Riding, Macey, and Tack Cleaning

Well I finally got back on a horse.

It took two weeks after my surgery to feel like I was able to ride again, and it went pretty well. I rode both horses for 20 minutes, and I felt like my legs were noodles after I was done. It's amazing how quickly I get out of shape when I don't ride. But both horses were very good, even though they both felt like they needed to get back into shape too. Since all three of us are getting older I'm going to take my time getting us all back up to speed.

Albert doesn't need to just get his endurance back, but he needs to lose some weight. He got very round in the past few months, and I could not only see if but I could feel it in my hips when I rode him. He is certainly wider then he needs to be! I know he'll shape back up soon when I'm able to ride more consistently.

Kaswyn put on a little weight also, but I think he needed the extra padding. He felt good when I rode him, but he took one of those funny steps behind like he did when his back was hurting. I immediately let him stretch down on a long rein and let his back come up and get soft again. But overall it was a nice ride and was great to be on him again.

After that day Macey came out to the barn with me and wanted to ride. Here is how that went -



Doesn't she look great! That little girl was steering that pony around, making him go and stop and everything. Did you see her stay with him through that spook?! And she didn't even get scared! Sure, sometimes it wasn't very pretty but she's only four years old. Craig saw the video and he said "Well, it's too late for that one.", meaning that Macey will probably be a horse girl. Yay!

A few days after that video was taken it got warm again. Today it was really nice and I was able to ride in a long sleeved shirt and light sweatshirt. It's fantastic not having to bundle up like I'm going to ride in the tundra every time I go to the barn. The only thing I don't love about the spring is the mud, which is coming up now in excess. Mud in the pasture means filthy horses, which means dirty blankets, saddle pads, and tack. I really really hate dirty horses!

But speaking of dirty tack - a company who makes tack cleaning products contacted me and asked me to review their products. They sent me free samples and asked me to write a blog post about the products in return for the samples. They are nice, full sized samples of the products, and I used them today. I'm going to use them a few times before I write my blog post review about them.

The company also offered to send full sized free samples to my readers who would like them. What do you guys think about that? I've never gotten any sort of payment or anything from the companies whose products I've mentioned here. When I write about a product - like the Freedom Semiflex Dressage Saddle - it's because I really believe in the product.

So I'll be writing that review some time next week. And at that point I'll post a link where any of you can get free samples if you want them. And if you don't, that's fine too!