Farah in Black~

Tacked up~

Now that I've decided on a Stonewall Sport & am currently leasing the Stonewall Classic, it was time to get the accessories to go with it!  It took three breast collars to get one that fit!  The first from Hought was too small, the second too big & I couldn't reach Gail to figure out the third.  I called Diana at American Trail Gear, who had one in the mail over the holiday weekend & surprise!  It fit!

My new reins, are identical to my old, except for the color.  1" wide & 6.5 ft. long just as I like them & work well with the running attachment with 2" rings - both made by Gail.  The headstall I ordered from Tory Leather - leather conforms to a horses head & is my personal preference.  I'm still trying different pads.  Today I used an inexpensive one that I found at Bony Pony, made by Cashel.  It's called a "Soft saddle pad liner" & works well with the shape of the Stonewall - fitting under the dropped rigging.  What I didn't like was that it keeps slipping out the back.  I'm going to end up ordering one from Stonewall & those don't cover the rigging.  That's why they have sheepskin on the back of the ring.  Jackie says that these saddles work best with only a 1/2 inch pad.

Another "Oh No" moment...

We'd gone right past the Cottonwoods that Butch had cut out for us & another mile when we came to this :-(  Too high to jump, too low to go under.  I busted up the hillside on the right, Farah followed, once up on top, there was a place to get over it - Farah did that - then I let her go & she made her way back down to the trail.

Tops broken~

Over at the far Wetland, we found a mess.  The wetland itself is totally dry - it's the first I've found that is...  Two of the big Cottonwoods that are along the creek, had broken off & their large tops crashed down. 

Dry Wetland~

What a mess & it will be interesting to see if anyone cuts them out - or if they're covered with water as the wetland hopefully fills again this fall & winter.  Either way - we turned back here.  Farah was in a nasty mood today...  Threats to buck, grunting - rushing - just generally ornery.  It has been a week since she was out - so maybe that was her problem.

Our way back up!

As we started up, she made a very strong threat to buck & got the stick!  Once at the top, she settled back down & we did our woods loop, until we were again stopped by another tree down across the trail...  I turned back - deciding to check out the big wetland.

Peace & Quiet

We made good time heading home, until we came to the tree & hillside to climb.  This time I just let Farah go.  She went right up the hill - a little too far up - but then looked, jumped over the top of the tree & crashed back down the far side in a rush!  That left me to just walk under the trunk & mount.

Once home, I untacked her & she hadn't even broken a sweat under the pad!  No waves on her withers, not a hair out of place :-)  I brushed her & turned her out - where she tore around the pasture, back through the gate, around the back yard & back to the pasture - bucking & blowing off steam :-)