Ansur Excel

Ruby blowing and releasing after her first ride in the Ansur...

Well, today I FINALLY got to have a quick ride in the Ansur Excel saddle.  (http://www.ansursaddle.com/excel.html)

I have to say, I was impressed!  By the time I got to ride, it was nearly dark, and blowing a gail.  Ruby hasn't been ridden for months, it seems.  I put the saddle on, only asked for a circle each way online, and hopped on.  Ruby was on her toes, and I didn't want to push things, so opted for familiar territory instead of an argument and went up to the round yard.

She was a little distracted and oversensitive, so I asked her to follow the rail, then I asked her to bend a little, do a partial disengagement along the rail, and bring her hind leg under her.  This is something Ruby has a LOT of trouble with.  She is usually very resistant, stiff, confused, and generally really troubled when I ask her to do this.  I have tried different saddles, all with the same results.  I thought a lot of it was the saddles, but a lot I also put down to her defensive attitude.  So what a surprise I got when she was doing whole laps stepping under with her hind feet!  Both ways! With her ears forward!!!!  Unheard of!

Then we just trotted some nice gentle serpentines, and she was dropping her head, rounding her back, and relaxing.  Since it was getting late anyway, I called it quits with that.

When I hopped off she dropped her head and blew and licked and chewed for quite a while.  It was lovely to hear those long, relaxing, loose, blows.

I found the Ansur very comfortable for me too.  It puts me in a slightly different position than I am used to, and I need to play with it a lot more, but I didn't feel like I was struggling to find my seat.  It is lovely.

So I can't wait to have another ride!!