Rain...

Dressage: French for "make me feel like a bad rider". Courtesy of Shannon.

Thanks for the perspective, everyone. I laughed a lot.

I've been wondering, though. Izzy doesn't feel quite as pushy and forward in my jumping saddle as she did in the dressage. Now, this could easily be because I let her go more forward in the jumping saddle and don't ask for as much and am not aware of how pushy she is OR it could reflect a saddle issue. I'm just kicking this idea around, so bear with me.

The Ansur KonKlusion has a gullet. (Oh, and the website appears to have new pictures. Sweet. So wanting one.) Admittedly, mine is an older model with the older pommel style and the trauma foam system on the bottom may or may not have collapsed. I'd have to get with Jean to figure that one out, and it's hard when it's all done online. So. Izzy has a wither rub. Yes, there are pommel issues with my saddle, but when we used the sheepskin lined pad with a slight lift pad, her spine stayed nice and dry.

Yesterday, I used the Ansur Classic, which is a gulletless model. We incorporated the same padding arrangement and had all the forward/not forward issues. When we were done, her spine looked the same as the rest of her back, as far as moisture was concerned. This could be causing the issue, I guess. Fortunately, regardless of which saddle is causing a problem, the pad on order *should* take care of the issue.

Now that I've laid it all out like this, I've talked myself out of this theory. Izzy loves the classic. It's the first treeless saddle she went in and she's totally fine with it. It's got to be my riding that caused our issues yesterday. The wither rub still needs to be dealt with, but I don't think the forward was a pain issue.

I didn't ride today. I felt exhausted when I got up this morning, then went running and cleaned all the pens (like 20 of them) and Izzy was spooky and silly on the lead. Thankfully, it started raining when I turned her loose to play in the arena, so we just did some groundwork and then I put her away. It's good to get her out like that, though. It's a good basic reinforcement for her and it reminds me of why I like her so much; she really has the most adorable personality. Oh, and when she knows what I want, she usually does try really hard to do it.

Funny story: My sister who's in college is home for spring break this week. Tuesday we went on a day trip together, so I didn't go out to see Izzy for the first time in several weeks. Wednesday I was running a bit behind, so I didn't make it out to feed before my lesson like I usually do. (The horses were still fed; it's just that Cathy did it.) Izzy was slightly miffed with me for not seeing her, so she made me wait a while before she'd come up for the halter. Silly girl. I think she's jealous.