Nah, he never did. He wasn't really trying:), those ropes hurt. He use to rope us all the time. I'd never let him behind me if he had a rope in his hands when he was home. He was always trying to heel us.
He just left here this morning for him and Mack to go to work. While we were waiting for Mack to get ready to go, Charlie and I were going over all the evidence trying to figure when it broke. He's thinking now that might have been what Belle's problem has been all along, even tho it was a brand new saddle for her.
He was asking me to remember all the incidents and the order they happened in with her. I remember one time when I first got her that she did get a stirrup hung in a fence. She did pull back some, but then stopped. It might have been enough to break it. And she did go down on me one time shortly after I got it in the creek, but I don't think she rolled over that far that time to break it.
I do remember the first time she threw one of her fits, was at the first CTR I took her too. I had been riding her for more then a year when that happened and Charlie always thought it odd that she was so good for so long for me before she started having problems. He thinks something must have happened to start it. It may be that was the first time the thing pinched her.
Then of course I had that paint horse with the head problem I've told you about. We're wondering if this saddle might not have been his problem??
Charlie said it could have started out as a hairline crack and after all these years it's just slowly gotten worse and worse form the movement, and now it's finally got bad enough that I've noticed. At TX when he was working on my saddle he was fussing at me because he said my stirrups were uneven. I told him I'd never noticed. He thinks the bars of the tree have now fully broke away for the swells on one side. You can see that where the seat leather joins the swells it's pulled away some on one side.
This might explain too why Harley got wiggy that one day when I was riding. Right before he got wiggy I had gotten a branch from some brush stuck thru a stirrup and it pulled enough for him to get silly and jump around a bit before it broke off. It was right after that that he started acting up....that branch could have pulled the crack open and then when it worked back together it pinched him....
Anyway sorry for the ramble, we were just talking about all this and I'm just reviewing it all in my head.
Becky
Good morning Becky,
It's not a good thing to happen, but if it explains some of the behaviour problems, and a new saddle will make it right then thats a good thing! : )
Lightning is SORE this morning after being gelded. The vet did a thorough check up on him and told Mark he has one great horse! : )
Wow.... well, Do you think it's probable enough with Belle that it was the saddle, to try again?
If it's been that way that long, then Rusty is one good stoic horse. :~D
Good morning!