Saddle shopping - CWD

With my very limited exposure to saddles to try, I wanted to have someone out as I find a saddle I would like.  I had been trying to get Prestige but they won't come out because I am "too far".  County can't tell me when they can come out.  Stubben has no reps in the area and I never heard back from Beval.  I was happy, then, when I was able to get CWD out right away.

SE02 with 3C flap

The only CWD I have ever ridden in is here at the barn.  One regular CWD and one monoflap.  The regular didn't fit Mia at all and I ended up not really riding in it long.  The Monoflap gave me great position so I wanted to try them out.  The reps are....okay.  The first one set an appointment only to cancel 24 hours prior because she got directions and I was "too far away".  Luckily the person she referred me to got me in within a week and they came out on Sunday.

SE02 with 2C flap

The appointment was for 11a, she texted me at 915a saying her ETA was 1115a.  Perfect.  Except she didn't show up until 1155a and didn't let me know or give me a heads up.  I was fairly annoyed.  The rep was nice though.  I was very upfront and told her I was shopping and was having other reps out, I wanted to try lots of saddles.  She used to work for Prestige and now works at CWD and has been there for 6 months.  Her speech was everything about CWD was technology, she probably used that word 50 times, if not more.  They put a lot of R&D into the trees, they own their factories and tanneries, they have top riders test their saddles.  She said the grain leather is what she recommends, calfskin wears really fast and the buffalo leather will wear like the grain leather.  She said it will take 10-20 rides to really start breaking in a grain saddle though, and to not be discouraged if I don't love it right away.  It will become grippy and develop a patina the more you ride in it.

CWD SE02 with 3C flap

She also talked about the leather pores being open, not sealed, and how I can only use CWD conditioner on it as a result.  It needs cleaned after every ride because it is susceptible to dirt/water due to having open pores.  Lady, that is NOT a selling point to a lazy person LOL!

Lots of rocking of saddle, eek

I rode in a SE01 and SE02, SE01 being a flatter seat, SE02 being a half deep seat.  We also tried the 2C and 3C flaps, 3C is more foward than a 2C, and determined I like the SE02 with the 3C flap.  The 3L flap is forward but longer, and I have really short legs and it didn't work well.  I also tried the carbon fiber 2G (SE25) and it is NICE but well out of my budget.  It is a $1500 upgrade just for the different tree.

Rocking...

The fitter stressed that the trees are irrelevant because the front of the tree is fully flexible and moves with the horse, and showed me the flex.  The important part is the panels that touch the horse and they are 100% custom.  There isn't a "standard " panel, each is configured 100% to the horse.  The panels are foam and are wider and flatter than "other" saddles which are to allow for more contact and less pressure points.  I told her the bad things I heard about foam panels and she assured me she had NEVER had those problems.  Okay....so maybe there are lots of people that are lying?  Everything I have heard is that, for long-term saddles, use wool not foam.  Foam becomes hard, lumpy, creates pressure points and disintegrates.  Wool may require some maintenance but can fit all horses.  Foam does not.  She disagreed.

CWD SE01 with 3C flap

She left 2 quotes for new saddles, both well above the budget I had told her when I originally scheduled the visit.  I also really don't have a desire to buy new, but at least know I know what I like if I decide to go used.

SE25 with 3C flap   <3

My overall thoughts on CWD.  Their selling point is #1 technology technology technology.  #2 is 8 of the 10 best riders in the world use CWD.  (She did not say WHO these riders were, or which discipline).  #3 custom, custom, custom.  Of these points, none of them are a huge priority for me.  I don't need a custom saddle, Mia isn't a hard fit and I don't think I am either.  I don't need or necessarily want the latest/greatest technology.  Time and fads will kill the majority of the players as the value of said technology will be deemed unworthy, unnecessary or incorrect.  So I am looking passively for SE02 but am looking forward to Stubben and County to come out.  I may even end up hauling 2+ hours over to a tack shop that has a bunch of saddles and trying some out there too.  What are your experiences, what do you like in a saddle?  Have you tried CWD?  Good?  Bad?

PSA: Helmet Awareness Day

The Riders4Helmets campaign was founded in 2010 as a direct result of American Olympic dressage rider Courtney King-Dye's accident.  A young horse she was schooling fell, leaving King-Dye (who was not wearing a helmet) with severe head injuries.  The campaign has the aim of educating equestrians on the benefits of wearing a properly fitting, secured, and certified helmet.  This is the second year in a row I have now bought a new helmet for Helmet Awareness Day. But now I don't need any for another 4-5 years.  Right?  Lol.

My daily helmet is a basic Tipperary Sportage.  I used to ride in Troxels, and had several, but once I tried a Tipperary I have never, ever went back.  SO much more comfortable.  When my first Tipperary expired (you replace yours every 5 years too, right?) I went to the All American Quarter Horse Congress and tried on every brand and model I could find.  And I didn't like a single one better than my cheap Tipperary. Charles Owens were too round.  As were One K.  Ovations just felt...weird.  There were 3 or 4 more brands that I don't recall, I ended up with another Tipperary.  And another.

I think what I need to do is actually go into a fully stocked tack store and try helmets on again but those are woefully absent here in my new neck of the woods.  The closest is over 1.5 hours away! And sadly I didn't take the time to do it when I was in MI, you know, close to things.  Last year I replaced my show helmet with one of the snazzy looking T4s.

New(ish) show helmet

Sadly they seem to not be making them anymore, I was going to get one for my regular riding helmet.  My daily helmet is set to expire in February so I knew I needed a new one, thankfully Helmet Awareness Day does a great job of providing big discounts from retailers so I scored another Sportage for $63 from Equus Now, almost 25% off with free shipping!  Riding Warehouse is having a really nice 20% off sale as well (coupon code HAD20) and Dover is suggesting 50% off retail (but...it's Dover so.... compare and add in shipping cost) and lots more.

New daily helmet

The $900 FB Pony has a good write up already and you can go to riders4helmets to find retailers that are participating as well.  Protect your noggin, save some monies and buy a new helmet! I did!

Labor Day Weekend recap pt 2

After a quick lunch of a granola bar, Gatorade and a burger from the concession stand, it was time to go jumping.  The stadium round, honestly, looked uglier than I wanted but she went clear.  The course looked very easy but was full of 90 degree bends and bending lines.  Tricky!  They didn't trip Mia up even once but for whatever reason I am having issues picking a distance again and so Mia was meeting fences pretty close.  In warmup she knocked a fence down but then picked up her toes even when I buried her into the fence.  SMH.  That said, my position was still good.  So there is that little win.  You fix one problem, another pops up.  Sigh.

It was kinda amusing, it looked like they were going out of order and a rider said they just got on "the list".  Okay, no worries, I will put myself on the list too.  I walked over and said I was ready whenever and they said "Okay, have fun!"  Wait, now?!  Uh, okay.  Haha!  Yes, I was ready, I just didn't expect to go RIGHT NOW.  Sadly all video was taken by an 11 yr old and has that kind of quality so no video is being shared.  Unless, of course, you want to take a couple hits of Dramamine first?  LOL!  Even with some video stabilization it is very jerky and difficult to watch.

We went straight from stadium down to XC.  I really like this format as Stadium acts as a terrific warmup and really reduces the wait time for a short, one day show.  I expected to have a wait when I got there but one person left the start box as I walked up and I was the only other one there so after a short wait, off we went.

Fence 1 was a fairly big log, Mia didn't drag me to it so I bopped her with the crop.  I don't think she needed it, and she didn't, but I wanted her to drag me to fences.  Lol, I got my wish!  Up a big hill to fence 2, it was on the top of a hill and at an angle for a sharp turn at the top of the hill.  Mia couldn't have cared any less about it.  Over we went at an angle instead of changing her course.  I made her trot down the hill because the grass was longer and I didn't want her to slip.  Fence 3 and 4 were inconsequential.  The path to fence 5 had a drop bank and it LOOKED like we could have done it based on the flag, but it wasn't listed for BN and I didn't want to chance an elimination for jumping a harder jump so we went around it.  Fence 5 was an easy bank up, Mia likes banks.  6 was the ditch and Mia just bopped along as it is NBD anymore.  Ditches, we have made them our bitches!!  Fence 7 I met at a really bad distance (damn distances again) so it wasn't pretty, and I even considered falling off, but stayed on and clear.  I need to fix this, this is ridiculous.

Fence 8 she jumped beautifully, as was 9.  Fence 10 was through water and I KNEW we could jump up a bank out of water if we wanted.  So we did.  11 was up a hill, around to 12.  12 actually looked really intimidating from a distance due to how it is set up, it was just an oxer but parallel to a hill.  So one side was MUCH taller than the other side.  Mia didn't even blink at it.  Concern was unwarranted.  The final jump was just an easy coup and Mia was hunting for the next fence.  HA!  Even after we dropped to a walk she was looking for jumps.  The course rode in only 3 minutes, it wasn't even being timed.  It was a really short course but it amused me that Mia was looking for more fences.  She was ready to go!  By the time we got back to the trailer she had recovered in her breathing and had barely broke a sweat.  Fitness for the win!

