Simon’s Summer So Far
I’ve been writing on virtually anything but my horse lately, and I know you’re all dying to know the intense details of Sir Simon’s life right now.
Let me tell you, it’s super riveting.
He rounded out a busy May of showing and training with a nice fat vacation while it rained and I was out of town. Usually I’ll schedule some training rides for the princess when I can’t get out, but I figured he worked hard and could use the time off…. which ended up being nine days with no work.
The first day I got back, I figured I’d have a very forward feeling, well rested horse. Instead I had Mister “I’m hoooooot. I don’t wanna work.” He just felt awful.
In true ammy fashion, I sent an SOS text to my trainer asking for a training ride. His report card from that ride was no good… and something like, “He was awful. No more vacations for him.” Fair enough!
Now about a week later with less consistent than I’d like riding, he’s feeling a lot better. He also managed to lose his fly mask after only wearing it about two nights. That’s $10 a night… what a bargain!
The same night I found out he lost his fly mask, I also found out he lost a shoe. It’s not like him to lose shoes, especially hind ones… and from the looks of how his hind hoof is right now I’ll be curious if we need to go back to barefoot for a while. His white sock hind hoof just looks fugly, but I’ll see what the farrier says.
Since he was shoeless Joe Jackson that night and was taking a few ouchy steps when trotting, I decided to just play bareback pony in the sand ring. He felt a lot better in the softer arena, and we actually ended up doing some bareback trotting.
I figured, hey my horse had the day off yesterday and I’m riding in a halter with a lead rope… what’s the worst that could happen?
At first I thought I was going to die, but about 3 strides later I realized, “Oh this is just Simon trotting” so we just trotted around like no big deal. Bonus points for being able to stop taking birth control, because after those withers I’m surely infertile!
Just kidding.
Next time I ride bareback and have some filming audience, I’ll try cantering. He’s such a good boy. It’s fun that he can jump from show horse to pet pretty easily 🙂
So that’s what we’ve been up to. A whole lot of nothin’!
18 thoughts on “Simon’s Summer So Far”
I rode Henry bareback and bridleless w/t/c once. ONCE. I couldn’t walk right for days. Henry is particularly awkward to ride bareback because he has just enough wither to hurt a lot, and just enough fat so that you roll around in the canter.
Kudos to your for climbing on bareback! I HATE riding my two bareback. They are both high-withered, plus, Gina has such big, exuberant gaits that I spend most of my time worrying if I will fall off and die.
I love to ride bareback..however last time I ended up in the mud, so I have been more cautious lately! Hopefully Simon’s back tootsies are all back to normal soon!
A comfy bareback ride is an amazing thing. 🙂
I miss riding bareback! It was the one time I didn’t mind how wide and barrel-like my Appy mare was.
Infertile…nice!!! I’ve always felt the same way. I can’t stand to ride my Simon bareback, I can’t sit properly because it hurts.
I love hearing about show horses who are also “pets!” Too often I hear people who have gorgeous horses that they show, but they can’t just hop on bareback and have fun on. I guess there’s a place for that, but for me, I want a horse I don’t have to be so serious with all the time. I prefer to ride my mare bareback, even though she has pretty prominent withers. Now, my gelding is AWFUL for bareback riding! I tried it once and he’s so narrow that I had nothing to grip to. Not fun!
I don’t blame him, I have the same mentality after I have a vacation 🙂
Oh go girl! I refuse to ride Henry bareback.. done it twice and it is NOT comfortable and his trot is so bouncy (my trainer refuses to trot him lol) it’s baaad lol
Do you have access to trails/riding fields where you board? Just a thought if he needed a break from “working”?
Get back to work you bum!
Love a bareback ride- kudos to you for trotting- I never make it up past a walk
I haven’t even tried bareback on the little man. I did it on Cuna a couple of times and it was NOT a pleasant experience.
My trainer has banned Loki from vacations, too, lol. Glad you were able to enjoy the bareback ride. 🙂
Where does a lost fly mask go? Did someone eat it? Glad you got a fun bareback ride in 🙂
In all my brilliance, I got on Armani bareback for the first time this winter. My hand was a mess after having serious trauma in a car door incident and I wasn’t riding. I had to suck up a bunch of trainer rides that blew the budget. I was finally able to properly lunge him instead of free lunging. At the end, I said to husband, “I just want to sit on him while we cool out.” Famous last words.
He’d never been sat on bareback. Plus all we had was a halter and my husband leading…a husband who apparently hadn’t yet learned what to do when a horse is being a dick and pins you against a wall. While your handicapped wife is on his back with nothing bc you have the lead rope…or had, until you dropped it. Because you weren’t prepared for being pinned against a wall. My bad. So mani, completely free, took a few bucks and I slid off with my injured hand in the air, all cowboy style. I have yet to repeat the bareback experience for him.. but it’s coming!
Howdy just wanted to give you a quick heads up and let you know a few of the images aren’t loading properly.
I’m not sure why but I think its a linking issue. I’ve
tried it in two different internet browsers and both show the same
outcome.
I thought I was getting better at the trot and then I rode bareback the other day. Uhhh… definitely not! It’s all I can do to stay on! Lol! So kudos to you for doing it! 😀