Walk in the Woods

20 mins longe work, very steady on the side reins, visibly better in the hindquarters than the other days. After the work-out I dressed him up in a wool cooler and hopped on for a walk in the woods. The wool has good friction, so staying stuck was no problem - I'm not ready for cantering on trails without a saddle quite yet, but I'll get there before the two weeks are up, can't stay away from some speed work for that long :D

When I got back to the stable the saddle fitter was there for some other boarders, and offered to take a look at Barokko right away. The Albion was newly flocked when I bought it, and the flocking has settle crookedly (due to his musculature being uneven right now, he's bigger on the left than the right). The settling has also tilted the balance slightly backward. She recommended air flocking for him to avoid this problem just repeating itself again and again while he's growing and changing, necessitating re-flocking several times a year - either getting the Albion equiped with Flair or exchanging it for a CAIR saddle.

I really like the Albion, but have hated riding in all the Flair saddles I've tried, so not real hot on that idea :/ I love the CAIR system, and love my Wintec Pro jumping saddle, but am not fond of riding dressage in synthetic saddles - then there's Bates, but the Caprilli doesn't work for him, and the Isabell is a bit pricey unless I can find it used.

Well, she's coming back next Wed, she'll bring a Flair equipped Albion I can try to ride in, as well as Wintec and Bates Isabells. I just thought I had solved my saddle finding woes, but alas...