Grace Ground Driving & Tack Fitting

I got lucky today, it was warm in the morning with no wind!  I took Grace out and tied her at the hitch rail next to Major while he ate breakfast so she can practice being tied somewhere other than in her paddock.  Major set a terrible example, when he was done his mash he was pawing and then tried to roll!  Grace attempted to untie herself a couple times, but then realized I would keep coming back with different equipment to try on her and she decided to just stand and wait for me to finish whatever I was up to.  I put Major away and tried a few borrowed saddles on Grace, but they didn't fit.  So on to the local tack stores!

Here is a diagram that I use when I take a horse's measurements for a saddle.  It's a little bit involved, but I thought the diagram might be interesting to look at.  This is my own system which I've developed over years of fitting tack to horses, and paying really close attention to what the horses think of different kinds of fit.  The measurements and lines give me the information I need to find a saddle that will likely fit the horse, then when I try it on the horse can give me her opinion.

This first photo is Grace's diagram.  An easy thing to note is how wide the red arch is.  This is just one of many measurements I assess, the width of her back immediately behind her shoulders. 

By contrast, this is the diagram for a Thoroughbred/Clydesdale mare who lives here.  Notice how narrow her red arch is by comparison!

We were done grooming and I determined that those two western saddles weren't going to fit.  I'd gotten Grace's measurements in preparation for saddle shopping.  I'm hopeful that I can find a saddle which fits her and she likes, then when she goes to her new home in March from the Horse Expo I can sell the saddle and send it with her.  That way I know she'll have equipment that is suitable for her, fits her and is comfortable, and it also spares her new family the frustration of saddle fitting.  I also always send the bit the horse likes with them when they go to a new home, too.

Next I put the pad and surcingle on her, got my whip and long lines, and we went to the round pen to begin ground driving.  I always do this with horses I put under saddle so that I have some kind of brakes and steering before I get on the horse.  Grace caught on INCREDIBLY quickly, taking her cues from both my body language and my voice commands.  Garmin the pony stayed at the fence line today to encourage her, and Miles ran his cheerleading laps as usual. Grace and I worked on walking, trotting, turning, stopping, and backing. She understands what I want and does it all like an old pro, this is the benefit of gradually building on information she learns incrementally. 

Garmin observing

Miles cheerleading

If you look closely at the photos, you can see that I have my long lines acting as reins, attached to either side of her halter and then threaded through the rings on my surcingle.  This mimics the way reins will work when I am holding them while riding her so she can get used to the reins and steering without having to also adapt to my weight at the same time.  I'm standing in the middle of the round pen holding both reins, the whip, and my camera.  I was feeling like I needed a couple more arms and hands.

After I was sure she understood braking and steering we went to the big arena to try ground driving there. 

No sweat.  We drove all around the arena, made circles in both directions, and drove over the ground poles and the tires from all directions.  The only concern she had was when I got a little too involved in capturing the "perfect shot" on my camera and I wasn't giving her enough guidance.  She merely stopped, put her head up in the air and looked at me over her shoulder out of her right eye, clearly saying, "Look, Kim, your first responsibility is to be my trainer, and as such you should be guiding me with instructions.  Your role as paparazzi comes second."  So I put the camera away and we continued on, not a hesitation on her part once I was doing my job. 

After we were done working I left Grace tied at the hitchrail while I hunted through my equipment in the tack room and found my oversized Stubben bridle.  The regular horse size has too small a browband, her face is truly percheron sized!  I put an english hackamore on the headstall and then adjusted it to Grace's face.  She looks quite fancy.  I like to start horses with this kind of equipment because it is similar to the halter in how it feels to her, and it is basically just a glorified noseband with reins on it.  She can learn everything I need to teach her (for the expo) without metal in her mouth, then when I add the bit later it will be the only new thing for her to get used to. 

"I feel pretty, oh so pretty......"