I rode today

But not my pony, I rode Heather's pony in her new saddle.

Heather's been looking for a new saddle for quite a while now, and piggy-backing off the saddles that Bobbi was trying out when she was also saddle shopping.  There was one which Heather absolutely loved (ended up being too big for Bobbie).  She found a similar saddle listed on eBay last week for a reasonable price so she bought it.  She has ridden in it once, and liked it, but to be sure plans to have our local saddle fitter have tomorrow to see about Candy.  I've been eye-balling her saddle for a week now so we made plans yesterday to ride this morning.

We adjusted the stirrups, I mounted up and off we went.  The saddle was unfortunately way too big so I couldn't get a good feel for it at all.  I also felt like Candy was having some issue with it, but that could have been any number of things: me being off balance because I was swimming in the saddle, her not being worked for over a week, new rider (and seeing what she could get away with), etc.  I dismounted and Heather mounted up.  She's not too sure about this saddle - unfortunately, it was not love at first ride.  But she might be able to make it work, she'll find out tomorrow evening.

When she was done, I threw my saddle on Candy and rode around a  bit, then Heather tried it out.  It was too small but she still liked it a lot.  If her new saddle doesn't work out, she's going to look into a used Sensation :D

It was good to ride, and I appreciate the opportunity, but it was definitely a change from riding Ruby.  Ruby is so responsive that, even though Candy was a good girl, it felt like I had no power-steering when riding today.  Ruby will be 15 sometime next year so it's been in the back of my mind what kind of horse I'm going to get 5 years down the road or so.  Ruby has set a high bar.  I want an athletic horse with a brain, one that has an opinion but follows my lead (even when she thinks I'm making a mistake - she bugs her eyes when I'm 'wrong'), one that isn't herd-bound and loves going down the trail, one that has bonded with me so thoroughly that she hasn't dumped me on the ground, even when I've deserved it (remember the welt caused by the pinching girth?).    A high bar indeed.