Growing Pains

 Pyro has outgrown his saddles... again. Yep, at 5.5 years old, the baby dragon has changed shape in a very expensive way. 

All this growing is tiring work.

I noticed in a lesson with Coach JT that his saddle was shifting forward and popping up in the back, and he was being quite defensive about the area around his withers. When I hopped off and checked, sure enough, the saddle was moving quite a lot and had pressure points. 

His withers start rising further back than they used to. Yes, he's also still slightly downhill, but not as much as this picture makes it look.

With the good nutrition he's getting, the solid work we're putting into developing his strength and balance, and (of course) his age, I'm not all that surprised... but holy cow!

His morgan lineage is showing...

Thankfully, his Loxley Foxhunter that we do both dressage and jumping work in is quite adjustable, but I'm VERY sad that he no longer fits his beautiful, old, Circle Y equitation saddle. 

Big oof

I love this arabian bar saddle. It fits me well, and I think it's super cute with the silver heart conchos. I'm debating moving those conchos over to whatever his next western saddle is... but that may take a while to locate. 

It's the saddle we competed in at the ranch horse show earlier this year. Probably not the most appropriate saddle for that type of show with all its silver, but we had fun!

I DEFINITELY should have been more diligent about checking his saddle fit (kicking myself for that), but he made it abundantly clear when I stripped off his saddle and swapped to riding immediately in our bareback pad that he was loads more comfortable without the tree pushing forward into his shoulder. 

Pyro: Thanks mom, it's about time you figured that out.

He got a bit of time off with just bodywork, massage, and stretching to make sure he was feeling better after being ridden in a poorly fit saddle. Unfortunately, it's not easy to get on my saddle fitter's schedule. That meant that once Pyro was more comfortable in his body and ready to go back to work, we were participating in No Stirrup November out of necessity. 

His first experience with menthol-based liniment was as hilarious as expected.

Since my Long Boi (tm) is not an easy ride even WITH a saddle, I anticipate some serious workouts in my future. However, I'm relieved that he's feeling well, and we can get back to that balance and strength work we had been making such good progress on. Even if it IS tough, I know riding without stirrups is good for me, so I'll spend the time focusing on my position as well. 

Yes, I had sweat dripping down my back after our latest ride in my beloved Brockamp pad. 

Moving forward, I was finally able to schedule a saddle fitting for the Loxley. I will also see about swapping out parts from Missy's WOW saddle to ones that might fit Pyro and see if he likes that. For a western saddle, we may be SOL until he grows into a more "typical" shape. In the meantime, I'll keep an eye out for what's available with a wide gullet and rounded skirt. Maybe a haflinger tree would work?? 

His old saddle is sitting on our coffee table while I try to decide what to do with it. Keeping it there to see (and smell) every day seems like a good idea to me, but something tells me my husband wouldn't agree. 

I'm grateful this is happening now, going into the winter season, when I won't feel bummed about missing out on shows because we don't have a saddle to ride in. We'll have plenty to keep us occupied, especially when you include ground driving. 

Sunday snuggles

We also continue to deepen our relationship, building trust and understanding. I'm learning how to read him, so he can better tell me when he's uncomfortable. The little cues he was giving me became clear once I started using only the bareback pad and they went away. He even allowed me to come snuggle with him during his midday nap, content enough to flop on his side and dream while I loved on him. Tack fit can be so frustrating with a growing youngster, but I'm happy to see where this next chapter of our journey takes us. 

Sleepy dragon on a poo pillow