Demoing the EZ-Fit Treeless Saddle

My friend Gary and I hauled over to the Great Pond Mountain Wildlands yesterday for a nice long ride, thinking that the trails would be hard-packed from the snowmobiles. 

Gary rode his horse Rocky over from his house a half-mile away, because I wasn’t sure my rig would make it up his driveway.  Rocky, Gary’s 6yo foundation QH gelding, hasn’t been on a slant-load trailer since Gary bought him, and we don’t know his history before that.  But he hopped right on, saddled and all, even with the left half of the trailer closed up for the tack compartment.  Zephyr, as always, loaded right up too.  After I drove over the frozen-in wheel chocks we were on our way!  Gary told me later that it was the first time he had ever been a passenger in a truck that was hauling a trailer and driven by a woman.  In fact, while I was in the house getting a bottle of water, he almost got behind the wheel by accident!  I got a big laugh out of that.

The Wildlands is only about 10 minutes from my house, and when we arrived there were no other vehicles.  I jockeyed the trailer around until the back end was on snow instead of ice, so that the horses could unload safely.  Next time maybe I’ll bring a bucket of sand just in case.

Rocky didn’t feel that comfortable about stepping down out of the trailer, but with just a bit of coaxing, he did it.  Boy oh boy was he shaking, though!  That had to be the first time he’s backed out of a step-up trailer.

It took me a few moments to get Zephyr saddled with the demo EZ-Fit treeless saddle.  First the cinch was too far back, then the saddle was too far forward!  It’s a far different type of saddle from the old Barefoot Cheyenne that I’m used to.  This is a picture from after my very short test ride on Saturday.  It’s possible that it was too far forward in this picture.

 

These funny-looking buckles hold the seat down.  It’s a treeless saddle, and the whole seat lifts up (forward) and another piece lifts up (backwards) revealing the straps for the stirrups and the front girth loop.  I think I have the stirrups an inch or so too far back right now.  It puts me in very good posture for walking, but makes trotting awkward and after a while makes my hips sore.

I finally got the tack all set and we turned to the next hurdle… would there be a path around the gate that was sufficiently wide for the horses?  It turned out that there was just enough room if we put the stirrups over the saddles and led them through.  Rocky was hesitant at first but it didn’t take too long before he followed Zephyr through. 

The next hurdle was getting on my darn horse!  I don’t know why, but he seemed at least a hand taller than usual.  I could have led him over to the gate but I needed to know whether I could mount from the ground in a pinch.  Gary got a video of a later attempt, which he has threatened to post online, but this first time I needed him to hold down the other stirrup just in case so his hands were busy.

Off we rode, at a raging walk.  The snow was just firm enough that it would hold their weight for a millisecond and then give way.  The horses were fighting to be in the XC-ski tracks instead of the snowshoe tracks, but I didn’t want to let them because horse prints ruin XC-ski tracks.  After about a mile we met up with the snowmobile trail, which was marginally better.

Shortly after, we met up with a lone snowmobiler.  He was very nice; he stopped and shut off his engine.  It turned out that Gary knew him.  They chatted for a few minutes, so I took advantage of a better opportunity to get a shot of Gary and Rocky.  Rocky’s not actually “over at the knee”, he’s just standing awkwardly here.

The corresponding picture of me isn’t very good because Gary was shooting into the light.  (He also needs lessons on taking pictures of horses/riders – always get the whole horse, who cares about the rider!!).  This shot makes the saddle look huge, but keep in mind that the actual back of the saddle’s seat is about 2” in front of the flap that overhangs and is fastened by buckles.  The seat size is pretty good for me, I have just enough room in front of my thighs that I don’t hit the pommel when I post.

We trotted short distances a few times, which was amusing.  NORMALLY I’m a balanced rider, and although my heels do seem to always come up, I post properly and efficiently, and from my hip joint rather than from my knee.  Not this time, oh no.  I sounded just like my friend Kathy… every time we trotted, I’d just start giggling.  The more I bounced around, the more I giggled.  Every time, I eventually resorted to holding onto the pommel with one hand.  Side note… Zephyr has recently remembered a long-ago forgotten lesson to slow down or stop when his rider leans weight onto his withers with their hand. 

