It's All About the Navy

There are a lot of colors that look really poor with a copper chestnut colored horse. Most everything I can think of is terrible with that color. When I picked the painted cart over the Meadowbrook, I had no idea that I was about to stumble upon the BEST color for this horse EVER. 

Navy. Navy is really the perfect color for her. Baby blue is a second best choice - everything I own is baby blue, after all! - and very conveniently, the pin striping on the cart is baby blue. 

I've been meaning to get new harness pads for some time, seeing as my old ones were really great and soft but were getting quite old and had squashed down considerably. The breastcollar pad was also straight, and the actual breastcollar is curved, so it wasn't a great fit. (Also it was sized for a pony. Not sure why that happened?) Anyway, I searched for awhile, found these bad boys, and ordered a pair in navy.

The ad claims they are the "best money can buy." And they weren't lying... these pads are LEGIT. They're an inch and a half thick with firm but forgiving foam, have all the right buckles and velcro in all the right places, fit my harness perfectly, and are lined with this funky naugahyde material that doesn't soak up any sweat. I literally picked the saddle up off her back, and while her back was all sweaty, the pad was bone dry. It was great! My old pads were really getting kind of stinky from all the sweat, and wearing out with all the washing.

Don't you just love that? The color of the cart and shafts is so deep and subtle, and the harness pads match perfectly. I'm sure I'll upgrade to a new breastcollar for shows, since mine is just a big old school flat strap of leather that has gotten a little rough on the underside (prior to me owning it), but I think the navy saddle pad will look amazing. It doesn't stick out, just very subtly matches.

I was punished by the God of Helmets for not wearing my helmet with really really exciting windblown hair that was sticking straight up like Alfalfa, which is now documented forever in these pictures. I got the hint, God of Helmets.... I'll wear it next time.

That video is super, super boring... sorry about that. Hopefully the amazing music makes up for it somewhat.

She started off fussy and titchy. I set up a basic cones exercise and ran through it a few times, but she was tossing her head around so much that I finally dismounted and put the reins back onto the first slot (I had moved them up to a less leverage-y setting). She was MUCH better after I did that... who knew. I think she just doesn't love this bit... it's ok, but it's not her favorite. At a friend's recommendation, I'm going to try a Glory bit on her - she drives her own fussy Happy-mullen-mouth-loving horse in one exclusively, and she says he loves it. A few other folks say their horses love them too. I think O might as well - sometimes she is weird about metal, but this offers tongue relief, and that might be something she is really craving. We'll see!

I'm also working hard to figure out *exactly* where the sweet spot of balance in this particular cart is. It looks like I am riding smoothly along in that video, but in reality it is A LOT of work to keep the cart riding that smoothly. My position isn't quite so straight while I'm trying to figure it out, I'll have to work on that! If you lean too far forward, or sit up too straight, or don't get right where you need to be, the cart bounces all over the place and slams you in the back. When you get it just right, the shafts just kind of float along in their tugs, and become very lightweight to carry. It's tricky to keep it there!

This past week we did two dressage work days, a cones day, and two lunge days, one in the chambon and one in the regular Faux-ssoa. I may do more of that instead of long lining, although long lining is also super helpful. We will have to see.