Gally is the boss

Mo has been the boss of the paddock for years. Over 10 years. Whereever we went, Mo would always be the boss.

When I first put Gally in with Mo, Mo was nice to Gally, but quickly put Gally in his place when push came to shove.

Today, I feed the horses in the yard. The feed bins are ready, and the horses run in through the gate. I turn around just in time to see Mo and Gally standing over the same feed bin. Then Gally raises his head, and puts his ears back. Mo retreats to find another bucket. Gally is the boss.

The yard has a stable in it. Later on when I return to put the horses out, Gally is standing in the stable, looking out. He is proud as pie. All the other horses are in the yard eating grass. He doesn't even put his ears back when I come over to give him a pat and have a laugh. I think he has now made our farm his home.

Don't kick

Gally is a smart horse. And any smart horse tries to be the boss of the herd. That includes me. So Gally is trying some neat little tricks, like sniffing my back while I am brushing him. This can quickly turn into fumbling with the lips, then gentle nipping, then biting. I shrug (literally) off his advances.

The other thing he tries is cow kicking when I am doing anything around his back side. It can be brushing, or putting the saddle on, or doing up his rugs. I have already seen how the saddle fitting lady gave him a firm pat on the back side for each kick, and how easily and quickly it worked. My husband suggested that I try using a short crop on him, as it will extend my reach, and keep me at a safer distance.

So, here I am, brushing Gally, brush in one hand, crop in the other. Every time the leg lifts, snap. It's not a brutal whack, far from it, just a firm snap. The crop is lifted a mere 10-15cm off his backside. Then I notice that just before he tries to kick, he swishes his tail. So, everytime the tail swings, I give him a quick snap. Within seconds I have a very obedient horse standing at the hitching rail.

Sick day

I already had a sore throat last night. I got to bed early, but even so I wake up feeling really sick this morning. It's not often that I take a sick day from riding, but today is going to be one. It's a windy, miserable day, and I can barely breathe and swallow. Forget it.

I don't even venture outside.

My husband puts out the hay for the horses, and checks on that horse with a new white rug. He returns saying that they are all waiting for a feed. Apart from that they all look happy.

Gally goes to Anna's

I take Gally to Anna's (my coach) for a lesson.

I explain to her my saddle woes, and the success of the saddle fitting. Then we get on with the job of training Gally.

First she gets me to walk around on a loose rein, controlling with the legs, and only using the reins when absolutely necessary. Once he is comfortable with the arena, I pick up the reins.

"Do you think you can go into trot?", she asks sternly. "Ummm, no", I respond. "Well, then wake him up. Apply more leg, get him going. And when he is ready trot on." I do, and we're in trot. "When you want to go into trot, lean back a bit", comments Anna. The fear of hurting his back is still with me, obviously.

In trot we do circles, go large, change rein, more circles. Then we go into canter, go large, no circles. "Just focus on getting him to go forward", Anna is almost yelling at me. "He is a young horse, he just needs to learn that when you apply the leg it means go forwards. Keep him balanced around the corners, round off the short side, and just keep applying the leg." Gally is cruising around the arena in fine style. It feels powerful.

We go back into trot. "Have you ever seen jockeys ride?" asks Anna. Have I ever. I nod. "Have you seen how they use the whip? On the shoulder, hind quarters, shoulder?". I nod. "Well use it like that!", she says. "Give him a kick with the leg, then another, if he doesn't go forward enough, then use the whip like a jockey." I do, and Gally responds with a strong, forward trot. Beautiful. "Then just sit there, no effort, no leg, nothing", says Anna soothingly. "Get him to travel exactly like you want him to." Wow, it's so easy. Bit like what my girlfriend said once.

Saddle fitting

It's an awful day. Wind blowing at 200km an hour (according to my mum). Rain and hail pelting down in long showers. But I have waited two weeks for the saddle fitter to come out, and I am not about to cancel.

Instead, I drive the trailer out of the shed, move some barrels, and setup some hay nets with hay. The stage is ready for fitting Gally with a saddle.

The lady from Horseland arrives, car loaded with saddles. We bring in Crownie, for companionship, and Gally for fitting. He gazes angrily at the saddle, which caused him discomfort, and gives us his opinion with his back leg. Liddy gives him a knowledgeable firm pat on the backside for every cow kick he does. He calms down.

