Thursday, March 20, 2014

Tack - Sigh

I HAVE NO TACK!!!!....That fits this crazy, beautiful, evil little mare! 


Now, before I go on, let me explain a few things. 

1) I have FAR more tack then any one person should ever have for 1 horse! 
2) I am the person at the barn that my girls come to for any and all their weird tack requests!
3) I donated an english and western saddle to Melwood's Equestrian Center last year...I still have 2 western saddles! 

Sigh. How have I come to own all of this wonderful tack, you ask?! 

Reason #1: My Mom owned a tack store from 1998 until 2006. 
Reason #2: I have been riding horses since I was 13.
Reason #3: My Grandparents raised QH's and App's up until a few years before they passed away. (I inherited a lot of cool stuff!!!) 
Reason #4: I have been a traveling instructor for 14 years. ( I had to have my own stuff most of the time!) 
Reason #5: I am a glutton for tack. 

Honestly, the main reason I have so much tack is because in my travels I have worked with many different types of horses ranging from Arabs to Percherons. And let me just make this abundantly clear - that saddle that you love so much that fits that prissy little Arab like a glove - it ain't even worth pulling out when you have a Percheron in front of you! Sigh. 

So last year, I donated my english saddle because frankly I don't ride english all that much and, well, it didn't fit anyone BUT Boomer! Which really really made me irritable! But, from what I hear, it is working out well for their program, so all is good! I also donated my Cordura 15" Western saddle to the program. I originally bought it off ebay as a cheap saddle for Chi to ride Tia in eventually. Yeah...it didn't fit Tia either. And honestly, I hate corduras! They slip and cause me anger. They are super easy to clean tho! ;) 

So the two saddles I have left are both western, which is preferable for me considering I am a western pleasure baby. The problem I am having is that the horses I have owned have all been a Semi QH bar...Tia is not. I have my Grandfathers 50+ year old handmade saddle that will never leave me and my husbands trail saddle, the later of which is my preferred riding saddle due to seat size and my butt being much larger then it used to be! Neither of these saddles fit Tia. 

Ugh! They both sit to far down on her wither, causing the back to pop up. I already ride with a 1 1/2" thick pad so adding more padding isn't a good idea. We have ridden her in a bareback pad and she behaves much better without the strain on her shoulders - naturally. 

So, what is my answer to this problem you ask?! Easy! I'm going to buy another saddle! Because that is what I do. Apparently more then I like to admit. Sigh. 

I am going to Elams (the Amish tack shop) on Saturday to start looking at some different possibilities. I have already decided that she is built more for English tack, so I will be looking for an english saddle. I really like leather saddles, but I am actually considering a Wintec with the interchangeable gullet system. This would fit my needs pretty well with having more then one horse to ride on occasion and it would let me change the gullet for Tia when she finally starts dropping her weight! (Haha!) 

So for now, Tia and I are in limbo! At least riding wise! But that's OK! It just means more cuddle time!!





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