That’s Sugar! They are the best of friends. There wasn’t another horse to spare to be a buddy for him so the barn owner threw her in with him and they hit it off right away. She’s had her since birth, she’s about eight years old now. She thinks she a dog and practically climbs in my lap, and also gets into EVERYTHING…
I went to the National Western Stock Show in Denver every year to watch some of the competitions, incl. freestyle reining. Every year there were several competitors who worked bridleless and I always loved to see that! The pinnacle was when one of the bridleless riders won the freestyle competition, and then I didn't feel the need to go anymore.My FB and IG algorithms have been showing me a lot of video's of the UK's first bridleless dressage and show jumping competition. Pretty amazing! Of course it's very polarizing
I talked to my friend yesterday and asked her if her Tahoe has four wheel drive. It does! She said she didn't even think of that ! LOL duh. She said she usually doesn't have any trouble going up that hill. This time it just seemed to have more gravel that made us slide a little more than what she was used to.
We are in a hilly area; some of the best riding near me requires going up an 8 mile long gravel road (and back down again when you're through) to the parking and trailhead at the top. You definitely need a good tow vehicle w/ 4wd going up hills.
Thank you!
I actually have… four saddles… 
and they are all different. I have an ancient Kieffer all purpose English type, a Hastilow dressage saddle (which I was riding in yesterday) the one you saw previously is a Kuda flex trail saddle that is more western type. Then I also have a Billy Cook roper western. The Billy Cook I’ve had since I was 8 years old, my dad bought it for me and I can’t bring myself to part with it as he’s been gone almost fourteen years and I would’ve never had the opportunity I did with horses if it wasn’t for him. It is wide with full quarter bars so doesn’t fit Nacho, but hey who knows what the future holds 
. I kept the Kieffer because it’s a well made saddle, but due to its age and inability to be reflocked resale is quite low, so I might as well keep it. It fits a variety of horses, and who knows maybe I’ll want to try my hand at jumping someday. The Kuda is probably -my- favorite to ride in, but honestly it’s a little narrow and I am not hopeful it will continue to fit as Nacho fills out and gains muscle. Which leaves my Hastilow, really a beautiful saddle very well made and I don’t think I’ll have another saddle this nice I got it for a steal, it’s also fully adjustable with interchanging gullet bars and a professional can alter the flocking. It’s quite comfortable as well. I almost sold it but changed my mind, I love that as Nacho changes the saddle can too. I do feel kind of bad using it as a trail saddle though.
Not silly at all! Endurance saddles come in so many different styles. You can also ride in whatever you want in races.You know... I almost said that saddle I saw in the picture had an endurance type profile but didn't want to sound silly
As far as mismatched... if it works for you and your horse, then it's perfect! Thank you for breaking it down!
I always worried about of one ear because there's not much holding it on. I always worried that all they have to do is rub their head on something and it's off!
When I go over to my girlfriend's house to ride her second horse in her indoor riding arena she has a one ear. When she took her girlfriend's horse she got the bridle too. But neither one of us trust it. So when we went out on trail we used a different one.
I suppose that is definitely possible, but I’ve personally never had any issues. Once it’s around their poll it’s pretty secure. After thousands of miles and two decades of trail riding I’ve not once had a bridle come close to coming off.I always worried about of one ear because there's not much holding it on. I always worried that all they have to do is rub their head on something and it's off!
Well that's encouraging to hear! I can't say I know anybody that had that happen. It's just I look at that and think, how easy is that to get ripped off. Just by them rubbing their head on something! But if you've gone this long without it happening, it must all be in my head! I always was a worrywart.
That's always been my concern too so I really never used them too much, even though I've owned one or two.
I mean… can you really be too careful with horses?Well that's encouraging to hear! I can't say I know anybody that had that happen. It's just I look at that and think, how easy is that to get ripped off. Just by them rubbing their head on something! But if you've gone this long without it happening, it must all be in my head! I always was a worrywart.
mine has new scrapes all the time just from being turned out. I have predominantly ridden in brow band bridles in the past with throat latches, but never been in a situation where the throat latch actually did/prevented anything. I’m also actually not doing a whole lot of riding this time of year anyway, and honestly still figuring out our ideal tack set up so I would expect some potential changes to come
Swing this 52" mallet you just handed me the right way while making sure I don't hit a horse or interfere with the line of the ball and don't fall off and if I miss I need to circle right back around to be behind my teammate in case they miss the ball but if the other team get's the ball then I gotta scoot up there and try and hook their mallet and hope my teammate who should be behind me can then send the ball backward so then I need to circle around and kick it up a bit to get in place to recover the ball and OH Yeah still don't hit a horse but hit the ball and don't fall off. I was dripping sweat by the time we were done! And mind you, 95% of this was done at a walk. I did kick up in a trot a couple of times when the ball broke loose but it's a LOT to coordinate and sooooooo fun.
Either way, so so so much fun. Was talking to the instructor about the possibility of maybe seeing a match this year and she said she's really trying to make something work so 
fingers crossed. Maybe someday I can justify spending the equivalent of a monthly mortgage payment on better learning this truly incredible sport.
