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Sensation Demo

Apr 012010
 

I saw the sun yesterday afternoon from my office window. I finished up, hoping that it would stay long enough for me to get in a ride. Lily looked pretty good when I got to the barn, so I took her out to groom and try the Sensation on.

I’m not used to using Skito pads. The foam was really stiff from being in the tackroom, so I put the saddle on first, then went to do boots, comb her mane and brush her head. By the time I was done, it had warmed up somewhat, so that I could adjust the girth.

For consist testing of saddles, I’m developing a list of things to check. It’s mostly so that I don’t forget something and then wonder about it after I’ve shipped the saddle on.

General

  • Quality
  • Weight
  • Places to attach gear
  • Adjustability
  • Design features

    • Rider

  • Mounting from the ground
  • Stirrup placement and swing
  • Seat twist
  • Seat comfort

    • Horse

  • Wither clearance
  • Sweat pattern
  • Back condition after riding (sensitive, hair ruffled, rubbed, flat?)
  • Underside of pad
  • Demeanor/attitude


    • Is there anything else that you would add? Please let me know in the comments.

    Here’s how the Sensation rated after a short ride. We mostly walked on local roads, no real hills and only a bit of trot and canter that Lily offered. I was just glad that she was feeling good!

    General

  • Quality – Excellent
  • Weight – I didn’t weigh it, but it’s light enough!
  • Places to attach gear – I didn’t notice a lot, but there are rings on the back and front, no saddle strings.
  • Adjustability – Good. It came with a bolster in the seat cantle, as the demo is a large seat size, equivalent to 17″ western. I removed it right after I got on and was comfortable without. There is no adjustability for the horse, but it’s all soft, so not really needed.
  • Design features – I like the adjustable nature of the seat!

    • Rider

  • Mounting from the ground – It slipped big time, both mounting and dismounting. I didn’t have the girth very tight though. While riding it felt secure, not slipping at all. I mounted from a tailgate.
  • Stirrup placement and swing – I might move the stirrup hanger back a bit for my next ride. And I’m not sure that I like having the stirrup leather attached to the bottom of the saddle flap. The stirrups also pulled my toes in some. That might make my knees hurt with a longer ride.
  • Seat twist – I will try a small bolster of my own making next ride. I would like more twist.
  • Seat comfort – Very nice!

    • Horse

  • Wither clearance – Fine.
  • Sweat pattern – Not enough riding to tell.
  • Back condition after riding – The hair was smooth and I didn’t find any sensitivity.
  • Underside of pad – Not enough riding to tell.
  • Demeanor/attitude – Great!


    • I am going to try the saddle on a longer ride with Vinnie this weekend, so the jury is out at this point.

    Here are a few more photos. The rest are on Flickr here.

    I love the pear trees in the background. Not planned, at least by me! Rachel took the photo.


    I would like to be able to bring my feet back under me more, if I wanted to.

    What is it?

    Jan 262009
     
    Hmmm...

    Hmmm...

    And which one do you like best?

    And which one do you like best ...

    ... as a visual image.

    ... as a visual image?

    These were taken at the same place as the photo in this post.

    Post inspired by Macro Monday on Lisa’s Chaos.

    Happy New Year

    Dec 312008
     

    I thought that I would share with my readers a small bit of what has inspired me to follow the path that I am on. Here are a couple of excerpts from this lecture link, Healing the Handicaps, by Yogi Bhajan, my teacher.

    On communication with nature and I would expand that to animals …

    near Tired Dog Ranch, Westfir, Oregon

    near Tired Dog Ranch, Westfir, Oregon

    “In every church, in every synagogue, in every temple, people tell you what to say. They are the registered voice. They give you a visa between you and God. But question is, if you want to learn how to talk to God, you must learn how to talk to His creation. If you do not know how to talk to a redwood tree (it would look like insanity to you, but that’s a fact) After all, life must talk to life.

