Aussie saddles

Here is Gilly as in August of 2004, he was a year and a half old with the first saddle I had for him. A bit big isn't it? I had just set it on his back to see what he would do with a saddle on, didn't even have a girth on, it wouldn't have fit anyway. I walked him up and down the road a few times just so he could feel it. He doesn't look too happy about it does he? He didn't buck or even hump up his back just took it all in stride, the thing he really didn't like was the bit in his mouth. Look how long the stirrups are on him. Then look at the picture below as a three year old, stirrups have changed considerably!

Gilly in the round pen at Kim's as a three year old. I loved that saddle but eventually sold it because it was so heavy and hard to girth up but it was a comfortable saddle and I really liked it. It also seemed to fit him well. I then went to several other saddles that didn't fit at all before going to the Abetta western and the Thornhill dressage saddles that I now have. Both of those saddles are nice but........

Another picture of Gilly at three. I also had the crupper for the saddle and he was OK with that too, no bucking. I figured he might throw a fit about it but good boy that he is, he was fine.
Why am I writing about this if I like the saddles I have now??? Because of Jill at Buckskin and Bay...go and check out her new Aussie saddle! Here is the web site to look at some more of them www.aussiesaddle.com. I have been reading and reading about these saddles and that they will fit your horse by you taking tracings for the horses back and shoulders. That first saddle I had was a cheap saddle and after looking that the ones at Aussie Saddle, I see a big difference and I can get it to fit Gilly's back much better.
Now here's the best part.....they are going to be at the Equine Affaire in Columbus, Ohio this weekend and ....... I am going with a couple of friends!!! Jill got to see and talk to them at a horse expo in her town and really check out the saddles. Well, me too!!! I am excited!! I have missed the Aussie saddle, even though I love my dressage saddle and the Abetta western. I will tell them good bye to have another Aussie saddle. I have a lot of thinking and studying to do before then but..... I ain't no dressage rider and don't really wanna be, I just wanna ride on the country roads and me and Gilly both be comfortable with saddle and bridle. I have the bridle, just need to redo the saddle part.
I hope to get pictures tomorrow and have a story to tell after the trip. Oh, we are also going to see the Lipizzaner horses too, what a fun day! Don't worry, I have pain pills to take along, I know my feet are going to hurt even in my good Ariat boots but to see these horses and check out a new saddle....sigh....I will suffer through it!!! :-)

Beautiful Blogger Award

Thank you JeniQ at Super Size My Cob for giving me this Beautiful Blogger award! Not sure just how well I will do at finding 7 things to post about, but I will try.

The Beautiful Blogger award rules are:
1. Link back to the person who gave you the award
2. Share 7 things about yourself
3. Pass the award to 15 other bloggers


1.) In 1955, when I was 4 we took my brother to San Diego, California to the Marine base out there. I remember a lot about the trip and I remember the beautiful white sands of Balboa Beach. My mother collected some of the sand in a glass bottle, sprigs of wonderful smelling juniper tree and post cards all along the way.

2.) I had a saddle with my first horse but it was to heavy, I was 9, and I couldn't lift it on his back so my dad sold it. I rode for years bareback and was really good at it, riding bareback now....scary!

3.) Art class was my favorite class in high school, had 4 years of it!

4.) I used to be a hairdresser but haven't done that since 1980....still cut my husbands hair and sometimes my daughter.

5.) I worked for 5 years as a postal clerk in our tiny little post office and could take my dogs to work with me. It was right across the street from our house.

6.) I used to love oyster soup, then in high school we had biology class right before lunch and we had to dissect muscles. After opening the shells and seeing the slimy insides, I could never eat oysters again after that!

7.) The thing I have always thought I would really like to do it is Cowboy Mounted Shooting! I'm a fair shot standing still but riding and shooting, well....LOL...then you have to have a horse that wants to move...Gilly??? OK, guess it's only a dream! :-)

Wow that was hard!!! Glad there aren't anymore!!!

I'm not going to name 15 others for this award, that's a lot to name and so many others already have it, so I'll just do this. If you are reading this blog then you can take this award and play along if you like or not.

So there you go some things you didn't know about me! LOL

Things Yellow and Other stuff

This was the sky here this morning the moon was actually hiding behind that long charcoal cloud; I like the pink of the jet trail lingering against the blue sky. The sun hadn't come up over the hills yet so the trees look black. The weather people were calling for rain today, hope not! (this turned into a LONG ONE so before you keep reading, get comfy, grab a drink, some popcorn, whatever! heehee)

Before I go on let me tell you about yesterday, Easter Sunday. Our daughter, Jennifer came out to spend time with us, nice! Before she came I had been helping pick up some rocks where Mike had put new dirt in a low spot in the hay field by the house. The day was warm, breezy and just gorgeous, with rain supposedly coming the next day, I longed to get in just one ride before MUD!

In my best pathetic voice I asked if he minded if I got the Big Boy out to play in the round pen then ride a little. See I was feeling much better with the temporary meds I was taking that I just couldn't pass up a chance to ride. He didn't care so I got Gil out and brushed a bushel basket of hair, only a fraction of the hair still to come off....UGH....played with him in the round pen, saddled him up, dressage saddle this time, :-) rode for a bit in the round pen...still trying to sit that high lofty trot of his. I did manage to do it for a bit, hard, hard work!!! Did some work moving and turning him with my legs only, he is getting better; then went to open the gate while on him. He will walk over to the gate, move when I use my legs to get him in the right spot, open the gate, keep hold of it while I move him around it, let go, back up and then through the gate. I haven't tried to close it yet but I'll bet it will be no problem. I'll tell you sometimes I wish for a short horse, Lisa!!! LOL, it would be easier to reach than to lean way OVER for that latch!!!