I stopped at one point and dismounted to straighten the saddle pad.  I don’t know what was different, but when I went to climb back on, my horse had grown to about 7’ tall!!  It was then that Gary took the aforementioned blackmail video.  He said he thinks people who don’t know the story will probably assume that I’m drunk.  I think I told him to shut his pie hole and ride.

We got in a short canter or two along this stretch.  Surprisingly, the canter was pretty good!  On my short Saturday ride I had a hard time riding the canter, but this time it was much easier.  Maybe it was because the saddle was farther back.

As we made our left-hand turn to go up the hill and see the view, the snow got deeper and deeper.  Rocky started to really have a hard time catching his breath.  We took several breaks as we went up, but eventually we got off to rest them.  I was pleasantly surprised at Zephyr’s fitness level, he was working hard but it never took him long to catch his breath.  (Yay!)  It took Rocky a few more minutes before he was ok, so we decided to see whether it helped to just walk in front of them.  Our weight wasn’t really enough to break through the snowmobile path, but having our weight gone was enough to help the horses. 

We still hadn’t made it to the top, though, when Rocky decided he’d had enough.  We took his cue and turned around.  He did much better downhill, so Gary was able to re-mount.  I took this picture because I was amused at how low the stirrup was in comparison to Gary.  He’s about 6’5” and I’ve never asked his inseam but I’m guessing he must wear about a 36-38”… the stirrup in this picture is about 6” below his knee!  He could literally just step into it!  Mine wasn’t quite that low, but I did manage to mount with less of a spectacle this time.

Here’s the view we saw once we turned around to head back down the hill.  Not too shabby, especially since it wasn’t even from the top.

Once we got back to the main trail, Rocky was doing so much better that we decided it would be ok to try one more off-shoot trail, this one a gentle downhill with tracks from only one snowmobile.  Both horses did great on that footing, but we didn’t dare trot or canter because we knew Rocky was tired.

As we reached the point where the snowmobile trail turns left and we go straight, four snowmobiles came from in front of us.  In my opinion they went by too fast, but then I’m picky.  Both horses behaved well.  Right afterwards, another 4-5 sleds came zipping up from behind us.  Man I hate that high-pitched whine, it sets me on edge!!  Again though, both horses did well.

We were back at the gate in no time.  Rocky had an easier time getting around the gate, I think he may have even led.  This time Zephyr went on the trailer first, and Rocky got the more difficult 2nd berth.  I say more difficult because the escape door is in front of the first stall, so Gary… 6’5” Gary… had to lead him on and then duck under the divider into Zephyr’s stall, then turn around (crouched over) and climb out the door underneath the breast bar.  I had a good laugh over that, but when we got to Gary’s house I was nice.  I volunteered to do the reverse operation.  Rocky wasn’t as confident with me at his head, he really wanted to jump back into the trailer, but in just a couple seconds he was out.  He’s a good boy!

In summary… I really like this saddle!  I LOVE the Y-girthing system and the deep, secure seat.  I don’t want the suede seat, it’s a little too grippy and the leather they use on the outside edges of the seat (and the seat itself when it’s not suede) is grippy enough on its own.  I do think I want the 4” tall pommel instead of the 5” I tried, this one got in the way a little on the hills.  I think the 5” cantle will be fine.  I like the english stirrup leathers, but want twice as many holes so they’re more adjustable.  I need to find out whether the angle of the foam panels can be made more narrow.  This one is just too flat and I don’t think it’s laying its full width against him.  I also want the dressage billets on the Y-girthing; this western system is too imprecise.

I will try to take some detailed pictures of the saddle’s construction sometime this week, as I know there are others out there who, like me, were dying for more visuals.

Weed, Boots, and Nips

On Sunday November 22, I was scheduled to ride at the Wildlands with my friends Kerry, Gary, and Kathy.  Kathy was going to borrow Gary’s Quarter-pony, Peyton, again.  They first met two weeks ago on an impromptu neighborhood ride, and got along very well!  Peyton blew away all our expectations and earned the nickname “The Trail Assassin” with his steady demeanor and easy gaits.

