Call me brave, call me daring... or adventurous or silly but I finally had my first ride on my new mare. I don't own a saddle and I'm currently trying to get an idea how she moves so I hopped on bareback. Please forgive the photographer, she's only six!
Now I just need to buy myself some tack, whenever I narrow down what kind of discipline I want to ride. LOL
Wow. Congrats on your first ride! She is absolutely stunning. You look wonderful on her! For a 6-year old, I'm quite impressed with the photos. Riding her for the first time AND bareback is so awesome. Can't wait to see what discipline you decide!
Thanks everyone for the wonderful replies! I was a tad embarrassed to post cause I am a bigger girl and I'm ashamed of how bad my weight has been since my mental health has been all over the place I really stopped taking care of myself like I should of. @walkinthewalk She reminds me of my half TWH mare that I had, she was the same color and frame and everything though this mare is a TBxQH cross (registered appendix) My daughter was thoroughly rewarded with a Happy Meal for being patient and understanding why mommy went riding but she couldn't.
Hee hee... I thought she looked like a TWH too! LOL. She's really pretty and has a very sweet face. If you aren't planning to show then (My personal preference is western but you go w/ whatever you want
Honestly I'm at a toss up between and Endurance and an Aussie. Having limited amount of horse people around here (though there are quite a few there aren't many who ride endurance or in an Aussie from what I can tell) I'm relying heavily on information on this forum to sway me to one or the other. I have a saddle thread going at the moment and I'm really not sure which way I want to go without being able to try them out due to the lack there of locally I may have to make a blind decision and try ordering one online with a changeable gullet system.
You two make a great pair! Since your thinking of an Australian saddle, I wanted to recommend the Wintec ProStock. I love mine. It is so comfortable and secure. I find it to be a good fit for many horses, since it has the interchangeable gullets. I tried two other Australian saddles before the Wintec, and they were not nearly as comfortable.
I have the English style. I use Wintec stirrup "leathers" (which I also love). I use a large dressage pad and a dressage girth. I'm actually not crazy about the pad in this picture. The sheepskin area wasn't wide enough; so I replaced it with a different pad, but I don't have any pictures.
See honestly I'm kinda at the point where I'm going to go based on looks either the english style or western. I worry that the English style I'll have a harder time finding a pad that fits yet the Western isn't as visually pleasing to me as the English style. As long as both have flexible stirrups I suppose it doesn't matter that much.
Do you have a good sadler supplies in your nearby area? Can you float your horse a bit further out to one? If that is possible you should be able to try some saddles out and see what you prefer. "Looks" is a very difficult way to decide because the prettiest isn't always the best for you or your horse.
If it is not urgent stick with bareback for a while. It is very good for your balance, and posture if you are thinking about it!! And it gives you time to be sure of your decision.
You are not the only 'larger lady' on here and none of us will judge you on that, even the ''skinny'' ones are very encourageing!!
So I've took all this wonderful advice and decided for now I'm going to spend some decent money on a quality barrel saddle. I don't compete in Western Gaming events anymore however, it's quite possible in the future I go this way. The reason I'm choosing a barrel saddle is cause I've only rode in barrel saddles (my mom barrel races) so we only ever had them to choose from. When I was younger my mom gifted me a brand new Billy Cook. I loved the darned thing and if my tush hadn't grown in size I'd be shipping it out to me from Texas to Northern Ontario Canada but I don't think it will fit my rump. Jackson has been trained with a reining saddle and is quite use to the western feel of things. With this being said I'm considering a mid-range saddle something like an Alamo or American barrel saddle. I love my Billy Cook but finding them used is just as expensive as getting a brand new saddle in the mid-range. I know it's worth it but there really is barely any in this area even used.
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