Hey, just look at that beautiful sky, looked just like that when me and Gil went for our little ride up the creek. Nothing exciting here but it sure was nice to be astride that big horse just going on a relaxing ride. All the while I rode I made him pass from one side of the road to the other by just using my legs and seat. Would like to teach him to neck rein too, you never know when things like that would come in handy riding on the trails! I think Gilly really enjoys ride like this because he looks at everything around him, studies the cows, neighbors dogs, birds....nice for a change of scenery.

After riding for about an hour I was done for! My feet and legs were hurting??? don't know why but the bottoms of my feet really hurt. When I first started riding again I wanted to really push my feet into the stirrups, putting a lot of weight there and my feet were too far forward. Now I am very aware of keeping my legs down and back where they should be and no weight in the stirrups but still they hurt. Time to get off!

Jennifer came out about 2 and we sat for a bit looking at her NEW Apple computer, Mac Book Pro......wow...what a NICE little computer, so light weight and so many neat things! When it's time for a new laptop I may just have to get one like that! :-D
She brought out duck eggs to make deviled eggs and fresh asparagus. For our dinner I made Rock Cornish Game hens, with rice and pineapple stuffing, basted with a soy sauce glaze, YUM! I had also made a carrot cake with sour cream icing that had crushed pineapple, walnuts and coconut mixed in. What a great meal!!! Then the best part for me and Jen, foot massages! Don't laugh, my feet were hurting and so were hers from hiking the day before, her not me......nothing better than a good foot massage....ahhhhh!!!
The day ended all too soon and she had to head back to her home. :-(

OK, fast forward to today and the color yellow! I wanted to do something today but couldn't seem to get the motivation to do anything but laundry.....what fun, NOT! But I had picked three, cause that's all that came up this year, daffodils yesterday and they were sitting in the window in a vase. I thought I would take a picture of them because they were so pretty. Well, the indoor shot didn't turn out so good so I took them outside on the patio in the sun for a shot. Then one thing lead to another.......

These little yellow beauties caught my eye next, right by the patio in a big pot from last year! I can't believe that they came up after all the snow that was piled on top of them all winter! Hardy little things they are! Don't they have the cutest little faces? Oh, do click on all the pictures here to enlarge them and to see the detail, I didn't downsize any of them.

Next were these in the yard, not a favorite by a long shot but still that buttery yellow that just hits you in the eye in a sea of green grass.

Then as I kept walking through the yard I came on this poking it's head out to get some sunshine. I think these are the flowers my grandma called these Spring Beauties, they are so delicate looking and just a touch of lavender in the center and the veins, but wait there is a bit of yellow in the picture. Look at the bottom left at the tiny little weed flower there, a small bit of yellow at it's throat!

I came back in the house for a moment and there was more yellow to see, Peeps, yellow marshmellowy peeps!!! They have been unwrapped for two weeks so they get really good and stale, we love them to be really chewy! Have already bit the heads off another box but thought it was too graph to show here! LOL
Then back outside and more yellow! See the yellow electric fence insulator on the post? It's right by Pokey, see it? There are also a couple of horses' asses in this picture, oh, no wait it's a horse ass and an ass ass......LOL

Then more yellow caught my eye....look in Pokey's mouth bright yellow hay! Or maybe it's Peep hay???

Then LOOK.....poor Gonzo fell into a yellow bucket of paint! He is very klutzy you know. You know I think he had some help from a photo paint program.....
I think I was out in the sun too long.....WAY TOO MUCH YELLOW!!!

Tired......

Where have I been lately??? No where, no riding, no playing with the boys, feel like Gilly laid out in the hay, no energy.
A few weeks ago my husband was having a lot of problems, with aching muscles, joints...so much so that he could hardly get out of a chair. As for sleeping, couldn't do that either; his right shoulder hurt so badly he could hardly lift his arm to put on a coat!
He went to our family doctor, they did tests, checked his blood and said his SED rate was high; which means that there is inflammation in the body. Then they gave him a high dose of Prednisone for a short period of time and he was much better, then he had an appointment with a rheumatologist and was told he has Polymyalgia Rheumatica (PMR). The doctor put him on a low dose of Prednisone and now he is doing much, much better. (yes, I know that it's a steroid and steroids are horrible but...he was in so much pain and could hardly move....so what do you do??)

And just what does this have to do them me being tired you ask??? Well after reading the pamphlet that he was given I have had all the symptoms for a year but it is gradually getting worse. My shoulders and hips have been hurting at night to where I can't get a good nights sleep......can't even remember when I got to sleep the whole night through!! I'm tired!

So I went to our doctor and had the same tests, my SED rate is high also and my thyroid is all wonky too! Gave me the Prednisone, it didn't have the same results with me. I still feel about the same. One day I did feel a little better but now it's back to being tired, achy...muscles and joints and no energy. I too have an appointment with the same rheumatologist on the 21st of this month.
I have talked to a lot of my friends and others in this area and a lot of people are having the same thing. What the heck is this? This PMR only seems to happen to people in their 50's and it's mostly women. I read that with the meds it usually goes away and you can get off the meds in a year or two.

So here it is, nice weather I could ride, but I feel so tired that I can't. To do much of anything I have to just force myself to do it. Bummer......I wanta ride!!! Or even get little Pokey out and work some with him, boy what a handful he is, he would probably drag me down the road, that is if my hands would hold onto the rope.

Has anyone else out there been diagnosed with PMR or feel like this? This is maddening!!!!!
(Lisa made me do this!)