My “Push Present”

If you don’t know what a “push present” is, it is a present a mum might get when she has her baby..  I definitely haven’t had a baby, nor am I going to yet but bear with me on this one.

When I decided dressage was the discipline I wanted to strive towards (two and a bit years ago I would say) the urge for a dressage saddle started.  Maybe I wanted to be “all the gear and no idea” rather than “no gear and no idea”!  Maybe I thought it would help my position.  Either way I ended up with a trailer instead!

Although my hip replacement took away the pain I had had for so many years, my hip abduction and rotation (I think those are the right terms) was worse on the left side.  The early days of riding were really tough because I could barely open my legs wide enough to sit in the saddle.  I compromised on my saddle desires by getting long girth straps on my GP saddle which meant there was less bulk under my leg.  It may have been psychological but I felt like it made a difference  to how wide my legs needed to be!

Things have been improving over time but I know my hips are still wonky in the saddle because of it.  I’ve been using the old abductor weight machines at the gym (you know the ones that face the wall because you’d look inappropriate using them if they didn’t!) and periodically sitting on the sofa with my feet together and my knees as far apart as possible trying to just encouraging the stretch!

Anyway.. the “push present”.  I’ve been pushing myself, pushing my hip and I’ve decided my new hip deserves to be pushed even further by putting it in a dressage saddle with surface blocks!

I saw a Thorowgood T8 immaculate condition dressage saddle being sold on Facebook, I set my heart on it (my current saddle is a Thorowgood and I think they are really good for those of us with changeable fat ponies and very little money) and drove to Wales to get it.

Being second hand and being new to Pea it does need some flocking changes but I have tried it out and I think I love it!

I realise I might get some criticism here – I am well aware that a different saddle isn’t going to fix all my problems etcetera etcetera and that actually I might be signing myself up for some discomfort with my hip being forced to open up more but I think it is all for the greater good.