimes-scabbiness. I treated it with my normal
methods which have seemed to work so far, including skin soothing shampoo, antihistamines,
and one of several various topicals I use. So far there has been no infection or
hair loss, which is what I battled with all last summer. The inclusion of
chamomile and spirulena into her diet have seemed to help with her recovery
time, as have some other supplements like apple cider vinegar and MSM.
I do have some concern about her skin flare-ups making this sport
impossible. I don’t like riding her when she’s having a flare-up (because her
skin hurts, obviously), and they are unpredictable. I have started riding her
when she is recovering from a flare-up without ill effect so far, which is
helped by none of the typical inflamed zones interfere with tack.
The skin issue is another thing that I won’t
“know until I try” whether it will keep us from competition. Oral antihistamines that have been helping the severity of
the dermatitis cannot be used at an endurance ride so she couldn’t be on that
medication before or during any LD. She’s not on them all the time – I just
give her a round when she has a flare up.
Insect bites and activity still seem to be the root cause of flare ups,
so I’ve been religious with fly spray as well. But it only does so much! This
year, given our warm weather over the winter, the flies and insects are
particularly bad. Bring on the barn swallows, I say!
Thoughts on our next steps…
I am a bit wary just given Deli’s history of injury and her allergies,
but I think the vet and my mentors are right… I won’t know if we can do an LD
until we try. And this is the first summer in a long time we have actually been
able to do meaningful conditioning and rides. I evened out her one-sidedness in
a big way (she still clearly has a weaker side that is weaker than what I've felt in her in the past, so this is ongoing) over the
rainy months and now my focus needs to be on MILES.
The trails at my home barn are somewhat limited, but I can access a few
nice trails if I suck it up and ride up a road. Apparently I have PTSD when it
comes to cars and I battle anxiety when it comes to riding among traffic
despite Deli being a champ around moving vehicles of all sorts.
No REAL surprise there, since a lot of my own health issues stem from
being HIT by a car while riding my bike.
The best horse ever, but I'm biased. Deli prefers grass to stupid humans.
On the third day after the Klickitat Intro ride I took Deli out to see
what we could see. The beginning of the ride it poured and so we stayed off a
lot of the slicker trails. We were able to find some nice access that, if I’m
creative, should provide the miles we need to increase Deli’s cardiovascular
fitness though steep climbs (to walk up) and a few places we can move out. We
still have the problem of not having long tracks to trot on, but I’m hoping as
long as we can do the miles and trot where we can, a slow LD will still not be
a stretch. During this ride I also trotted her on part of the road, having
padded her front boots. That actually worked out rather well.
So the very tentative plan is to take her out on long trail rides at
least 2x a week and ride a faster shorter ride at least 1x a week. Given my
unpredictable work (and need to take on any work I’m offered) I hope we can
still manage this. I’ve decided for both our sakes that we will only ride up
the road when we can plan our rides in the middle of the day. All the crazy and
dangerous drivers seem to come out near commute times and that’s just too
stressful for me.
I even took some short video of our 9 mile trail ride on a rainy day
this past week. Deli felt good and raring to go, which was great to feel after working
her harder than she has done for quite some time at Klickitat.
Here’s the video:
Yesterday, finding myself more limited on time, I opted for a shorter
but much faster ride. I tried to see what kind of pace I could manage in the
loops around the fields across the street from my boarding barn. We were able
to keep a pace of 5.2mph over our period of 3.5 miles of “work”, allowing for a
much slower combined warm-up and cool-off where we walked through the more
suburban neighborhood back to the barn that totaled 1.4 miles altogether. It
was a hotHOT day and Deli got quite sweaty, but she felt good and happy to move
out where the footing was okay.
I’m not going to make definite plans, because if I do Deli (or me) will
get hurt. That’s just the way it works in Red Mare land. (But I’m thinking we
might try for our first LD in early July if everything is going well.)
Our tack is
finally in a decent place. In a workable place. My plan is still to jump into saddle shopping
with both feet when my work life and income is in a more predictable state, but
for now my saddle is working and gives even sweat patterns. This is helped by
my other tack in combination, of course.
Observe:
Right now
I’m booting her all-around as the weather has made her feet fairly soft and she
moves out more confidently in her boots. That ride was the first time I tried
her out in her new pair of Easyboot Gloves that I put a pad in – something I’ve
done so that we can trot on roads more comfortably and without serious strain
on her legs. Her front feet fit in 1.5 wides normally, though they get
annoyingly difficult to put on and take off in the last 3rd of her
trim cycle. These are size 2 wides with a firm pad added. Plus powerstraps (I use
powerstraps on all my Gloves). They stuck on well and she didn’t trip, so I was
pleased. We are still trying to figure out what the best option is for her hind
feet (which are more irregularly shaped and have that fetlock scar to contend
with), but right now the Renegades I have for her at least stay on even if I am
not super happy with the fit there.
