Lovely stuff Jazz!
I used the excuse of a lot of wind and a tiny smattering of rain to ride inside today. I was messing around with saddles with Jazz. I have never found his saddle as comfortable as Zip's, so I took the gullet plate out of Jazz's and put it in Zip's. First surprise was that Jazz's plate is too tight for him and he needs to go up a size. That means the two can't share after all because Zip is only just into Jazz's plate. Second surprise was that the saddle was not nearly as comfortable on Jazz as it is on Zip - it's Jazz's flat back that is the issue, not the saddle! So I put a slightly wider gullet plate in Jazz's and put that on him. Not perfect because it's still not wide enough, so I'm picking up a new one tomorrow for him.
He did some great work - 10 metre canter circles! He is an absolute collection specialist, he really is. It must have been such hard work, he was cantering so round and so slow, and it was beautiful stuff. As were the trot/canter transitions and he made a great attempt at the canter/walk too. 11/10 Jazz, you can stay!
And oh George - two days in a row without picking up a whip :-) The jogging technque worked again, and it worked even quicker this time. We had some issues falling in on a right rein circle, but really nothing abnormal for a horse of his level of training. I missed the dressage saddle which I was bidding for on eBay for him so he'll have to wait a while longer for that - I'm sure he can cope :-)
All I had to do then before I turned them out was mend the three broken spars on Jazz's muzzle and I have just watched Zippy try and rip it off his face again, so no doubt there will be even more repairs tomorrow! It's working though, his foot sensitivity has pretty much gone, so it's worth it.
C
posted by cptrayes @ 5:57 PM
5 comments
5 Comments:
good day all round then...
it is very windy here too, but what rain? i must have missed that (actually, i did ... left it behind me at the office ...!)
About three drops, enough to give me the excuse to ride inside :-)
Interesting about the saddles. Jazz must be a very wide fellow.
This is where the treeless has worked for me. However, I know you had problems with your treeless, so the WOW's are proving a really good solution. Nice they have so many options so you can fit them just right.
Jazz is meant for dressage. And that talent for collection would also help explain why he'd be a good show jumper. The two athletic skills go together. I love that feeling of collection, control, and power. Luscious.
Jazz is now in a three plate Jean. They start at minus one, so he is a true wide wide.
Ansur would have worked a lot better for me than EE treelesses but they are terribly expensive over here, £1500 at the time and I would not pay that. The EE ones are made of very soft waxed leather, which is beautiful but simply does not wear well for heavy use - the construction is also totally unsuited to horses that really sweat. It's felt between two layers of the leather, so when it gets soaked with sweat there is no way that you can clean it. Eventually it just goes stiff, as I found. Then I got blamed for that, as if it was my problem somehow that my horses sweat when they work!
Luscious is a great word for how it feels to ride Jazz. It's why he is still here after having given me such problems!
C
He's not wide in the body though, just at the shoulder. George is much wider between my knees.
C
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