At the last minute, Gary had to back out, but Peyton was still available to borrow.  Since her trailer was smaller and easier to maneuver in unfamiliar driveways, Kerry headed over to pick him up.  I parked my rig in the entrance of the driveway and walked up the hill.

Peyton saw the trailer in the driveway and did his version of whistling over his shoulder and walking away.  It took Gary about 10 minutes and several cups of grain to coax him into being caught!  Peyton even threw in a little freakout as he left his stall, just for good measure.  As he walked through the barnyard to the trailer, he and his barn-mate Rocky called to each other forlornly.  It was at that point that I realized he hadn’t been taken off the property without Rocky for the last year, and had never been trailered anywhere to ride!  “Hmm, maybe we should rethink this”, I thought to myself.  But I didn’t say anything because Kathy was really looking forward to the ride, and Gary is always calling me a sissy.  Or is it my horse that he calls a sissy?  I don’t know anymore.

Kerry’s warmblood-size straight-load trailer, with another horse already inside, looked pretty inviting to ME but apparently not to Peyton.  Gary started to lead him on and Peyton had two feet on the ramp before freaking out and running backwards.  I got close enough to just touch his hip and he stepped forward, but after a few minutes it was clear that a little more persuasion was needed.  Nobody had a dressage whip handy so I walked to the edge of the driveway and picked myself a dead Goldenrod weed, nice and thick and stiff at the bottom of the stem, and fluffy at the top.  It was amazing, as soon as I waved that weed behind him, Peyton stepped right up into the trailer!  I didn’t even have to touch him.  I made sure to fasten the butt bar before Gary tied him, and stashed the weed under the manger in case we needed it later.

Arriving at the small parking lot at the north gate of the Wildlands, we jockeyed the trailers into position (no easy task) and unloaded Peyton first.  As he backed out, his wide load belly got caught on the butt bar that was hanging down next to the divider and he ran straight out backwards before calming down and standing quietly.  With that experience fresh in our minds we decided Kathy should tie to the gate instead of the trailer!  She just draped the lead rope over the metal and he fell asleep like an old cow pony while she brushed him.  What a good boy.  This picture was taken after Kathy woke him up by walking near him with the saddle.  I’d make a comment about his weight, but as you’ll see, our endurance athletes are looking a bit ... fluffy ... themselves!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kerry and I were both using new treeless saddles for the first time.  She had just bought a Freeform EnduroX, and I had just received a loaner Barefoot Atlanta.  I’ve been using a 2006 model of Barefoot Cheyenne, and the new models have built-in panels that help disperse the weight.

Here’s JB in his Freeform EnduroX and his original Easyboots... he got his shoes pulled for the winter on Friday and has been a bit sore on gravel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s Zephyr in his Barefoot Atlanta.  I don’t have a pad to fit it yet, so I’m using the one from my Cheyenne.  You can see how differently it’s shaped.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s Zephyr all ready to go, with Easyboot Gloves on his front feet.  He doesn’t really need them at the Wildlands, but I wanted to use them anyway so I could see how they did with 2+ weeks of hoof growth.  As it turned out, they didn’t stay on long enough to really tell... but that wasn’t through any fault of theirs!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When it came time to mount up, I approached Peyton to check his cinch, and he freaked out and ran backwards.  I grabbed one of the reins and he stopped, blowing hard.  When I threw the rein over his neck he freaked out again.  I have no idea why Peyton is so twitchy around me, but now that I know he is, I know I need to go over there and work on it!  I could see Kerry was starting to think this was going to be a disastrous outing so I reassured her that it was just me, that Kathy and Peyton knew each other and got along really well.  Kerry was visibly relieved to hear that we probably wouldn’t have to scrape Kathy off the ground with a spatula.

Before we mounted up, Kathy told us she was practicing for someday going on a Foxhunt, so she had purchased a fancy steel flask and loaded it up with creamed sherry.  She took pity on us not having flasks of our own, and provided us with a variety of little nips of various liqueurs like Buttershots and Lemon Drops.  It was the first time Kerry or I had done shots while we rode!  More on that later.

