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Re: [RC] husbands first ride on his new horse-story - Sharon LevasseurYou're right, not all husbands will! Give him a hug from all of us! As someone else said, it would be a good idea to get him some lessons on his horse with a good instructor (other than you) in an arena setting. Then that instructor can take him out on the trail once or twice. The idea is that your hubby needs to get comfortable on his horse in a setting that is safe and with an instructor that he can't threaten with divorce. ;-) (Just kidding, mostly.) And always, always keep it fun! For trotting... maybe some "Homeys" from Carousel Action Wear, for under his jeans? I sell them for $35. www.zegifts.com No pictures but it's basically a pair of tight white mid-thigh length shorts with athletic support. It does sound as if that saddle isn't going to work for that horse and rider combo right now. Maybe later when his balance is better. (Or maybe he was only leaning to one side in an effort to protect his jewels.) Sharon L. in Maine www.zegifts.com Quoting michelle@xxxxxxxxxxx: I'm new to endurance but not to riding. I have done 3 LD's with an arab mare that I trained myself (not bragging though) in 2005. 2006 I was pregnant with my third child. And now this year I'm still taking care of the baby and am just conditioning my mare so that I can do some more LD's and maybe a 50 by the end of 2008. Anyway, my mare Tucana is the first horse I've owned since I've been married (10 yrs now, married 8 yrs when I bought her). My husband and I lived in a horse barn for 3 years taking care of 5 QH's and riding them (me more than him). And I also worked as a Polo groom/junior rider for the team for a couple summers. My husband had never ridden before he met me. I have been surpised at how well he would do the few times he did ride with me. He did one short trail ride on a sporty appaloosa. Rode a cute little cutting QH a bit at the barn we lived in. And rode various QH's when we were dating. As of just 3 weeks ago he became the new owner of a 16 yr old pb arab mare. I guess he got tired of me bragging so much about my horse. And I was complaining about not having any one to ride with. Plus my horse had been by herself for about 6 weeks and he felt sorry for her and wanted her to have a companion. I said, are you sure you want an Arab? He said, you always say they are the best so that is what I should have. When we went to look at her, he wouldn't ride her so I did. He said he trusted me. Later he told me he didn't want to ride in front of the seller and all the people he had there. (There were quite a few adults watching me ride this horse, seemed a little wierd but didn't bother me). She seemed steady, and very forward. Not spooky. That was the main thing. My mare can be spooky. And I didn't want that for Allen (my husband). My husband talked the owners way down on her price and next thing I knew my husband owned a horse. For the first 2 weeks she was at our place I rode her some, but he didn't want to. But we were planning a 7.5 mile trail ride out at a nearby state park on saturday 7-7-07. I said, don't you think you should try her out before then? Not to mention the fact that he really didn't have a saddle. I have a great Bob Marshall endurance saddle that I just love. And I had talked him into getting a Bob marshall trail saddle that I seen on the internet for a steal, it was a 14 inch though. I ride in a 14 inch, and I told him the girls (we have 3 very young girls) could eventually use it. So he said he'd just use that. I said it's going to be too small for you. He's fairly good shape. He's 6 foot about 180lbs. He finally got on his horse Tuesday night after we put the kids to bed. He said the only way he'd ride with me is if I tack up his horse. So I tacked her up. He walked her in the round pen. Jazzy, his horse, has a fast walk. He wasn't used to it at first and said he wanted to slow her down. I said, no, no, you will appreciate that. After a while he did have her walking more relaxed and could stop her and start her and turn her. So he was happy enough and that was that. He rode her again briefly on Thursday night. Saturday morning came and I loaded up our horses and went. I only have one breast collar so I figured he'd better use it. Before this week, it had been 6 years since he had rode a horse! We get there and I tack up the horses. He looks for the bathroom and then talks to the only other couple out there. They are taking a longer trail then what we were going to do. I said to him privately that we could go with them if he wanted, but he didn't want to. Again, I think he was embearsed. I've only done this trail 3 times. And my horse is still not real reliable. She likes to spook a lot at the beginning of a ride and sometimes gets stuck. She does better, is braver, if I let her go faster. But he was saying he just wanted to walk at first. And that he would tell me when he felt comfortable enough to trot. So we led the horses onto the trail. I held Jazzy so he could get on her. Then I got on. We walked just a little ways then I got off and tightened his saddle. We started off again. He wanted me to lead. I figured it was best. Didn't want Jazzy in the lead taking off running and him not being able to stop her! It was a nice day, and the trail was almost a 100% shaded. And not too muddy either. We didn't go but a mile and Tucana stopped at a ditch that had mud at the bottom and she just would not cross it. I knew Jazzy would. (I had trail rode her the previous Sunday and discovered that she is an awesome trail horse. Very bold and brave and willing to go anywhere you point her at what ever speed you ask her.) So I told Allen to take it first. He pointed Jazzy at it and she stopped for a second then did one of those jumps from a stand still. It caught Allen totally off guard. But luckily he stayed balanced over her. I told him I was proud, and that he did really well to stay on her. He led for a little ways then wanted me to go ahead of him. I could trot my mare slowly and he could do a fast walk behind me. But I eventually got him to trot. He didn't really like it. And never could figure out posting. (the week before we went I tried to explain it to him) Jazzy does have a rough trot and I knew it would be uncomfortable to sit. But I was just getting so bored of walking! We were past the half way point and he had been trotting pretty well with me but finally begged me to walk again. I asked him as we were walking if he figured out posting. He said no. I said you could at least stand up in your stirrups and raise your butt out of the saddle, maybe hold on to the horn. That might help sometimes. So we went back to trotting and he said that felt better. We got a couple miles from the trailer and started to canter up a hill. He yelled stop stop! I stopped and looked back and his saddle was dangeling way over to the side. He got it righted without getting off and started on again. I said lets stop so I can try to tighten up your saddle some more. But he didn't want to. By now he had a headache. Said his butt hurt and that he was ready to be done. And started begging me not to trot any more. We didn't but we came to another hill and I asked him if we could run up it again. He begrugenly said okay and we took off up the hill. But before we got all the way up he was yelling stop, stop again. And his saddle was way over to the side again! Luckily he had a breast collar on or else it would have been off. We walked the horses the last mile to the trailers. When I was untacking the horses I felt Jazzy's girth and I don't think I could have gotten it any tighter. So it was either the rider or the saddle. It is soft in the middle. And maybe he just can't ride in a bob marshall. At least our ride went well and he said he'd come back to ride with me again. Just not anytime in the near future. And that was supposed to be our date, the one we've been trying to take for about 3 months now! Today he showed me he has a blister on his hand from gripping the horn so hard when he was riding. He is a software engineer and works on a computer all day. He's not really the outdoor farm type. I do really appreciate that he can ride with me though. I'm sure not all husbands would do that. Michelle Detmer =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. 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