The Saddle Experiment - Completed

In previous post I have mentioned and shown the 'new' 2nd hand saddle that I purchased for 'Mr F', in view of making trotting more comfortable with stirrups. It was a beautifully made treeless, western style saddle.

I have avoided testing the saddle because I am enjoying riding with the physio pad so much. It's so simple and it just fits both of us like a glove.

However, seeing that I bought that other saddle I might as well try it. So yesterday I had a few moments on my own at 'Buttercup Farm' and went to tack up 'Mr F'. He nowadays accepts anything that I put on his body so that is no longer an issue.

'Lillian' supplied me with some old stirrups so I could try it all out.

All tacked up we proceeded to the 'mounting' area (a stone wall, now with added mounting block). At that moment 'Lillian' turned up.

I proceeded to mount and as I sat in the saddle, legs in the stirrups, I felt disconnected from 'Mr F'. I couldn't feel him breath, I couldn't fee him move and I felt trapped with my legs in the stirrups and all 'steering' that I am used to (with hips and seat) was no longer possible as there was too much material between us. I was no longer part of 'Mr F'. I was some piece of meat sat on his back.

 What put the final conclusion in place was 'Lillian's comment:  "You look like you are riding a camel."    That is just how I felt! Decision was made: I shall stick with the Barefoot ride-on-physio pad. It is soooo comfortable to ride in and 'Mr F' too like its.

Meanwhile my legs have yet more adapted to rising trot without stirrups. It is all about being with the horse, being with it's rhythm and not to resist it. Don't think, just be ... as one. And suddenly things become near effortless. I may sound like a stuck record but this is really it, its that simple. Our job as rider is to get out the horse's way once we sit on the horse (and have prior managed to establish a 100% trust relationship!) The horse knows how to do its job, its us that don't, it's our bodies that are stiff and unfit and mostly unbalanced, so the horse has to compensate for our clumsiness on top of saddle discomfort. So yet again I realise just how much they put up with.

The less tools and gadgets I have on the horse, the more we are 'together'.