Back in the saddle again...

Well kids I am back in the saddle again..... and I am sore. I visited Harley twice this week and he is making great progress. I watched them ride him on Thursday and today I took a spin. He looks like a little wet rat, all that dang winter hair he refuses to shed is curled up making him look like a curly horse. They have been riding him hard everyday and tomorrow will be his first day off. Already he is sitting down and sliding without shoes and much better in his turnarounds. I was disappointed to see that he was galled from the girth on one side. I know with all the hair it is inevitable, I galled him last November trail riding. They are taking good care of him though and had special cream used on human burn victims that they dressed him with. I rode for an hour today and he tried his usual tactics of squirting out from under me to see if he could scare me.
Mike had me work him harder when he tried this and it seemed to help.
I know he is just trying me and I have to ride a little more aggressively than I am used to. I got to try two saddles on him today, a Dick Pieper and a Billy Cook Cutter. My saddle is a crates and I love it but it just does not fit Harley well, it rolls since he has little to no wither. I really liked the Billy Cook and am going to ride it some more next visit. Harley gets beginner slider plates this week, interested to see his stops after that! We have a long way to go but I feel like we are making good progress so far. Tank has adjusted to life alone here and the grass is coming in strong with the warmer weather and rain. Till next time........
Happy trails