Beautiful fall day means trail riding!

I took Joy out on a trail ride with my new saddle yesterday. I am pleasantly surprised by how comfortable the saddle was, even though the seat is smaller than I should have.

That saddle was a life saver though. There’s a small sandy hill the neighbors like to canter up, and Joy gets rather rambunctious about it. Not only does she think this hill is built for leaping around on, but she detests being left behind. Which means pulling her up while everyone else is cantering on ahead is difficult (nearly impossible).

With my new saddle strapped on (and all protective gear securely fastened), we cantered up the hill.

It started out ok. Joy cantered… but pretty soon the strides got bigger, and the back got bouncier, and then the front got alternating bouncier, until we’re leaping and jumping up the hill.

It felt like:

 

I grabbed mane, sat up straight, and we made it to the top without me falling off. Guy behind us said it looked like a bouncy ride. Haha

That saddle is awesome though. I felt totally secure. It might also be the fact that I just spent several months riding in a bareback pad, so knee rolls and stirrups seem like a luxury now.

I wanted to test whether the little bronc bouncing was just that hill, or cantering on sand, or what… so after catching our breathes we cantered down the path quite a ways on our own while the other 2 riders hung back. Joy was a saint. Not only did she leave the group without issue, she didn’t spook, didn’t crow hop, allowed me to rate her speed and she stayed with me the whole time. It was actually really, really fun.

 

Trail ride – short video: