Does anyone have a recommendation for a custom sized full
seat cover for a dressage style saddle? I thought I’d read that Jan
wasn’t doing it anymore but couldn’t find the details or anyone
else listed in the archives (too many 1997 messages that come up to find more
recent messages!)
I’m riding a horse with a few more sudden moves than I’m
used to and the saddle I’ve finally found that fits her has flaps that
are just too wide for the EasyCare Merino seat covers. Today we added
full on vertical rears to her repertoire – to avoid wet dirt and to show
that she was pissed about me using legs on her. My last horse I steered
almost entirely with my legs, using reins for much other than half halts is
going to be a tough habit to break. Spinning is her normal reaction and I
want the added stability of a seat cover so I can let her figure some things
out rather than going after her with either legs or reins right now – she’s
been handled roughly in the past – one of the ones I got for free, but
she has potential to be worth much, much more.
Ok, side question. Any tips on getting a horse to
respect the rider/look at the rider as herd leader? This horse is
phenomenal when I’m on the ground, she hooks up, follows me anywhere,
will stand and figure things out, deal with anything if I’m
leading. But as soon as I’m on her back, she doesn’t seem to
have a clue. I’m taking her for lots of walks, but I don’t
think I’m ready to pre-walk every endurance ride if we can’t get
her to even just stop and think when I’m riding. We’re doing
some arena work, taking lessons and I think it’s helping in general, but
there are times when she still just reacts so big and illogically. Today
we finally turned around and had my husband ride a more experienced horse so
she could at least use the other horse as a leader. Worked pretty well,
but not sure it’s a solution to the underlying problem.