In the first half mile of our ride, JB slung his right front Easyboot off TWICE.  That was all it took for Kerry to take me up on my offer to loan her Zephyr’s Gloves.  (And frankly, that was all it took to start us drinking.)  We were pretty sure the Gloves would fit, since Zephyr wears the same size Easyboots as JB does.  Unfortunately we couldn’t get JB’s left front Easyboot off, so that one stayed on and Kerry put one of Zephyr’s Gloves on the right front.  I packed the other Glove away in my saddle bag, strapped the Easyboot onto the top of my jacket behind my saddle, and continued on with Zephyr barefoot.  He was just as happy as he could be.  I can remember back when he couldn’t walk over there without wincing at each step!  That was only a few months ago!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Of course we took it easy on the nips... every now and then one of us would yell CHEERS and we’d take a sip, chased with water, and of course none of us had more than a shot total over the course of the ride.  It was great fun, but I suppose you had to be there.  For one thing, all these disclaimers are taking the fun right out of the joke. 

One of the funniest things about it was that I didn’t have my Fuzzy Logic riding pants on, so I had no thigh pocket to stow my nips bottle in.  I didn’t have my jacket on either, and hadn’t put my pommel pack on my saddle yet.  Instead, I stuck the bottle down the waistband of my pants... which soon meant that I carried it in the fold of my thigh, inside my pants.  That sounds awkward, but I didn’t really feel it there at all, and it ended up being better than where Kathy stowed her flask! 

After a while Kerry and I switched horses so we could try out each others’ saddles.  We couldn’t do any more than walk, though, because we didn’t want to bother changing stirrup lengths.  Go ahead, call us lazy.  Anyway, you can see JB in his mismatched Easyboots, and Kerry in her Fuzzy Logics pants.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s Kathy on Peyton, who is barefoot and flatfooted, and still rocked it in the Wildlands without pain.  As far as I can tell he has never worn shoes.  Oh, and I believe if you look closely you can see part of Kathy’s flask in her left hand!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some gorgeous scenery on Mountain View Road!  The horses ain’t bad neither, even if Zephyr does look like he’s about to pee. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately, somewhere along this road, Kathy dropped her flask, which she had been storing in the back pocket of her jeans.  If she’d only told me that’s where she had it, I’d have told her it was a bad idea!  All that trotting and cantering was bound to jostle it out!  I’d have shared my nips with her but by that time it was all gonesies.

Barefoot buddies (left) and the view Kathy saw most of the afternoon (right):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By the end of the ride, we all agreed that Peyton ... “The Trail Assassin” ... is worth his weight in gold.  (That’s a lot of gold.)  He never spooked at anything, went through everything he was asked to, is incredibly comfortable to ride, and somehow managed to squeeze his belly between all the trees on the skinniest trail we were on (Hillside Trail) without banging Kathy’s knees.  We still don’t know how he did that, it’s a mystery.

Here are the three amigos.  Lord only knows what the horses were discussing. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As you can see in the picture above, eventually JB did step himself out of the left front Easyboot, at which point Kerry borrowed my other Glove and continued on.

When we got back to the trailers, Kerry told me she was DONE with the original style of Easyboots and wanted to order a pair of Easyboot Gloves from me.  No problemo, and, having used the original Easyboots myself a few years ago, no surprise either.  (I can’t tell you how EASY the Gloves are!  And the only thing I’ve managed to do in order to make one come off is to lose a screw out of the gaiter and, 10 miles later, canter up a rocky hill.  It stayed on while trotting, just not cantering.)

The sweat marks under my loaner saddle looked pretty good, but he didn’t really get a sweat going under there.  I’d have taken a picture but we were losing daylight and it wouldn’t have come out that well.  I think another good hard ride is necessary, with a lot of trotting, before I’ll know whether the VPS panels in the saddle are doing a good job dispersing my weight.

Kerry was in a hurry to get home, so we decided to see whether Peyton would get on my trailer, which is a 2-horse slant load with a rear tack, which makes the opening very narrow.  Surprisingly, we didn’t even need The Weed to help encourage him, and even more surprisingly, his belly fit!  I decided to worry about whether he would unload once I got him home.  He actually did fine once I crawled in there and stood at his head while he backed out... he didn’t even bang his belly on the side!