    Is redwood tree not alive? Doesn’t it grow at its own rate? Doesn’t it have its own identity, own shape? Do you know how to talk to the ocean? Do you know how to talk to winds? You think all this is a lunatic, that’s what you think. No! You are lunatic because you have never learned to talk to the entire atmosphere which God created around you. If you do not know my entire house, how can you walk into my bedroom? You’ve got to meet the man outside. You’ve got to meet and sit in the waiting room. You have no relationship. And anyone who has no total relationship with the entire earth, cannot claim to be happy.”

    On religion and being in the world …

    “You do your prayers for mental cleanliness, spiritual advancement — nothing else. People ask me, “What is a religion?” I say, “It is a very, very most powerful selfish trip. It has nothing to do with God, I can assure you that.” No, no, no, don’t misunderstand me, it is true! What? God is bothering you? God is everywhere, you are nowhere, what is the problem? I mean to say, we have no problem. To feel spiritual is to feel your own spirit. It doesn’t matter which religion you belong to or which person you belong to. After all, you have to complete your day. And there’s no B12 injection all the time you can keep in left arm and right arm, you can make your day as it’s your day. Your day not only has to be your day, but your day has to be everybody’s best day whom you meet that day. That is called “one day.” If your day is your day, you goofed. It doesn’t make any sense because that day you made barely your day. But if that day you met fifty people and the fifty people have not made their day then you have lost fifty opportunities, fifty chances… and that is the sacredness in life that you go, you feel, you touch and somebody’s day is made.

    Then what happens? One day you make one person’s day, next day you make ten people’s day and 3rd day you make 100 people’s day. In the end of the month you’ve made 10,000 people’s day. Then you have 10,000 psycho magnetic energies focusing at you. “Oh, he is a good man.” It’s a mantra. It’s a constant vibration. Now bad cannot come near you. Power is in the remembrance. “Remember God, meditate on God.” Whatever they call it, that doesn’t mean anything.

    Power is in remembrance. Your child is somewhere in the university, your power is in the remembrance as a mother, as a father, as a boyfriend or girlfriend. That is the power. It is psycho magnetic communication. That’s the only power man understands or has, even without knowing what he has got.”

    My lovely daughter, off to learn film photography, just like I did many years ago.

    My lovely daughter, off to learn film photography, just like I did many years ago.

    This past year has been personally challenging at times, yet filled with insights as well. In 2009 I would prefer more insights and less challenge. But I’ll take whatever comes. I guess it’s hard to have one without the other. I know that it will be filled with many new and interesting choices to be made, wonder and beauty.

    I wish all of you a Happy, Joyful and Prosperous New Year!

    Clowning around

    Dec 282008
     

    Today, I hung out with Cirro and Lily for a while. I have a few odds and ends in the paddock for toys. There is the standard jolly ball, plastic apple that you can hang and a rubber boat bumper with ropes tied to the ends.

    Then there is the Hula Hoop.

    I got it for fun to see if it would be useful for desensitizing the horses. One thing it was useful for was getting them to move for good photos! It has the standard rattles in it, you see. Paisano would barely tolerate being touched by it. Lily was a little more accepting, but Cirro… Cirro let me put it over his head the first time I showed it to him. In a couple of minutes, I was leading him around with it. He’ll be trained to neck rein before he ever knows a bit. ;) These two photos are from that session over a month ago.

    Hes not quite sure about it yet.

    He's not quite sure about it yet.

    My daughter was videotaping. She said, “Put it around his neck.” I didn’t really intend to go that far, (I had visions of him tearing around with it on his neck and not being able to get it off…) but he was fine with it, so I did. No photo of that though. Maybe I’ll get the video edited and put it on youtube sometime.

    More interested, after it was moved away from him.

    More interested, after it was moved away from him.

