Unearthing a life.....

Granddaughter Jessica is still deeply wed to the business of becoming a horsewoman (rider) and does a lot of 'barnwork' to help pay for her lessons. Sometime back I remarked that "Grandpa ought to be allowed the honor of buying her her first saddle." That remark caught up with me during their visit last weekend. Seems the place where she's taking her lessons only provides Western saddles .... and she prefers the English saddle that she grew accustomed to at the first place she took lessons. With that information in mind, I concluded that it was time for Grandpa to step up to the tackroom and do the right thing.



Strange as it might seem, Jessica had a tack catalog with her. With certain circled items. A certain circled saddle, etc.,.



Even stranger, the saddle seemed to come a la carte. The stirrups came separately. The straps that attach the stirrups to the saddle, keeping them from falling in the dirt, came separately. Then there was the bridle .... but the bit came separately. Only the saddle blanket came as a stand alone item. It was an education. So I sent her home with a check big enough to cover all the required stuff .... and I was pleased that she would now have some personal control over her style of riding and saddlery. A grandpa's reward.





These are some pix of Jess at the weeklong horse camp she attended this summer. This was the final day when parents were present and the young riders performed their (hopefully) new level of riding skills.