Grace's Day Off

With the few inches of snow we got last night and the temperature not getting much above 20 degrees today, Grace got the day off.  It was definitely needed, she was starting to get that, "do I ever get a BREAK?"  look on her face.  I spent some time in search of a saddle for her.  She is BY FAR the widest horse I've ever worked with, and that's saying something.  She's wider than Pete, who was a wither-less quarter horse whose barrel was truly shaped like a barrel.  She's wider than Bear, who was a heavily built 16 hand paint and also had no withers.  She's wider than Gunther, the Norweigan Fjord whose personal mission is to pack winter weight on in such a way that he becomes wider than he is tall.

My go-to saddle for wide horses is even too narrow for her, as you can see in the photos from yesterday's work.  The front sits higher than the back of the saddle because the tree is too narrow in front.  It wasn't a big deal for a relatively loose girth and ground work - it wasn't going to press into her and cause pain or discomfort while she walked and trotted around riderless.  However I do need something different for her before we can begin her actual mounted work. 

I borrowed a couple western saddles that might be possibilities, and there is always my bareback pad.  Not fancy, but would be adequate for getting her used to carrying a human around.  We'll do some wardrobe changes in the next couple days and see what suits her.  If I get really stuck I can head to the local tack store, Happy Horse Tack, and see if they have something appropriate, or down to Loveland to the Latigo Lariat to assess the saddles they have in stock.

In the meantime, Grace is enjoying her day of rest, lounging in the snow which incidentally cleaned her up quite a bit.  Maybe it's on purpose in an attempt to prove my efforts needless with the spray cleaner?  She's also munching on the bottomless small mesh hay net full of food, and wondering if the border collies EVER stop.  (They don't.)