As for other
tack my parents got me the Thinline
Sheepskin Endurance Pad I’d been coveting for my recent birthday, and Deli
clearly LOVES it. Though I must say a little part of me dies when I take a
clean fluffy sheepskin pad and within 3 rides it is disgusting from sweat and
dirt. Her back is soft when I get off. For arena work I use a fleece-cotton
square pad with a Thinline Contour pad on top.
A shot from Deli's most recent trim.
Using a
crupper is also working out well to help with our long-running issue of the
saddle being pulled forward due to Deli’s big laid back shoulder and forward
hearth girth. Now we ride with a seriously loose girth and snug crupper and breast
collar/plate and have had no issues with saddle slippage under saddle yet. I
still can’t mount from the ground, but I have never been able to with this
horse due to her meat-tube shape. Luckily she has become a pro at standing
quietly while I use trees and rocks and ditches and random farm equipment to
use as a mounting block.
I’ve also
been using an elastic breast girth (as is used by eventers) instead of my Zilco
breastplate for the simple reason that it stays above the area where her skin
is upset from her allergies. It seems to work fine so far, and Deli seems to
appreciate the elastic. I haven’t tested it yet on hardcore hill climbing but
will soon.
As for an update on Deli’s allergies…
Deli’s skin
issues due to hyper-sensitivity and insect allergies are an ongoing management
head-scratcher. Riding does not make it worse, though I forgo riding when the
tack touches any of her hotspot areas or when they are in places that stretch
during normal movement (like her armpits – a typical spot for flare ups)
because they clearly HURT. For the most part the flare ups are confined to her
chest and between her front legs – which my vet thinks is because the spider
bite several years ago that seems to have triggered her extreme histamine
reaction was on her lower chest. It is really gross, in general. Her skin gets
localized fevers in “hot spots” during the worst of it, making her skin peel
off and the area especially sensitive. She will get scabby skin around bites or
in hot spot areas. During bad flare-ups I have been giving her generic Zyrtec,
which seems to help quiet the inflammation though I still wait for the
peeling-gross skin areas to heal.
I’ve been
experimenting with different supplements and have her on a Smartpak’s
Bug-Off Ultra pellets, which I supplement with extra MSM during her
flare-ups. She also gets lots of Omega 3s and other than her hot spot areas her
skin and coat are shiny and healthy. Recently I added both chamomile and
spirulena to her supplements as well, and one or both do seem to be helping as
this past week her skin has been more dandruff-y than scabby and inflamed. When
I lived in California both spirulena and chamomile were very helpful in easing
some of the symptoms of her (mild) dust allergy as both have anti-inflammatory
and soothing properties. Living in Oregon now the dust allergy comes up less
often. At worst she usually needs to cough a couple times when we start
trotting and then will be fine for the rest of the ride.
For topical
treatments I use several things. Hydrocortisone has clear results in calming
the initial inflammation and so I’ve made up batches of my homemade healing goo
(which includes essential oils in a coconut oil base) with human-grade
hydrocortisone cream. I also have my goo without the hydrocortisone which I put
in areas she often gets bitten – including working it into her tail hair on her
dock as it also functions as a skin and hair moisturizer. This works very well
as a protective layer too, I’ve found, as the oil sticks around for a couple days
and soothes her raw skin (when a layer has peeled off). The essential oils I
use (Melrose and Purification, for those curious) also have an added benefit of
repelling insects.
If we ever do get to an endurance ride it’s likely I will
make up some of my homemade goo without any AERC banned ingredients in it to
put as a proactive protective layer before competition. My other favorite
product is Healing
Tree T-Zon Equine Healing Cream, which also provides Deli a lot of relief.
I also use Eqyss
Micro-Tek products and usually bathe her problem areas with some kind of
gentle medicated shampoo (like Micro-Tek’s) at least every other week and then moisturize her skin and coat afterward.
Last but not
least I rub her dry with clean towels and often use Dermacloth to
clean sweaty areas after a ride to prevent any skin irritation that may occur
from residual sweat and dirt. I also use these to clean around her eyes and the
sweaty marks left by her bridle, as her eyes often get irritation from dust and
insects as well.
My vet has confirmed that red-headed horses (like red-headed humans) do seem to have more issues with sensitivity in the skin. I think Deli has had allergies in some form as long as I have had her (the first thing I noticed was she would get white flaky skin when fed corn). The dust allergies seemed to be caused by an unfortunate illness she had when I first got her - the one where she was forced into quarantine against my will in a dark dusty stall. "Against my will" meaning I was trying to find an open solo pasture for her to be in quarantine given she had never been stalled and was still new to being handled regularly. I wasn't allowed to remove her and we were both traumatized by the experience for various reasons.
The insect issues are tied to that spider bite on her chest which was very nasty and made her skin get infected, requiring antibiotics.
That's not even half of what we've gone through, but as it relates to allergies that's about it. That, and she gets welts from many fly sprays...
