{"id":3882,"date":"2016-11-07T20:10:18","date_gmt":"2016-11-08T02:10:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mofoxtrot.com\/viewpoint\/?p=3882"},"modified":"2016-11-07T20:10:18","modified_gmt":"2016-11-08T02:10:18","slug":"first-the-bridle-and-now-the-saddle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mofoxtrot.com\/viewpoint\/first-the-bridle-and-now-the-saddle\/","title":{"rendered":"First the Bridle and Now the Saddle"},"content":{"rendered":"

I tell people that a new book is not possible because the humor of a person new to horses is gone. \u00a0Maybe that theory is flawed. \u00a0I might have had two humbling experiences just today and the last time I rode. \u00a0I might have dramatic, pathetic and humorous stories, even now. \u00a0You be the judge.<\/p>\n

Friday
\nI decided to change bits today on Cisco’s bridle. Cisco made certain that he was involved in the exchange. He had his head mostly in my lap while I was trying to do this. Figuring out how to get the bit on the bridle and then the reins on this Wonder bit is complicated for me. I think they must call it a Wonder Bit because it makes people like me wonder how to install it correctly.<\/p>\n

Finally, I got done and put the bridle on Cisco. Whoops, the bit must not have gone into his mouth. No, the bridle was too long and the bit just fell out of his mouth. I made the bridle shorter and put it on again. Hmmmm, the bridle still appears too long and the curb strap came no where near Cisco’s chin. I said, “The heck with this! I’ll just ride him bridleless today”.<\/p>\n

I haven’t rode bridleless for quite a while. It appears that I have been assuming Cisco has been following my leg and body position (rather than the reins) quite well, but when you ride bridleless, you find the truth. I hate the truth. But the truth defines the journey!
\nCisco and I were still impressive without the bridle but there is a lot of room for amazing “betterness”! (Yes, I just invented that word!)
\nI need to put more balance in my riding. I’ll be balancing my time with and without the bridle from now on.<\/p>\n

Saturday:
\nCisco had a nice weekend with this home herd. \u00a0He and I went back to play today. \u00a0Over the weekend, I had some alone time with four of my bridles. \u00a0One of them had another bit all perfectly hitched up to the bridle. \u00a0I was able to see how my bit should have been put on the bridle. \u00a0With my old dirty used bridle with the reins that are slowly rotting, but with the correct installation of the \u00a0Wonder bit, we are ready to ride!<\/p>\n

I have rules for proper saddling and mounting a horse. \u00a0The saddle rules are as follows: \u00a0The horse must canter or jump over something along with tightening the girth at least three times. \u00a0I followed the rules. \u00a0Cisco cantered both ways in a round pen. \u00a0I tightened the saddle gradually at least three times. \u00a0The saddle was secure when I mounted. \u00a0If the girth would have been loose, the saddle and I would have fallen off the horse during mounting.<\/p>\n

Cisco and I spent a long while practicing skills in the arena. \u00a0Near the end of our session, I asked him to canter. \u00a0I had this strange feeling that my body couldn’t keep straight in the saddle. \u00a0I stopped and scootched the saddle back straight on his back. \u00a0We cantered off. \u00a0Hmmm, I still had a wee problem with keeping my body balanced in the saddle. \u00a0We stopped and walked for a moment when I heard banging. \u00a0My saddle was making a banging noise. \u00a0My saddle is normally a nice and quiet saddle. \u00a0It has \u00a0never made a banging noise. \u00a0I checked those little straps that hang off the saddle. \u00a0Nope, they were not causing a banging noise. \u00a0I looked at my cinch. \u00a0Good Lordy! \u00a0My cinch wasn’t secured on the ring correctly. \u00a0I had Cisco creep toward the round pen and I got off on the round pen panel. \u00a0I climbed down the round pen to solid earth. \u00a0I went to the other side of Cisco and looked at my girth. \u00a0Good Lordy! \u00a0My girth was not secure. \u00a0It was not tight. \u00a0It was barely even touching Cisco. \u00a0I had been riding purely balanced on Cisco’s back with no anchor for the saddle. \u00a0If he would have spooked sideways, the saddle and I would have left his back. \u00a0If I had asked him to jump over something, I might have had quite an experience! \u00a0I followed all the rules of tightening my girth. \u00a0I broke the rule of securely fastening the strap to the saddle. \u00a0I didn’t twist it around the ring at all. \u00a0Good grief, protect me against brain loss!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
What is Holding the Saddle on Cisco?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
One should not ride with a loose girth<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What will happen the next time I ride Cisco? \u00a0I am taking applications for guardian angel!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I tell people that a new book is not possible because the humor of a person new to horses is gone. \u00a0Maybe that theory is flawed. \u00a0I might have had two humbling experiences just today and the last time I rode. \u00a0I might have dramatic, pathetic and humorous stories, even now. \u00a0You be the judge. Friday I decided to change bits today on Cisco’s bridle. Cisco made certain that he was involved in the exchange. He had his head mostly in my lap while I was trying to do this.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[106,125],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3882","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cisco","category-missouri-fox-trotter"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mofoxtrot.com\/viewpoint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3882","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mofoxtrot.com\/viewpoint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mofoxtrot.com\/viewpoint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mofoxtrot.com\/viewpoint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mofoxtrot.com\/viewpoint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3882"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/mofoxtrot.com\/viewpoint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3882\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3893,"href":"https:\/\/mofoxtrot.com\/viewpoint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3882\/revisions\/3893"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mofoxtrot.com\/viewpoint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3882"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mofoxtrot.com\/viewpoint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3882"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mofoxtrot.com\/viewpoint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3882"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}