A short experiment

Sunday was a shiny jewel of a day, and I took advantage of it on the back of my horse. We went down the lane in the woods, staying on gravel and slag and off the slick mud. Lance, who has never liked going up and down hills, was more reluctant than usual.

Sunday evening I read a short article by Jochen Schleese in our regional sport horse magazine on saddle shift and lameness which got me thinking. When a short window of relative dryness opened up yesterday I tacked Lance up with the Cashel bareback pad Theresa gave me, Breezy's old breast collar, and a cinch from one of Rick's western saddles. I wanted to see if the absence of a saddle tree made any difference in Lance's freedom of movement, but didn't notice any difference during our short ride in the arena. Whether it makes a difference on hills remains to be seen. It's going to have to stop raining before we can try it!