Who needs a gym....

I can thank riding bareback for toning my legs!!

Yes, I attempted to ride Woody bareback to test our theory that the saddle is causing his back to be sore. So Saturday I go out to the barn and prepare myself mentally for this, since it has probably been over ten years since I have even attempted anything like this. Since Woody had not been worked in a week, I longed him a little to make sure he isn't acting fresh.

I go to get on him, and he does his typical move away from the mounting block that he does when his back gets sore. I get finally get him to stand still and hop right on. I find it is pretty easy to get on him bareback, maybe cause he really isn't all that big and I am pretty tall. He pulls his usual crap of backing up and not standing still as soon as I get on, which is typical for him when his back gets like this. I finally get him to settle down, and get him moving forward. To me, he seemed to be acting just as if he had a saddle on, the the real test would be loping as that is when I get the most attitude from him. It took me forever to get him to lope, but I finally get him going in his good direction. Connie tells me to get off and get back on to see if he is better about me getting on him, and he is this time, just stands there like a good boy. Things get a little hairy when I ask him to lope his bad direction. He goes to pick up the wrong lead so I stop him and he start throwing a little fit about the lead an hops up a little so I go to turn him and off I go. It was all in slow motion. I was mostly embarrassed that I feel off in front of others, but I was riding bareback and have nothing to hold onto as Woody is very narrow. It didn't phase me much and I got right back on to work him a little more and asked him to lope his good direction and ended the session there.

I also rode him bareback Sunday and Monday and noticed a big difference in him. He still is being a pain about moving away from the mounting block, but has not been fussy at all while riding him. On Sunday I was even able to get him to lope his bad direction on the correct lead with no problem.

SO the saddle I have been riding him in, does not work for him at all and is causing him to be very sore. This is tough because I already sold my work saddle that I bought since I it seemed to be bothering him as well, but it could of been from the saddle Jerry was using on him as it seems to take awhile for Woody to become back sore like this. The other saddles Connie uses, Woody acts up as soon as I go to get on him, as if he is telling me it is hurting him big time.

I just can't get a break from this horse. It is one thing after another with him.

This Friday the vet is coming out to do the muscle biopsy so I can finally get a definitive answer about whether he has PSSM or not. In a way I hope he has it so I know what is causing all these issues, but in another way I hope he doesn't cause it is costing me an additional $200 a month in feed and supplements, which I could use to put him in training instead. But currently having him in training would be a waste since he can barely be ridden at this point.

Christina