Dude gets a bareback pad

A couple of weeks ago I decided it was time to put Dude back into action. I'd seen him trotting around his paddock, or trotting in the indoor when I turned him out in there to stretch on days they didn't go out, and he looked perfectly fine.

I had brought his saddle home last fall, and it had basically been sitting in the basement for 6 months, so needed to be cleaned. What I realized while cleaning it was that there was no way I could just plop it on his back. He's lost so much muscle from being out of work that the saddle would not be comfortable. Plus, it's pretty heavy at 40+ pounds.

I went out and bought a bareback pad, figuring I could at least get on him in the indoor and just do some walking. A bit of a snag - the girth that came with it didn't even begin to reach around his belly. Luckily former barn manager Emma happened to be at the barn that day and suggested long lining him. She gave me a quick lesson using her horse Berry.

I did a short session with Dude just to make sure he'd be fine with me walking behind him. He was ... almost TOO fine, was the problem. He'd stroll a bit, then stop and look at me, then I'd cluck and jiggle the reins, and he'd stroll a bit more. I couldn't get him going for anything. I haven't gotten back to it yet, but for session #2 I think I'm going to need to have a driving whip to give him a bit of encouragement.

Today the horses stayed in because the fields are super wet. The field next to the indoor dries out quickly, so when I got to the barn, I turned Bestie out there, then went back in to get Dude to hand graze him.

After that, I put the bareback pad on him and we went out to the indoor arena. No one else was there so it was perfect for a little experiment ... how Dude would be after not having anything on his back since last July. I was pretty confident he'd be fine, and he was. We only went around the perimeter twice, but he was perfectly well behaved, although a little distracted by a horse getting lunged in the adjacent round pen, and Bestie grazing outside.

I think the optimum activity is the long lining, since that will build up the muscle without any weight on his back. The challenge is to find time when we have the indoor to ourselves and won't get in anyone's way.

Dude's new bareback pad, paired with his saddle's girth, which is just long enough to cinch well around his belly. I'm using our old English bridle so I don't have to keep adjusting the sizing on the Western bridle I'm using when I ride Bestie.