Good day!
It’s a lovely spring day here in the Rockies. Sunny, warm and no wind! Looking forward to my ride today. We’ll get a few cows out and have some fun with them.
Yesterday I got to ride in my BRAND NEW circle Y Flex2 Reiner and I love it! My first impression, picking it up out of the box, was how light it is! It looks like a substantial saddle that ought to weigh a lot, but it is very light weight. My next impression was how comfortable and narrow the seat is, putting you nice and close to the horse without the spread-eagle I normally feel in Western saddles. It’s a beautiful oak-colored saddle that looks awesome on my almost black horse and Dually worked well.
I pulled my old Morgan mare out of retirement yesterday. She foundered about 2-3 years ago and I retired her. But she’s perfectly sound now and I have way too many younger horses to ride and I hated it that she was sitting there getting no attention and getting older fast (she’s only 23). So my friend Chris, who runs a small boarding/lessons operation down the road, found one of her students to lease her for some light recreational riding for the summer.
I’d never sell Pepsea at her age, because I would fear losing control of her. After owning her for 18 years and doing just about everything you can imagine on her (jumping, reining, guiding trail, cow work, lessons, you name it) I think I owe it to her to make sure her twilight years are happy. Don’t get me wrong, I certainly am not a proponent of keeping every horse until they die of old age. In fact, for the most part, I think that is a totally unrealistic theory and I’ve seen many people get themselves in trouble with that opinion. But there are some special horses in our lives that will fit into that category.
Pepsea was pleasantly surprised when I started grooming her, but when I got out the saddle, she turned around and looked at me like, “You have GOT to be kidding!” She thought after 2-3 years of no work that surely she wouldn’t be ridden again. Chris hopped up on her and took her for a spin around the arena and she didn’t miss a lick. Just like she was ridden yesterday. Then the woman who wanted to lease her got on and they did amazingly well together. They both liked each other, enough so that Pepsea will be headed to Chris’s next week. It’ll take a while to get her back in shape, but I think it will be good for her and I know I can trust Chris to take good care of her.
Rich is off today so we can get ready for our clinic tomorrow. It’ll be nice to ride in the middle of the day for a change, instead of waiting until he gets home from work and I get done in the office). I probably won’t have a chance to write tomorrow, since we’ll be in the saddle all day. But I’ll be sure to let you know how we do roping!
Julie
Training Videos Here
