Delicate Princess

*sigh*

Princess River really is a princess.  Not a tough, independent princess like Jasmine from Aladdin.  More of a "Princess and the Pea" princess.

Poor, delicate River has very sensitive skin.  His halter was rubbing behind his ears, so now he gets a halter fleece to protect his fragile skin and coat.  Apparently he needs a halter made of silk or cashmere.

River got to wear his brand new pad tonight!

You can see his hind boots--we did opposite legs in pink and purple boots.  With the square pad and half pad, there's a lot of pink, so the purple boots keep him from being too matchy-matchy.  These things are important, you know.

Riding, he was was pretty good.  I only got him to canter once, and it was kinda rough.  I think I'm trying too hard and messing him up, because he picks up the canter just fine on the longe.  But at the same time, when I'm quite obviously, albeit messily, asking for the canter, he should pick it up.  I didn't want to overdo it and get into a situation that could get yucky, so I gave up on the canter and worked on transitions instead.  We did a ton of walk - trot - walk - trot, then trot - halt - trot - halt.  This was to A. get him listening to my aids; and B. using his magnificent butt.

I mean, really, he does have a fantastic butt.  Look at this butt:

 I believe the technical term is "an ass that doesn't quit".   As Sir Mix-A-Lot would say, I like big butts and I cannot lie.

Gosh, I'm just looking at his butt and getting overwhelmed by how lovely it is.  Let's have a moment of silence to honor River's butt.












Okay, now that we have paid proper tribute to River's Magnificent Ass.

Look how sweaty he got!  I'd like to say I worked him hard, but it was also pretty warm out, so I can't take full credit.

I am glad to see how even the sweat marks are.  There's one tiny dry spot, but overall the saddle fits him very well.