Saddle Issues

My saddle is definitely sitting crooked on Mort.  If you look from the top/behind it sits off to the right—which makes sense as to why my right seat bone is ineffective.  I asked the BM to hop on it and give it a feel and she had the exact same issues, so the saddle is definitely limiting progress at this point.  It’s possible that the saddle is only crooked because Mort is crooked.  The saddle could be crooked as it’s used and has been reflocked in the past.  Either way something needs to be done and I have a few experiments in mind.

·         I want to try my cross country saddle on him.  If it’s at least less crooked, I could potentially school him in that for a little while. 

·         I want to try a shim half pad on him and move some of the extra padding to the right and see if that helps

·         I want to get a saddle adjuster out and fix my saddle

o   This will most likely be $300-500

o   My saddle isn’t a lifetime saddle for me, but another new saddle would most likely have to be adjusted to Mort as well (aka new saddle cost plus adjustment cost = not going to happen anytime soon)

Essentially I want to see if I can squeak some more time out of my saddle so I can save up some to get it adjusted.  Meanwhile I’m not sure what my plans will be if I cannot—I guess I’ll deal with that if it comes.

I rode Mort bareback yesterday and we focused a lot on walk/trot transitions.  He was fussy at first but settled into the game and got really fun and uphill.  He worked hard and we got a nice little sweat going, not fun while bareback.  He got a good two hours of grazing time in the yard while I cleaned stalls and fed the other ponies.  Today’s plan is a lunge and groundwork day because I really want to get a good run in for Emma and I tonight.