Was that a movie?

It’s a part of life we don’t even pay any attention to, unless something happens.  Gravity is a good thing.  It keeps all people and things grounded.  Dropping anything on my kitchen tile floor will prove it instantly, usually in a million pieces.  Imagine a world (like in space) where everything just floats around.  Cows floating by.  If you think it’s hard enough to catch your horse now, try it with your horse floating around in the air.  Bummer.

Looking at the chair in my bedroom will testify to the fact that gravity is happening in my household.  Bob has now stacked up, just about all his dress pants on that chair.  He tells me that none of his pants fit.  He hasn’t gained weight, so I must be shrinking them.  My theory is that gravity is pulling his belly fat down to his waist line.  He used to carry his weight higher.  Looking at my body in the mirror, a lot of things used to be higher and tighter.  I have old people’s skin!  Agh!!!!  You just always believe that it’s never going to happen to you.  The good thing about living in Florida is that most people look that way.  You’re either old with saggy skin or overweight to fill it in.  I’ll do the saggy skin look (I’ve been to Walmart).

So now to our horses changing bodies.  And yes, they do change too.

We know that when a winter blanket comes off, sometimes we don’t end up with the same horse that went into that blanket last fall.  It’s like a magic show.  There’s your horse, you place the sheet over it, pull it off and it’s different.  Sometimes he’s gained weight and sometimes he’s lost it.  It should be that easy to lose weight for us.  Pass the sheet over our bodies and Voila! no dieting.  Well it wasn’t that easy for the horse either.  Mine gained weight, so now we’re doing the Jenny Craig/Weight Watchers thing for horses.

Okay, let’s get back to gravity.  Over time our horses body changes just like ours.  My mare used to be a fifty-five gallon drum with legs, with mutton withers.  I’ve been noticing more pronounced withers in the past year, but it’s now to the point where I have to start really checking things.  Her saddle isn’t slipping around her body any more, it’s staying in place.  I can ride with a loose girth and not find myself looking at life from between her front legs.  She will be only sixteen in two weeks, but her body is changing.

So what does that mean?  Her blankets and sheets still fit her like before, but her saddle doesn’t.  We think.  Oh but this is her saddle, it’s always been her saddle, but this has not always been her body shape.  You have to pay attention to the changing shape of their backs.  If they gain weight; do they need a wider tree?  If they lose weight; do they need a narrow tree?  Perhaps a thicker pad or a different pad will help make up the difference for now, but the back is going to keep changing so you have to keep watching.

Most people don’t even think about fitting a saddle to the horse, but it is so important.  If your horse gets cranky when you ride, check your saddle fit.  Look at sweat marks when you remove it.  Are there dry spots?  That will tell you your saddle isn’t fitting right.  You can sprinkle Baby Powder on their backs, put your saddle on (without a pad) and see where the baby powder ends up on your saddle.  Where it’s touching and where it isn’t.

Don’t just sit there and think – this has always been her saddle, I love this saddle, I can’t afford a new one.  What you can’t afford is a horse with a sore back.  If you were your horse, and you had a sore back, would you want YOU to sit on it?  Would you even want a five year old child to sit on it?  Their backs weren’t created to sustain the weight of a person on it.  Then add movement on your part, and you have more soreness.  So be kind.  Check that saddle fit.

These are changing times in our lives.  We have changing bodies.  And so do they.  (Now all you young people out there thinking that it won’t happen to you.  Surprise!!!!!!  That’s what I thought.  It starts at 11 – 13 and goes down hill from there.)

A comfortable horsey, is a happy horsey.  This in turn, makes a happy, safer horsey owner.

Fly be free (for those of you who remember Mork with the eggs).  Just watch out for flying cows.