Water jumps are NBD

We then waited for results.  And waited.  They didn't even post dressage scores until after XC was done but finally we ended up 4th of 8.  Middle of the pack, mostly I was happy with our dressage score of 33.75 despite the wrong bit.  I think we are going to try for ONE more show this year.  We are planning on hauling out for XC schooling this weekend again, we are certainly not just hanging out!

Labor Day Weekend recap pt 1

On Saturday, we had our lesson with the dressage instructor.  I was actually pretty excited about it (well, not the OMFG that is expensive! part) because the only other time I saw her, it was not long after being in PA and both Mia and I were not actually fit enough for a great lesson.  Mia also still had a long way to go to be okay with accepting the fact she was not retired.  With her now being in full work, and with Mia has been doing very well lately with our stretch down routine, I was excited to hear her opinion.

The lesson went very well.  She was very impressed with how far Mia and I have come in the 3.5 months since we saw her last.  She liked Mia stretching down and said when I was able to keep her there, she did a great job of staying engaged and round.  We worked on getting Mia to lift her withers more by having me sit BACK and really lifting my shoulders up.  And, of course, it did a good job and I could feel a difference.  Sheesh.

We also worked on getting Mia a little more accountable, again, on carrying us and the difference it brought when I asked her to really step under versus when she was toodling along.  The best thing she said though, was that I had college educated legs.  She said my lower legs and thighs are fantastic and are correct and I shouldn't worry about them at all.  YAY!!!  I need to fix my shoulders and back a little to match, since I work at a computer all day, I lean forward to "think" and apparently I do the same in the saddle.  When I am riding, I sit upright.  If I am working on something and am thinking hard while riding, I tend to slouch my shoulders forward.  Boooo.

On Sunday I loaded up and headed out with MC for our show.  It takes almost 2 hours to get there so I had to leave the house at the ripe ol time of 630a.  Overall, not too bad, it could have been worse.  Mia loaded right onto MC's trailer which was nice.  Last weekend she loaded well enough but MC's trailer has a ramp and it had really made Mia pause.

Little bit of sass/inconsistancy.  For honesty.

I immediately walked the XC course when we got there (SHORT COURSE!!) and then helped MC with her horse.  She was doing only dressage and needed some help.  I ended up videoing her first test and then called out her second test before literally running back to the trailer as I had 20 mins before my ride.  Ugh!

Who can start to look uphill in the canter?  Mia?!

Mia was a champ though, she took it all in stride.  We walked to warmup and Mia gave very little fight in the warmup.  She was forward, she was stretching down, but then she started being inconsistent and heavy in the bridle.  She was willing to do everything and did everything well but didn't want to hold contact.

As I came around a bend, I happened to glance at her bridle.  ARGH!  She was wearing the HSS loose ring on instead of her copper mouth eggbutt.  Mia still doesn't like the loose ring and apparently I had used this bridle for App last.  Ugh!  MC offered to grab my jumping bridle but we were on deck and I just said I would suck it up.  I worked as hard as I could on keeping consistency and while the test went quite well, it wasn't as good as I had hoped.

I think we were generous in getting a 33.75, hey schooling shows AMIRITE?!  Mia was quite inconsistent in contact and a little wiggly at times but she stayed stretched down more than half of the time and she listened to my half halts, lifted her withers and didn't swap her canter leads a single time.  Progress indeed!

Roundy round

We put her back at the trailer and I went to find/walk the stadium course and grab something for lunch.  Next up was XC and we had nothing to lose!

Show prep and a lesson scheduled. Yes, a LESSON!

With our show on Sunday, it is crunch time to get Mia in tip top shape.  As well as me.  Sunday we rode in dressage and the ride actually went very well until the end.  I worked on getting Mia stretched DOWN in the bridle and it was a pretty good success.  Her walk/trot went quite nicely and the canter started off well before going downhill.  She reverted to her super heavy pulling on the reins, not listening to my leg and being a giraffe.  Ugh.  It required several stop/pull back sessions as well as lots of transitions to get her off of my damn hands.

GET OFF OF MY HANDS!!!  Mia says NO!!

She can go from butter soft to carrying 20lbs in my hands and it is so frustrating.  Especially when I am riding in the snaffle and not the pelham to remind her to get off of my hand.  We were able to end on a good note.  Finally.

Coming nicely!

On Monday we did dressage again and it went better.  Not great, but better.  Except at the end where she saw deer and could not Horse if she was headed straight to them.  At an angle?  Fine.  Away from them?  Fine.  Trot straight in their direction?  Full 4 leg stop and bolt attempts.  SMH.  Not like she lives outside 24x7 and sees deer on a daily basis in the pastures.  While her new stretched trot is coming along nicely, the canter really is where her wheels are falling off the bus at this point.  We had really good walk/trot work before adding in the canter and then it got rough.  Better than Sunday, but still rough.  Thankfully we didn't have any lead swapping nor any gait dropping, so maybe be thankful for the little things?  She has reverted to not being steady in the bridle with this new stretched trot though.  Unfortunately, only time will fix that and we don't have a lot of time before the show.  Baby steps.

Trit trots

We had a jump school the next night and she did well,  I set up a tarp over a 2'6" jump and she didn't bat an eye over it. Woohoo!  She did pretty well at staying collected in the canter over the jumps, which is progress, and the only issue she had was height.  I had 1 vertical at 3'3" and a Swedish oxer at 3' and she kept bringing both of them down despite being set up for them properly.  She kept knocking them with her front, she certainly wasn't jumping high enough over them.  When I would set her back off of the fence, she would MASSIVELY overjump and at one point I was considering the fact I may hit the ground.  Eventually I knocked the vertical to 3' and the Swedish oxer to a 2'6" oxer with a 3'6" spread and was able to go around without knocking anything.  I think I need to bring my tape measure out and lay out some grid work when I work on height.  But for the show, she is ready to go!

Jumps!

Last night I ran late and didn't get to the barn until 715p.  If I didn't have a show I wouldn't have ridden but I did so I grabbed Mia, threw her stuff on and thankfully she was awesome.  I was able to do a short, 25 minute ride without any hysterics or pulling.  Success!  We did a short w/t/c warmup and then rode through the dressage test and called it a night.  Such a difference from the last dressage ride!  For this ride, I can say the only issues to work on are the steadiness in the bridle, keeping her stretched down the entire time and keeping her forward in the canter.  Now if that maintains itself until this weekend, we will be golden.

Some good stuff!

Thankfully I have dressage lesson on Saturday, the first dressage lesson since May 14th.  I want some last minute tune-ups and I want Mia to be worked pretty hard so that Sunday she will be picture perfect.  I am surprisingly unstressed about this show, an oddity for me.  Hopefully I don't suddenly get stressed over it, but I am not chasing points and I am not able to prepare any better than I have considering the circumstances I have been given.  Keep your fingers crossed, show on Sunday!

If we can get this for the show, we are golden!

Schooling that was more lesson than schooling

On Saturday we went schooling and took a lesson for it.  I went with the other barn owner, MC, and it took ALL DAY.  I felt like it was an all day horse show, I left the house at 630a and didn't get back until 445p and I had only one 11a lesson!  Ugh.  I was SO exhausted.  I had a bowl of Honey Bunches of Oats at 630a, 2 granola bars and nothing else until 5p.  My batteries were drained and I spent over an hour on the couch just trying to get some energy back.  I slept over 9 hours that night.  Seriously!

Happy Appys

The lesson went really well, I liked her teaching style.  The instructor immediately narrowed in on my lack of engagement of Mia's hind end and said I needed to work her harder.  Ugh, I am trying!  Apparently I am not doing a good enough job.  She also said I wrap my legs around my horse too much (????  I didn't think that was possible?) and my stirrups are shorter than she is usually comfortable with.  I didn't know having stirrups too short on XC was possible, I have a very solid bend in my leg and at times feel like they are still too long.  Michael Jung says you can't have stirrups too short...so I am going to stick with that.  The other thing she got onto me about was releasing too much rein, I am dropping Mia when she needs me most.  I need to put her into a dressage type canter at, over and after the fence.  Right now I let her go at the base of the fence, let my reins slide all the way over the fence and then pick her up after.  She said that is the reason Mia is bolt-y after the fence, I have dropped her, she is now on her forehand and is having to use speed to get over the fences.  Hmmm....  I haven't heard this line of thinking before, interesting.

The instructor did a neat little rein exercise where she had me "ride" while the she held the reins by Mia's head.  She showed me how it felt as we were going up to and over a fence, both when I held contact and when I gave it away.  VERY interesting!  I have always given plenty of rein over the fence as to not jab the horse in the mouth, it feels much worse than keeping contact.  There is contact, then none, and then I have to pull over the fence to get the contact back.  Very cool exercise, I guess now I need work on that too.