Liddy measures him up, and yes I do need a wider gullet. The gullet is changed, the saddle goes on, the girth is done up. (Note, no saddle blanket.) Liddy is happy with the way the fit "looks", but she thoroughly examines how the saddle lies along his back. Then she finds a couple of sore spots along the back, just where the saddle finishes. She takes a step back and assess him. "I think you need a bit more padding here", she points to the back part of the saddle. "He has a high back, and I think the saddle finishes too sharply for him. I think it needs to be more rounded, and taper up more gently." She takes the saddle off, and busies herself with adding padding.

The penny drops. This saddle wasn't just hurting Gally. It was also hurting Princess. Possibly Crownie as well. It's just that Princess complains about everything, so you just learn to ignore her. Whereas, Crownie doesn't complain about anything, so you never know. But Gally was able to articulate it quite clearly, for a horse.

With added padding, the saddle goes back on. Liddy is happy with the fit, "I want you to sit on him". Bridle on the horse, helmet on me, I mount up. Gally tenses, as he anticipates an uncomfortable moment. I sit in the saddle. Sigh of relief ... first from Gally, then from me. And, in addition, the saddle now feels a lot more like a dressage saddle.

The saddle fitter is pleased. "Go for a walk on him", she encourages. Despite the howling wind, the bending trees, and flapping bits and pieces we ride out in front of the shed. Gally steps under with increadible freedom. This feels fantastic! What a difference!

When I jump off, I am ready to give Liddy a hug. As we discuss how much I owe, I decide that this is the best money I have ever spent.

From now on, I will be much more thorough in checking my horse's back for sore spots, and it wouldn't surprise me if the saddle fitter will be visiting us on average once per year.

Gally - more photos

Here are some more photos of Gally. Here he is, standing quietly at the hitching rail.

Gally sporting his new winter combo rug.

Gally - photos

Finally, some photos of Gally. These shots were taken shortly after his arrival at our property. Now this is what I call "exercising in the paddock". Go Gally, go!

I'll be sure to remember the height of this pigroot, if we ever have a disagreement.

I feel better

Ok, I feel better now. And I'm still going to pursue my dream of flawlessly galloping across country over scary obstacles.

Yesterday, I really was ready to give up. But, I know it's useless. I've been there before. Trying to give up the horse dream. And it just doesn't work. I mean ... if I'm not going to ride, then I may as well not live. So back into it. As someone once said "There's no failure, only feedback." Gally's sore back was my feedback. I know that I'm not sitting right. There are saddles that force you to sit correctly. Gally's previous owners' saddle made you do that. In fact, I liked their saddle so much I almost bought the saddle, not the horse.

So if I am not dilligent enough to sit correctly in my current saddle, then I should get myself a saddle which forces me to sit correctly. Or ride bareback. I have always found that I rode much better bareback, or without stirrups. I've had coaches who would force me to jump without stirrups for that exact reason.

The core of the problem

I haven't resolved the problem, but I keep working my horse.

I know that I don't have the most stable hands, so I glue them to the saddle blanket, and let Gally wander around the round yard. I ask for trot, the ears go back. Obviously, hands are not the problem.

Since he seems comfortable enough in the walk, I take him on a tour of the haying paddock. He tries really hard as we walk up the hill, and stays totally calm as we take in the awesome view from the top gate.

When we are finished I unsaddle him at the hitching rail as normal. And just out of curiosity, I run my hand along his back on the left side. All good. I do same on the right. Ouch! The ears dart back, the back dips. There's my problem.

I think about how the horse felt before I bought him. There could have been a mild stiffness there, but he wasn't sore. Not like this. This is a problem I created. Great!

I write myself off as a hopeless rider and trainer. I don't know why I'm still bothering. All my dreams fall in a heap at my feet. I am ready to give up and throw in the towel. But wait. Wait. If I am sitting wrong, then that saddle is "allowing" me to sit wrong. And maybe that saddle doesn't fit as well as I initially thought? But if I was a really good rider, I could ride well in any saddle. So, I am just hopeless at this, and should give up now before I do more damage.

Ears back

Gally is going well, but when I ask for trot, his ears go back. In the trot, as I ask for more effort, his ears also go back. He even puts in a tiny little pig root. It's easy to sit to.

I keep working him, wondering what to do. Everything I have ever been taught tells me to just crack the whip and push the horse through this. But intuition tells me that this is a nice horse who is just trying to tell me something.

I spend the rest of the day in internal turmoil, wandering how to deal with this, who to ask for help, and how to ask them.

Ideally, I should just put him on the float and go to Anna's. But due to family commitments I cannot go to her for another two weeks. It's just me and the problem.