Saddle testing and broken reins

As part of the great tack clean-up of '08, I have traded in my old English saddle and I have 2 used saddles on trial.

I actually wrote out a bulleted list of all my tack, but it was just too long to post. On the weekend, I sorted and cleaned all of my tack. I sat outside the barn in the sun and laid everything out on the grass. (Guess I should've taken a picture of that!) I have a small pile of stuff that I'm going to try and sell locally.Then, it was off to the riding ring to test saddles. I brought everything outside and put both saddles on the fence, to save me going back into the barn later to switch saddles. Here is Rusty in his first saddle - this saddle is so comfortable and balanced - I'm totally in love with it.

After I rode around for 20 minutes or so, I decided it was time to switch saddles. It was really hot out, so I didn't want to be out for much more than an hour.

Rusty is very quiet and calm, so I didn't bother taking his bridle off or anything - he just stood there patiently...until he noticed the little bit of green grass peeking under the fence. I let him graze because it wasn't a big deal. As I took the first saddle off and stepped to the fence, I thought that I should watch my reins - wouldn't want them stepped on and broken...

As I turned back from putting the saddle on the fence - 2 seconds later!!! - the reins were looped behind his ears and dragging on the ground - just as I was about to reach and drab them, he stepped on the rein, scared himself and BAM - broken reins. D'oh! The reins were old and needed to be replaced anyway, so it wasn't a big deal. With all of the tack that I cleaned and sorted, did you think I would have extra reins there???? Nooo, of course not they were all at home. I could've used a set of yours, Cdn! lol.

So, my second saddle test was put off. I decided to turn Rusty loose in the riding ring to get him used to have a lead line drag behind him - he is scared of that for some reason. I led him down to a big patch of clover and walked away. Can you see him standing way down there? He stood perfectly still for about 10 minutes while I put away my tack.

After a few minutes he started grazing - you can see a bit of the evil lead line in the grass.


He lifted his head as I got closer - probably wondering what the black thing on my face was! (the camera...) He posed for a couple of good pictures, but I deleted about 20 that had his ears going in all directions and him moving around because of the flies.
I can see his little brain working here - "um, do you have treats?" or maybe "she's coming to rescue me from this evil lead line"

This shot cracked me up - he was slowly getting annoyed with the bugs and the fact that I just kept walking around him taking pictures. Too funny.

"Are you done YET?"

That was my weekend - nothing too exciting. I've been sick since Sunday evening, so I haven't been back to test my second saddle. Hoping to do that tonight...

ETA: Does anyone know the settings in Blogger that allows larger views of your pictures when you click on them?? I work with web sites and HTML all day and I can't get it to work!! argh.