I love the views from the oudoor arena

Sadly I didn't get to go over many fences as we spent the first part of the ride focusing on MC and her horse as it was throwing mini hissy fits (and bucked her off at one point).  I did get to play a lot with a down bank and got Mia to canter up to it and down it without pausing.  Win!  Apparently I need to go forward a little more over the drop instead of staying in the back seat the entire time.  It was very strange to do, and counter to what I have heard in the past, but it went well so....  We also went over a ditch.  It was kinda funny, there were some weeds in it and Mia just trotted it like it was trot poles and stepped down into the ditch.  Funny mare.  The instructor mushed down the weeds and when we went back over it, she jumped it without hesitation!!  That is so awesome, we have made such progress over these damn ditches.   I am tired of falling off over ditches.

I did good, yes?!  Treats please!

I had wanted to go over ALL of the jumps and it just didn't play out that way.  Oh well, I feel pretty comfortable with the facility now, it was a very nice facility and I am looking forward to going back to it on Sept 4th.  I gave Mia Sunday and Monday off and rode on Tuesday and she was good.  Her dressage is coming back nicely and her canter is starting to decompress again while she keeps her hind end engaged (I think anyway, geez).  Win!  In looking at the video I took, she is still very in front of the bit (despite feeling like my reins are SOOOOO short and I am yanking on her) and certainly not stretching down like it feels.  Disappointing for sure.  Just more to work towards before our show.

Forward and relaxation only in theory

I thought I had posted an update but apparently not?  Or blogger ate it when I hit Post and it is no longer in drafts.  Whomp whomp :(  Mia is recovered from her breathing issue (though she coughed a few times last night, so I am paying attention) and man was she fired up when I rode on Monday.  It was so hard to contain that much energy, every time I asked for something she would fight, resist, get tense, anything but be soft and forward.  I started the ride asking for just a walk and it started well but after I asked for some trot, it all went downhill.  And of course I was riding in the snaffle, not the pelham, so she was yanking the reins out of my hands by pulling as hard as she could.  Sigh.  No worries mare, no matter what you are throwing at me, App has done worse.

Tuesday we rode inside due to rain and she was lovely.  She is obviously a little out of shape after her almost 3 week vacation but overall she was very nice.  Bendy?  Check!  Change of direction?  Check!  Rather soft?  Check!  We even played with our new canter.  Though it isn't where it was 3 weeks ago, she is trying (when I insist she does).  And I got some video!  I mean, it is just cell phone video, but it is video AND my PA internet is now fast enough to upload it.  Love!

As you see, the video shows she is pretty restricted in the canter, though to the left is much better.  With a little more power, lift and forward, we will be back to where we were 3 weeks ago.

To the right was not nearly as nice, especially in the canter.  She is very jammed up, as I am trying to get her to engage her hindquarters.  Instead, she is just shortening her stride.  At least in this clip.

For that ride, I actually rode in a County Fusion saddle, borrowed of course.  I am not really looking for a dressage saddle as I really like my Isabel, but I am open to trying others so I took the opportunity.  Thoughts?  It fit Mia well enough though it needed a rear riser.  I felt like it was putting my lower leg forward and tilting me back, which could be due to needing even more of a rear riser.  It was okay, not enough for me to want to change saddles.  I have been invited to ride in it more so I may take that opportunity cause, you know, why not?

Last night we rode outside and the weather was so good but Mia just could not focus.  She is in heat and she was obsessed with the mare in the field next to her pasture, she was focused on the pony that was participating in some back-to-school pics, she was worried about the flag panel jump that was leaning against the arena fence, she was certain I wanted her to leap forward and just refused to just relax.  I was able to get some walk/trot/canter that was decent enough to be a compromise before I decided, Fine.  If you have THIS much energy, why don't we just go ahead and do some fitness work. We cantered the trails and after a 4 minute canter set, she still had gas in the tank so we cantered (no gallops, use that booty) back up all of the hills before she was happy to just walk.  Geez mare.

Tonight is another dressage night to ensure we have a listening mare for tomorrow when we go xc schooling.  Apparently we are taking the truck/trailer of the other barn owner, which sucks for me because I have my trailer 100% set up for total independence.  Now I need to get a box and move my stuff into her trailer, ugh.  While I will be busy over the weekend, I should have time for a write up.  Let's see how it goes!