New Addition!

New addition, arrived this morning, around........well somewhere between Midnight and 0700hrs! Sunny, the mare, no sign of foaling at all, infact she hasnt bagged up at all yet, she is giving some milk, but we have had to buy in Horse Colostrum. Been tested for antibodies and hase plenty, so blood tests tomorrow, and if all is well, the field the next day. Still waiting for another Appaloosa foal.

Saddle pad Review: 5 Star Saddle Pad.

I recently purchased a 5 Star saddle pad, mainly due  to a constant search for the “right” pad.  My most recent pad was the Full Monty Saddle pad by Cavallo. However sweat and heat have been an issue.

I did my research on the 5 Star Pads, for many months, spoke to various users, and read all the blurb.  They do various sizes and thicknesses, designs,  and also have a Custom Order process.

Wool has been used for such a long time, as a saddle pad, with good reason, it wicks away sweat, keeps the horses back dry and has a good compression rate. But back to my purchase.

The felt used has a very high percentage of Virgin Marino Wool, the felt has a compression ratio of 6 psi,  giving good protection for the horse.

I have done 11 rides on this pad,  various routes and plenty of arena work. All the while Gracie has been casting like mad! Initially, I thought the pads thickness would be an issue, when cinching up, I need`nt have worried, by the 7/8th ride the pad had begun to shape to the horses back, this was made easier by the built in French curve. The pad is in two halves, attached by internal stitches and leather wearers. It has a large gullet hole, and after a particularly long  4 hour ride, the pad was damp with sweat, but the horses back was dry! And more important, the imprint of the horses back and saddle tree were one! My pad is a 32x32 regular pad. The pad did not slip after the first two rides, but I put the slippage down to the horse casting. The pad took a few hours to dry off, but the horse hair was another issue. There is a cleaning pad that comes with the saddle pad, and although useful, it did not do as well as expected. However, I wet my hand, and gently rubbed the hair away, that was far easier. There is a lot about this pad, and all good, I cannot find anything wrong so far.  I cannot vouch for any other pad, but this one has a very good vibe about it. Now comes the real thing about this pad.  The horse. I have never had such flexion, free movement, and feeling from my horse as this. Considering the 1 inch thickness, its fantastic.  You may think Im not a good rider, perhaps, but I have always tried to be, and my horses are important to me. I value there health. Gracie has lightened up, become more “athletic”,  I am happy with this pad, very happy, and I believe my horse is too.

Patrick, sadly gone.

We lost the colt Clydesdale foal yesterday, only two days old, Hadnt been feeding properly, and he was a big foal! So Im pleased I got this video before it was two late. \still we did get a filly foal that has done well.So this is Patrick, bless him.

Due Date 4th May! (lets hope the mud dries up!)

 

It comes as no surprise that we here suffer from the heaviest rainfall in the UK, so mud is our constant companion!

Introducing the rather shy “Maise”, Appaloosa cross, in foal to full bred Appaloosa stallion Warrior of Saltcreek . A local stallion.

Maise is 14.3 and due on 4th May.

Here is Sunny!  15.2, appaloosa cross, in foal to Saltcreek Apache. Due 4th May!  Lets hope all goes well.

 

New saddle Pad- (much deliberation!)

 

Many`s the month I have deliberated over this, the long and the short of it is, that despite  buying many pads over the years none have done the job to my standards.  the latest pad in use is by me is the Monty Roberts endorsed pad by Cavallo, the Full Monty Pad.

It is a good pad, but it has its limits, and I have reached that. its fine for short turns in the saddle, and as long as you are not carrying too much gear over long distances its ok.

But the sweat build up and heat, has been its biggest drawback. So not wanting to destroy the back of my horses, my final choice has been the 5 Star 1inch Wool felt saddle pad.

Having read all the blurb, and spoke to many riders in the western discipline, it seems that this pad provides the optimum requirements for me. I will keep you all upto date as we progress.

Hello?

I have been away. Too long, but I got terribly bored with this blog and after some consideration just left it alone. Sorry for that!
I have from time to time kept abreast of you all, and found it funny, interesting and intreguing all at the same time.

Its been a winding road for me, needing time to be myself, writing is so time consuming and to honest, I sometimes felt I was wasting my time. So where am I now? Planning some new adventure? We`ll see.  This year has ben mapped out, full year of riding and time out, so if you still recieve my posts, Good on ya! If not, then no problem, we are expecting two Apaloosa foals this year both due on or around the 4th May, fingers crossed!