After we got Peyton tucked away, Gary told me that after we left, he walked inside to find his two young daughters, aged 5 and 7, bawling their eyes out so hard that nobody could get a word in edgewise.  Apparently they were CONVINCED that he had sold Peyton, or sent him “to the big farm” where all the cows go when they get big.  Once he was able to get them to listen, he told them Peyton had just gone for a ride, and they stopped crying and went to play.  Apparently they’re not scarred for life, and for that we are all grateful.

All that fresh air knocked me right out; I was asleep in front of the TV by 8.

Good times... good times...

Technorati Tags: Easyboot,Easyboot Glove,Great Pond Mountain Wildlands

Ride/Walk on the Wild Side!

The first annual “Walk on the Wild Side” walk/bike/ride-a-thon at the Great Pond Mountain Wildlands was a huge success! My neighbor Mary and I staffed the Mile Four “aid station” and had a lot of fun with our theme of Maple Syrup.  I cooked all day Saturday… Maple-Mustard Chicken, Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Pecans and Spiced Maple Sauce, New Orleans Maple Coleslaw, Maple Glazed Pumpkin Donuts, Maple Granola, and Mary brought four kinds of quick breads… maple walnut, apple, banana, and something else.  I even had a 2-burner propane stove to keep the hot food hot.  We decorated with brightly-colored maple tree foliage.  Our station was very well received!  (Those are rhythm bead necklaces you see hanging from the corner of the canopy.  More on those later.)

The first visitors were my friends Lysh and Meg.  Meg came all the way from PA for this!  (Just kidding, she’s from PA but was visiting Lysh.)  The palomino mare is Zandy, and the chestnut gelding is Buddy.

Lysh was bound and determined not to get off, so that she wouldn’t have to get back on, but I coaxed her into it by reminding her of all the food I’d brought… and showing her the stepstool I’d brought for re-mounting!  Her excuses disappeared.  Sadly, so did mine… apparently she’s never letting me get away with serving her franks and beans again!

 

The people came in bunches after that, from both the North Gate and the South Gate, at pretty much the same time.  I think over the 2 hours we got over 100 people, but I’ll have to wait and hear the official tally.  This group had 3 horseback riders and probably 6 people on foot/bikes.  The horses dug right into the hay and water.  One of the riders accepted my offer of a tie-rope in a tree.

When they were just settling in, the next group of two riders arrived.   One of these accepted my offer of a halter AND a tie-rope in a tree!  She was pretty surprised I had brought halters to lend.  I just figure that’s good service!

 

I didn’t get any more pictures when the next couple of groups came through, because it was so busy!  No time for a little thing like pictures.  I got LOTS of compliments on the food.

The food was pretty much gone by the time the last group of 3 riders came back through for the second time.  Kamrie shopped from horseback (bought a second set of rhythm beads) while her horse helped tear down the decorations.

After that, I did the drawing for the horseback rider-only prize giveaway.  Kathy Perin won the rhythm beads… too bad she had already bought a set!  She took a second set to give to a friend.

These three horses left with a total of 5 sets of rhythm beads between them.  The walkers could certainly hear THEM coming!!

Thanks, everyone, for coming to see the property and say hello.  I enjoyed our (brief) visit!

Great Pond Mountain Wildlands

On Sunday September 20, Jill and I went to get the boys from the field.  They were as far from the gate as they could get!  Six acres can take a while to cross, when laid out in an L.  Look carefully, they’re both here:

Jill and Ellen hauled their horses over to the Great Pond Mountain Wildlands.  Zephyr and I hitched a ride with Jill.  She bought a pair of Fuzzy Logic Equine riding pants from me… here we are, styling in our Ready 2 Ride pants!

 

 

We headed north on Valley Road, then Flagg Road, then Hillside Trail.  Despite the promising start, we soon lost the trail in the woods, and decided to go check out the scenery first before trying again.  jill had forgotten her breastplate and her saddle was slipping badly, so i gave her mine.  i had to expand it from the smallest setting all the way to the largest!

