Rodeo Family

Saddle Testing

When Adam and I got in, I turned on the seat warmer.

"First, we are going to drop something off at the horse," Adam said.

"Why?"

"I stopped at Dover. And holy crap it's expensive."

"Welcome to the world of English!"

He turns on Green Day as he drove to where Zeus is. I wasn't going to ask to change the music because I liked the song. So I didn't have much to complain about.

He told me to go catch Zeus while he went to do something. I was really curious  as to what the hell he was doing. I grabbed the black halter and called Zeus. I could hear him but couldn't see him. Suddenly he gallops out from behind the bushes almost hitting me when he gets closer to me.

As I put his halter on, he starts to scratch his head against me almost pushing me over. I stumble back and try to regain my balance. I'm surprised that I didn't completely fall back like I normally do. It's not really good to have a girl that is super clumsy around the animal that can kill someone in about 2 seconds. 

I start walking towards the tack room with Zeus following behind. I can see Adam putting something behind the gate to the field. 

"Okay, if this doesn't fit, I'm going to be pissed!" 

"What did you get?" I ask.

"Come here and you'll see."

I walk up to the gate and begin to tie up Zeus. Adam bends down to get what he bought.

"Merry Thanksgiving!"

"It's not even Thanksgiving. And it's nowhere near Christmas."

He reveals a pessoa English saddle.  The leather is a dark chocolate. It is gleaming from the light of sundown. The leather looks like it is sparkling and is giving off almost a glow.

"Oh my God. Adam, It's gorgeous. How did you get this?" I walk towards the saddle as Adam sets it down.

"I spent a solid 2 hours trying to measure Zeus. He doesn't really like standing still. But I had to get him used to me touching him. But, I got it custom made. The money came from me working at the camp for the 'troubled' kids over the summer. Anyways, see if it fits!"

I take the saddle off of the gate and place it on Zeus. The leather was softer than a seal jumping out of the water. Everything fit perfectly. Everything lined up. 

"Oh, and I got this out of storage." Adam pulled out my aqua saddle pad, girth, and stirrup leathers with the irons.  

I jump the fence as quickly and swiftly as I can without falling to jump into Adams arms. I squeeze him as hard as I can. He gives one tight squeeze for a second. If he does it any tighter or longer I will end up suffocating because of how strong he is.

I jump back over the gate and start to tack Zeus up. The saddle pad has dirt and sweat stains from all the other horses I've used it on. I look at the monogram on the pad. It's the date Adam and I met. I remember I was worried about a horse show that was super important to me. I always have certain things when I work with the horses that symbolize Adam. He took notice and just took a piece of masking tape and put the date on it. He stuck it on the inside of the saddle pad. That was the best I have ever done in any show. I got first in every class and won High Point.

I get out the girth and start to buckle it. Zeus perks his ears at the sound of the metal jingling. He knows what's about to come. I have a feeling he wants to run. He must have done this before. It's the same feeling when someone opens a bottle of soda when the carbonation releases. 

I slide the stirrups onto the leathers and attach them to the saddle. I give a few tugs to make sure they won't come off once I get on and start riding. I already know where to put the buckle so I have the correct length. I like to have the leathers short so I can feel my heel flex. 

"One last thing. If you ride without this, I will be incredibly upset." Adam pulls out a new Charles Owen Helmet. "I saw you kept eyeballing this. You circled it in the catalog and it's on your Dover wishlist."

I grab the helmet and put it on. It fits perfectly. It's also incredibly comfortable. "It looks good on you Rain." I smile and stick out my tongue in response. I run into the tack room and find a new bridle. It's the same color as the saddle. I stick my head out of the tack room am look at Adam. I give him the look of "You can't be serious this is amazing."

I take the bridle out and notice the new bit on it as well. I put it on Zeus and he is hesitant to accept it. I stick my thumb into the side of his mouth and he finally grabbed the bit. I adjusted the bridle to fit it perfectly.  

I lead Zeus away from the fence so I can mount up. Zeus perks his ears once I put my foot in the stirrup. I get all the way on and Zeus walks before I have time to put my other foot in the other stirrup. I tug on the reins so he learns to not develop a bad habit. I don't let him move forwards until he shows me he is listening. 

I warm Zeus up in the field. I make him listen to my leg ad collect for at least 5 seconds. I know how it feels to be fat and out of shape and then have people force you to work as hard as you can. It hurts. And to have him engage parts of him he doesn't know how to properly use, is going to make him hurt even more. 

After he is warmed up at the trot I decide to let him canter. He gets exited and decides to toss his head. I pull him back down to a trot and make him relax. Then I stretch him up to a halt. He lowers his head and licks his lips. I have him trot a large circle and I asked for a canter, he picked up the wrong lead the first time. I instantly asked him to go back down to a trot and squeezed more with my inside leg. He picked up the correct lead.

All of the sudden I felt like I was flying. Sitting in an English saddle again made me feel comfortable. All of the sudden I knew what I was doing. All of the sudden, I felt like me and Zeus were one. I forgot that Adam was standing by the gate. 

"Adam, I think the saddle fits us really well!"

"You don't say. You totally zoned out." Adam laughs after his response to me. I decide to cool Zeus out. He didn't even sweat up and I know he wants more. But I want to end it on a good note. Usually when I decide to push horses the extra meter, I tend to end up in the dirt every time. 

"Alright Rain. It's time for the other surprise I have for you."

"Adam? There is more? You are crazy! Why is today so special?"

I stop Zeus in front of Adam. He swoops me off of the horse and kisses me on my forehead. 

I take off all of the tack and brush Zeus off. Adam throws him a few flakes of hay while I got his grain ready. I shake the grain to get his attention. He runs to me and follows me until I put the grain down. 

Zeus starts to eat and I decide he is good for the night. It is fairly late. It's nice that the sun doesn't go down until around 21:00. I give Adam a look to let him know I'm done with the horse for the night. 

Adam runs over to me and scoops me up to carry me to the truck. We get in the truck and he hands me his phone. "You get to pick the music. We will be driving for about 40 minutes."

"Okay. Where are we going?"

"That's for me to know and for you to find out."