Upon taking these photos I realized how fat Jimmy Choo REALLY is right now...So that issue is next to be worked with. But here are the photos I've been promising of him wearing his saddle.
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| The starting point. Fat. Jimmy. |
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| Prestige Nona Garson – No girth. |
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| Behind – No girth. |
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| Left side – No girth |
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| Top/front – No girth |
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| With girth (NOTICE: Bill cleaning his stall in the background. LOVE him!!) |
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| Behind – Girth |
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| Front – Girth |
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| Right Side – Girth |
After I tacked him up I took him to the arena for some riding time...and he was so fat and wild the saddle bothered him so much all he could to is shake his head in despair - no forward motion, just UPWARD motion hints (never went up, he knows better). So I got off & threw him on a line. It'd been a while since he'd worked anyway (5 days) and he couldn't do anything but rodeo bronc buck in place. He just kept sqeualing and leaping straight up in the air with his butt. At one point he was even kicking out with his left hind - he kicked the fence when he went by (for the first time in his life) and realized why he never kicks the fence. He looked at my like "MOM! WHY DID THAT HURT SO MUCH?!?!?" This is NOT normal "Wild Jimmy" so I calmed him down, grabbed the saddle & put it on the ground. Soon as that saddle was off he lunged BEAUTIFULLY sound and was gorgeous.
Then of course the explosion hit and he was so wild and naughty he slipped his back end out from under him - twice. It was slippery out there from all the rain we got the other night, so I wasn't about to let him off the line to suck his shoes right off his feet.
This brings me to my next point - his feet are rocking. I talked to Tim, my farrier, yesterday & he said he's seen a huge improvement in 5 weeks from the shoes/pads and because I've followed his instruction on sealing JC's feet 2x a week with Venice Turpentine or Hoof Sealer. I will have a bigger announcement on that later today or tomorrow regarding our plans for the future.
Please let me know what you think I should do about the saddle fit situation. He's so uncomfortable wearing the saddle that he can't move, but bareback rides he gets incredibly back sore. I spoke with a good friend of mine who's in feed sales and he recommended a new high-protein "diet" feed for JC. We will be starting that in the next month and until then, his "Complete" grain has been cut from 4#/day to 1#/day. Also: I've told the barn owner he is allowed a maximum of 4 flakes per day. His neck is cresty again like it got last year when he was on stall rest. He's absolutely huge. It's amazing how not seeing him for 5 days can clear my vision so much.
Should I lunge him or turn him out in the arena? No more riding until he's thinner again? Tell me what you would do if he were your horse, I'm definitely looking for suggestions. I hate to put a pad other than a baby pad under there because the tree is just too tight on him - or something is wrong because he has NEVER IN HIS LIFE objected a saddle. Never, not once. And this saddle, specifically, is what I've ridden him in since he was 3.
1 comment:
Putting a pad underneath a saddle that doesn't fit won't make it better - it'll make it worse. From the front it looks like it's pinching at the top of the shoulders, and I'll bet it's bridging behind. He's probably changed shape as a result of his layoff. See if you can try a bunch of different saddles on him and see what he thinks.
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