While checking out the scenery, we got a few really great opportunities to canter, which was excellent for Jill and her greenie, Joe.  We had some great conversations about “finding your seat of power”, and effective equitation versus classically correct equitation.  Eventually we turned back and tried Hillside Trail again.  This time, I led and watched for the gray-blue slashes on the trees.  We made it!  Great trail, with more great views.  I like this trail, it’s the only footpath-type trail that the Trust currently allows horses on.  I think it’s a great way to prove how small an impact horses can make on woods paths. Unfortunately I don’t have any pictures from that section.

 

(my capital letters just stopped working and i have no idea why.)  here we are back out on valley road, with great pond mountain in the background.

zephyr finished the day in great shape despite all his hooves being bare. 

we had such a wonderful time!  it was only 4 miles or so, and maybe 2 hours if i remember right, but we just really enjoyed ourselves.

Lost? Nah. We just don’t know where we are.

A good friend came over to pre-ride the trail for next weekend’s pleasure ride with my mounted search and rescue unit (MMESAR).  Kerry got to my house 20 minutes early so she unloaded her Ara-loosa into the front paddock, then enjoyed a cup of coffee while I scarfed down the omelet and bacon that my husband had prepared.  After she got the nickel tour of my house, we were off to the races about an hour later than planned, but there wasn’t really any hurry.

We loaded both horses onto Kerry’s trailer and headed to the trailhead.  Parking was a tighter fit than I’m used to, so I held JB while Kerry backed the rig as far away from the gate as she could without putting it in the road.  We also left my cell phone number on the dash in case emergency vehicles needed us further out of the way.

Note Zephyr’s Easyboot Gloves... the thick-toe version with the latest prototype gaiter, and power straps.  I’m still not getting those front gaiters as tight as they should be, and I don’t know how to get them any tighter!  I’ll keep working on it...

 

 

 

 

 

 

We first headed into the Wildlands to check out the two options for MMESAR to use for a camp site, then headed back off the property to scout the pleasure ride trail.  (We’ll be using the Wildlands for our night ride, but the daytime rides will use local snowmobile trails.)  Some of our scouting involved creating go-rounds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I thought I knew where the trail went, but we got to a Y and I chose one way... we got out to a wider trail than I thought we should find and I got confused.  We followed it for a while before I decided it must be wrong.  I tried to turn on my GPS but the tree cover was so thick I couldn’t get a signal.  We went back to the Y and turned the other way, but it got too overgrown so we went back AGAIN and took the other fork of the Y AGAIN and then turned the other way on the wide trail. 

The Gloves performed great through several water crossings, rocky sections, and mud, though they did make a loud squelching noise after each water crossing.  Not sure they’re supposed to do that... they may still be too tight in the heels.

Eventually we popped out in a gorgeous blueberry field... which wasn’t where I was trying to go, but at least my GPS started working once we were out of the woods.  The scenery was so nice we just decided to keep going, despite Kerry’s fears that we were going to get shot at. 

I swear we could see the Camden Hills (or something big) and I KNOW we could see the Penobscot Narrows bridge.  Click on these to make them bigger:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We just kept heading out and to the right, towards where my GPS said we would find Upper Long Pond Road.  We did have to go around a couple of cable gates, one of which was guarded by a No Trespassing sign, but eventually we did come to a gate onto the road.  It was a little tricky to get around the gate, but we made it.

Not even a quarter mile after we got out onto the road, we passed the entrance to the trail we were SUPPOSED to come out on, so I resolved to go back that way after continuing on for a while longer.

Because getting lost set us so far back on time, we didn’t make it all the way to the field with the abandoned stone house, but that was OK.  At least I know how to get there now!  When we turned around, we took the trail we should have come out on.

Not even 50 feet after we turned onto the trail, I looked down and saw hoof prints heading the other way.  *sigh*  Kerry was a good sport about it, she insisted she saw nothing at all.

When we got back to the trailer, I removed the boots and was sad to see that, indeed, the boots do seem to be rubbing his heels.  I think I need to move him up a size while I’m trying to get his heels under control.  Waiting for official confirmation of that from Garrett at EasyCare.  They’re not rubbing on his pasterns though, just his heels, so that’s good.