    I use advance and retreat type of movements when introducing new stuff like this. I watch carefully to see that the horse isn’t pushed too far from their comfort zone, just a little. Then I back off. When they see that nothing has eaten them, they become more brave and curious about exploring the new thing.

    Today I fiddled with him and the hula hoop for the second time. As usual, he was crusted in mud, but today it was dry. Ah, just ready for some grooming! I held up the hula hoop and let him nibble on it. Whenever he touched it, I rubbed him. Pretty soon he was holding it in his mouth. Every time it fell, I stopped scratching and rubbing him immediately.

    In a few minutes, he figured out that picking it up got him praise, scratches and made me laugh. What a way to get some grooming done! He ended up holding it and shaking his head to make it rattle. After about 5 minutes or so, we took a break. Soon after, he went back to it on his own. It is somewhat flattened from being out there for the last year, so he had some difficulty at first. When he tried picking it up on his own, it would flip up. He got it over his head a couple of times, then figured out how to get it straight in his mouth. Oh, then he went to go wave it at Lily! That really made me laugh! I thought that he might spook her, but she stood her ground. No way that the pipsqueak was going to tell the boss mare where to stand!

    After that, he carried it around a little. A few times, he put his head to the ground and stepped into the hoop, while still holding onto it. Did he let go? Did he freak out? No… He pulled on it and pulled on it. I could practically see the wheels turning as he tried to figure things out. Needless to say, I was also laughing the whole time. It was dusk and not worth running to get the camera. I will try to get it on video next time. He did eventually figure out how to get his feet free, while still holding on with his teeth.

    What a clown!

    Update…. I caught him yesterday at lunch time.

    This is his, Arent I smart? look. :)

    This is his, "Aren't I smart?" look. :)

    Dark

    Dec 132008
     

    It’s not even five in the evening and the sun has already sunk below the horizon. My dog has been wanting dinner for the past hour. I am sure that he sees dinner time more in the sense of light than the clock. Only eight days until the solstice and the beginning of light! I so look forward to that annual shift. The darkness wears on me. I certainly would not survive in a more northerly location.

    And it was snowing this morning! That’s quite unusual for us here at our 350 foot elevation. It has been raining quite a bit lately though. That is to be expected. In fact, we have not had enough. The snow didn’t stick at all, but it was fun driving with the flakes flying at the windshield. I guess I shouldn’t complain, as the mud has been navigable, unlike some other years.

    Boot sucking mud - Last February

    Boot sucking mud - Last February

    We might get there again. For now, this was the scene yesterday.

    Hunkered down

    Hunkered down


    I’ve been taking long lunches, instead of going to the barn after work. This way I get to see them in the light. I don’t ride, but I can check them over better and just hang out a bit after cleaning out their shelter, setting up feed and tidying. They also will get a flake of hay for lunch, when I’m there. I think that they like that!

    Cirro is looking good now. I’ll share a photo. Yes, he is all wet. It’s muddy out and there were rain drops on the lens. NOT the best photo. In the spring, when he sheds out, I’ll get some pretty ones. Until then, this will have to do.

    Cleaning up the alfalfa crumbs

    Cleaning up the alfalfa crumbs

    He has gained some weight and settled into his new (old) home very well. He and Lily were not compatible sharing a paddock and shelter. She would eat all his food (he gets about four times what she does) and she tends to corner him and beat up on him. When they are separated, she is happy to hang out with him and share wither scratches over the divider. I haven’t quite figured her out yet, but for now, my set up is working. Cirro has Lily on one side and a weanling filly on the other. The filly LOVES him and they play over the gate.

    Cirro is wonderful to work with. I play with him once or twice a week for short bits. I moved my small pedestal into his stall. I also moved my mats that were left in the shelter next door into his stall. He is a PIG, so the mats help quite a lot with cleaning. Lily politely goes outside, while Cirro poops and pees right in his hay, after spreading it all over the floor.

    Watch for a post on the hay feeder that I plan to build tomorrow to try and fix the issue….

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