Today, the sun shined bright & warm; I groomed 3 horses & rode 2 - LIFE IS GOOD!

It was the first time I was able to catch RockinRita since Wulffe passed away, she must finally be over PMS. She was an angel to groom on the crossties. Of course, with every blessing comes a curse!  Here it came!  Without warning, my landlord drove his tractor into the barn courtyard just outside where RockinRita was on the crossties and then he disappeared! 

Ritakins was going thru the roof!   Pulling the emergency releases was a real No-Brainer! Last year I saw her perform what I called "scary magic"! Someone she didn't trust entered the barn aisle right behind her while she was on the crossties. Immediately she began rearing up, twisting and hanging from the ceiling. She fought and struggled until she got her head out of a nylon halter.  Nylon's not Leather!  Leather breaks, nylon doesn't which makes nylon extremely dangerous. You wanna talk about a frightening scene!  I couldn't breath until it was over. After that frightening experience I didn't want a repeat performance. I did a quick release. She took off @ lightening speed & I let out my breath!

Back to my saddle story!   This was the 1st time riding RockinRita, in my treeless saddle.  Felt great!, Of course my two adorable Arabians tagged along at liberty like ducks following their mother, until we got to the open fields. Once in the open pastures, Shetan pulled his usual prank of taking off, taking Eclipse with him both going through an opening in the hedges, and then hiding just around the corner out of Ritakins sight just to get her upset.   

I thought, well, actually, I didn't have time to think because Ritakins went ballistic! She threw a double barrel buck, then went up in the front and started crow hopping! Saying I was scared is putting it mildly. I would have thrown up, but my heart was in my throat! 

I'd anticipated this so, I was filming this prank with a small video camera in my hands when Rita went up in the front. All you could see is a screen full of mane and me saying "F**k, my reins are too long". LOL! After I calmed her down, I got Shetan to return but then 10 minutes later Shetan broke into a trot and started ahead of us. What a Brat! He did it on purpose. That's all it took to set off RockinRita. She went ballistic again and again and again!

Not wanting to push my luck, it was time to head back to the barn and truth be told I had had enough excitement for one day. Shetan didn't like this going home so soon so he passed right past me, brushed my leg lightly enough to send me a message. He was upset we were cutting the ride short and that I wasn't riding him! That's when I decided the minute we got back to the barn I'd throw the saddle on him. [which, I must add, was effortless] SHETAN LOVED THE RIDE!

The strangest thing was  I realized that during all of Ritakins dramatics, my seat never left the saddle.  I mean not even an inch.  I don't think I've ever felt more secure in any saddle EVER!  It was only after I switched the saddle to Shetan and went back out did I realize I didn't need to be so scared!  I didn't need to head back to the barn.  but then who knows what Shetan might have pulled next to get Ritakins upset if I hadn't. Ritakins is the only horse Shetan will tolerate my riding, but he still doesn't like it one bit and he lets me know.

Maybe  it was not knowing what might come next that had me rattled earlier! In retrospect, I realized, never, not for one minute during the bucking, was I in any danger of loosing my seat & coming off!    Could it have been the treeless saddle?   In any English saddle , even with the proper body position, I would have been jostled or thrown off balance a tiny bit,  enough to be aware of, if that makes any sense, but not today.

In the treeless saddle it felt like my bottom half was stuck to Ritakins like glue. Lovely feeling, huh?

Ps. We now have a New "end of trail ride" routine: Eclipse waits outside of pasture gate munching grass on the other side of the driveway, until I close the gate and walk away with the horse I was riding.  Once I'm halfway to the barn, he gently nudges the gate open, just enough to walk through and then gallops up the hill, arriving at the barn with a big smile on his face.  What a character!


Updated: 24-Jan-2012