 |
| Michael, Samantha & Ruth |
Cassandra & I had been attempting to meet for a couple weeks. I've been on restriction - since my eye surgery & with these sunshine days - I wanted nothing more than to ride. (One day early? Has to be OK!) Cassandra was coming this way to meet & trail ride with two young clients. After checking with them, I was invited along! I was driving up 59th slowly - looking for the driveway to the farm where we planned to meet - when I saw someone riding along the side of the road. Introducing ourselves - Ruth said; "You must be one of the people I'm riding with today!"
 |
| Ruth & her Arab ~ |
Sure enough - we were both heading to the same place! Michael welcomed
us & directed me to a spot to park that would be out of the way.
With a background in Rodeo - he explained that there would be big rigs
coming & going all day. Soon, Samantha pulled in - she boards her
off-the-track Thoroughbred at the farm.
 |
| Trying a different saddle pad~ |
Shortly after - Cassandra arrived, making the drive down from
Anderson Arena/Snowy Mountain Stables near Mt. Vernon. Her ride today was a beautiful half Arab, half Friesian. She also brought a
SaddleRight saddle pad for me to try. My Woolback is just too thick under the Stonewall & Jackie recommends a thin pad. This one has good reviews, is made in the USA & only 1/2" thick. It was nice to mount up without the saddle slipping.
 |
| Farah makes friends~ |
I am sorry to admit that I don't remember the horses names - but as you can see - Farah was totally enamored of Cassandra's gelding. While the two girls galloped away - Cassandra & I took it a bit easier, her boy was barefoot & Farah had started the ride galloping in place.
 |
| Ruth, Cassandra & Samantha - adjusting her saddle~ |
I was amazed that Farah was willing to stay with her new
friend & watch the other two horses take off! We all really had a fun time - the girls would double back to check on us & we got a chance to swap stories :-)
 |
| Whitehorse - Three Fingers~ |
Farah kept me too busy to take many photos. She gets out so seldom with others - especially a group going fast! It was almost funny to see how surprised she was. The day was plenty warm enough for me - the horses all worked up a good sweat in no time. As I told Cassandra, nothing like seeing the gold girl in
action to get an idea of what areas we need to work on :-)
 |
| Farah watching as we get our photo taken :-) |
We had several interesting moments - it was fun watching how an experienced horsewoman & retired jockey deals with a horse that wants to take off. I'm sure that if he'd had shoes, we'd have given the girls a run for their money :-)
 |
| Our ride route~ |
It's a small world - Cassandra had purchased a horse from Charles - we ended the day with a tour of Dean's farm. Swapping more stories & admiring the most beautiful horse farm in the state. Going our separate ways - now friends & planning more riding!
I went to a clinic of Cassandras last year. She showed me some things to look for on Rosie physically that were likely the reason she was violently refusing to go forward while we were going for no apparent reason. She said it was a pain issue and did some adjustment to her wither area----and the result was instant. Cassandra explained that likely, Rosie at some point may have gone over backwards and damaged her wither area and if things aren't lined up or if there's pressure there, if can cause her sudden pain....also said that western gear may contribute to that because of where things sit so I've also made tack adjustments to help. She showed me how to pull along the withers to maneuver things in there keep her comfortable. She also pulled along Rosie's mane---it was VERY tight, you could hardly pull the hair down. And she told me to massage that area and pull on the mane-handfuls of hair- regularly to keep those muscles loose and flexible. I highly recommend Cassandra. And I also really like her way with horses. She's a sista! From Laura
ReplyDelete