Aidol's Story....... a Little Bit Country.......

Part 1

So much has happened over the last couple of months I got off of Aidol's Story and onto more current events. With Daffodil and the Morgan show out of the way, I'm supposed to be working on schooling for what's next but the weather is so erratic schooling is erratic as well.

I'm currently in the house watching the sideways rain and waiting for the possible appearance of funnel clouds. Can't believe there have been three of those things spotted on this side of my state in only a couple of weeks. Norm for this climate would be that many in my lifetime. This year's weather is definitely weird. Instead of posting about it I'm heading back to finish up Aidol's story. He contributed so much to our beginnings as horse people here.


Back when the horse had first been started in the long lines, both Linda and I had thought Aidol would be a suitable country english pleasure horse. It was his owner that decided he should be a western horse so that's the direction his training went and that's what he was when we bought him.

Once I got through healing from my injury and was ready to maybe show the horse, Aidol was no longer eligible to be a junior horse. That meant to show western the horse had to go into a curb bit, something I hadn't done before.

Then there was the fact I already had a western horse. I sure couldn't show two horses in that discipline unless I wanted to be showing in the open. I was barely hanging in there in the amateur division, no way I was ready to take on the pros so I figured I'd give Aidol a try at country instead.

The only real problem I had with this plan was the issue of tack. Unfortunately each new discipline has it's own requirements for tack and I'd never even thought about showing saddle seat. I had a couple of western saddles and a hunt saddle but nothing resembling a flat saddle.

My friend, Linda, told me she could loan me one. I meant to make the two hour trip to her place to borrow it but something was always coming up. In the meantime I just schooled Aidol in my hunt saddle thinking it wasn't THAT big a difference. Boy was I dumb in those days.

Aidol really liked the idea of going forward. Being the energetic horse that he is all that forward was right up his alley. By the time I was ready to fall off from exhaustion, Aidol was just getting warmed up. I swear he pouted when our schooling sessions were over.

I don't even remember how much time we spent schooling for country. I do remember I entered the horse in classes at the Daffodil All Arabian Horse Summer Show one year. I think the week before the entries were due I began looking for clothes to wear. I was going though the motions for this country thing but not really taking it all that seriously.

I went to Stirrups and Stuff, a used tack and clothing store, to find myself clothes. I bought a beautiful navy blue saddle seat suit that had sleeves long enough and pants long enough for me. That's about where the "good" in the fit ended. The previous owner had been heavier than me and rather odd shaped with little tiny knees. Most places this suit was way too big but I could barely fit into the knee portion. Still I was determined to make it work.

I ordered a hat from a catalog. It looked good in the catalog. Of course, I'd done the same thing I had with my first western hat, I'd gone for cheap instead of for quality. They all looked the same in the ad but obviously not the same in person. Without much time before the show and not being sure country was going to be my thing, I just went ahead with what I had.

I did some "tailoring" on the saddle seat suit. Just enough really to keep the pants up. I figured it things worked out I'd send the thing off to a real tailor and get it fixed up right.

I forced myself into making the trip over to Linda's to pick up that saddle but only the day before the horse show. For some reason the idea of riding in that flat, flat, flat saddle was really messing with my mind. I put off riding in the thing until the morning before my class.

Obviously waiting to ride in a different type of saddle until right before I was to show in it was NOT the smartest thing to do. I couldn't get over the difference in the feel of that thing. I felt like I was totally out of balance but it wasn't enough to stop me from showing in the thing.

To be continued...............

He Might Be Country



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