Wizard Ride 292, 293, 295, Session 294: Low

Thursday, 10/6/11

Wizard was goosey again while I groomed him, and was very tense under saddle. We did a long walking warmup, followed by some trot work, but he just could not get comfortable. He was pinning his ears and kicked up toward his belly a few times when I put leg pressure on him. I know when to call it a day, and I did. I’m pretty sure the saddle officially does not fit him. It is not giving him enough wither clearance.

Saturday, 10/8/11

I tried a Crosby Lexington on Wizard. The panels sit pretty well on him, but the sides of the withers cutback were jabbing his withers. ARGH. We just did some walk and trot work and caled it a night.

Tuesday, 10/11/11

I put Wizard’s surcingle on him and he had a nice little longeing session. I think it was about 25 minutes with warmup and cooldown. He was a little tense when he was warming up, but worked out of it. He got wound up again at the canter, but then relaxed. I started him on Mag-Restore, a magnesium supplement. I also tried a bunch of other saddles on him, including western saddles, and all of them sat LOW on his withers.

Wednesday, 10/12/11

I tried a County Eventer saddle on Wizard. The fit was not perfect, but it was better than any other saddle I’ve tried. He was totally miserable when I rode him, flattening his ears, and kicking up toward his belly with any leg pressure at all. We did not even trot, just walked. My friend was at the barn with me, and she did some massage work. She said he was VERY tight across his back and down his hind end. So while the saddle is an issue, it sounds like he is working on some other sort of issue. He has been on the omeprazole for a week, and I don’t see any difference yet. Keep experimenting, watching, and waiting.