Leather on new bates caprilli cc saddle

[Rodolfo E.]

Hi guys, I'm new to the forum, I'm getting reacquainted to jumping after 16 years and kind of excited about it lately. So much that I bought a new bates caprilli close contact saddle.
English is my second language so please bear with me.

I've had many great western saddles over the years but this is my very first english saddle; 16 years ago I used to borrow trained horses and saddles from friends or barns.

The reason I'm posting this is to ask you guys who have had much more experience on saddles how normal is it for them to get stitching, stirrup leathers and billet markings and scratches after the first half an hour ride?
I know it was not going to look like new forever but after spending the money on all the necessary equipment, from saddle pad to stirrup leathers, to girth, to saddle; I must admit I feel kind of let down by the quality of the leather and I'm beginning to wonder if the saddle is going to last much.
I wish I could send pictures but I don't really know how.

When you look at the leather bates uses in their saddles from pictures It looks good, that is why I ordered it after reading many reviews on them and prioritizing on quality/price value. After receiving the saddle I noticed the leather they use on the flaps has, or at least they look as if they had a plastic like coating but I didn't pay much attention to that since I was dying to use it.
I went through the mandatory bates conditioning with their own balsam, which came with the saddle. left it on all night and I buffed it the next morning.

I rode on it for half an hour at the most, and it got all kind of markings. the worst ones are under the skirt, the flap that covers the stirrup bars, it got marked by the saddle's own stichings to the point that it peeled off or chipped off the saddle flap's coating forming the pattern of the skirt's stitching on it.
I bought this saddle from Dover Saddlery a big tack store in the US and they are supposed to have excellent return policies, I wouldn't know because it's the first time I buy from them.

The question is, is this normal? Or should I dover a call and return it?
Thank you very much for your patience and advise guys.

 

[Tern]

First of all, welcome!

This is a known thing with bates saddles.. especially the stirrup leather marks. I know people say that after that nothing else happens, you just have the ghastly marks left there.. If you're generally happy with the saddle and don't mind the marks too much then i'd keep it otherwise return it and buy something like a Devoucoux or similar. (You can get Devas in US I believe)

 

[Rodolfo E.]

Well Tern, thank you very much for the welcoming, the soon reply and the advise.

I guess the markings and scratches are not as bad as to return the saddle just yet, especially after seeing what Devoucoux saddles and the like cost D Lol). My worriment isn't the markings per sē, because as I mentioned before, I knew it wasn't going to look like new forever; but rather that if this happened after the first 30 to 40 minute ride what may I expect the saddle to look like next month.

Well, If good quality English saddles are all in the same price range as the Devoucoux, Stubben, Antares, etc. then I guess I got what I paid for, didn't I .

I think I will continue asking around and I will call Dover and tell them what is going on for the record and give the saddle a month or so. If deterioration stabilizes to a normal rate I will keep it. I do not live in the US, I live in Mexico and getting the saddle was an ordeal in the first place. I do not want to get engaged in a buy, test, return saddle search.

I didn't realize this was an English website till an hour ago, it sure brings good old memories to me, as I lived in Ireland in my youth, in fact that is where I got hooked on this sport.

Thanks again Tern,

P.S. Contrary to popular advice, Bates does not advice to oil the leather, they advise to clean with glycerin soap and condition only using balsams with high content of beeswax, and they obviously suggest their own balsam. What is your opinion on that? Would oil truly be detrimental to my saddle's leather?

 

[cremedemonthe]

Well Tern, thank you very much for the welcoming, the soon reply and the advise.

I guess the markings and scratches are not as bad as to return the saddle just yet, especially after seeing what Devoucoux saddles and the like cost D Lol). My worriment isn't the markings per sē, because as I mentioned before, I knew it wasn't going to look like new forever; but rather that if this happened after the first 30 to 40 minute ride what may I expect the saddle to look like next month.

Well, If good quality English saddles are all in the same price range as the Devoucoux, Stubben, Antares, etc. then I guess I got what I paid for, didn't I .

I think I will continue asking around and I will call Dover and tell them what is going on for the record and give the saddle a month or so. If deterioration stabilizes to a normal rate I will keep it. I do not live in the US, I live in Mexico and getting the saddle was an ordeal in the first place. I do not want to get engaged in a buy, test, return saddle search.

I didn't realize this was an English website till an hour ago, it sure brings good old memories to me, as I lived in Ireland in my youth, in fact that is where I got hooked on this sport.

Thanks again Tern,

P.S. Contrary to popular advice, Bates does not advice to oil the leather, they advise to clean with glycerin soap and condition only using balsams with high content of beeswax, and they obviously suggest their own balsam. What is your opinion on that? Would oil truly be detrimental to my saddle's leather?

NO oil isn't good, will send you some info in a PM

You need to allow private messages via your settings as no one can send you anything otherwise

 

[Rodolfo E.]

Thanks Cremedemonthe!

 

[cremedemonthe]

I can't PM you so have a good read through this thread instead, hope it helps
http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?685155-Leather-Conditioner-Recipe

 

[Rodolfo E.]

I can't PM you so have a good read through this thread instead, hope it helps
http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?685155-Leather-Conditioner-Recipe

Thanks, I'm new to the forum and still working out the configuration settings.
I'll read the thread!

 

[ester]

you have to post a certain number of times for PMs to be enabled now

 

[Rodolfo E.]

you have to post a certain number of times for PMs to be enabled now

Lol, buckle up then!

 

[sbloom]

I have had a customer return a Bates Wide she had bought before she realised it also didn't fit, the flaps had peeled with minimal wear. And no, you don't have to spend £2000 and the rest to get good leather, though good leather is harder to find - BSE meant that all animals entering the food chain were younger, EU tanning regulations have changed and now Walsall and the leather supply industry have contracted and everyone's fighting over the good stuff. Leather prices have shot up. Bates saddles aren't English leather, I believe they're European, not sure where they're made.

 

[Toby_Zaphod]

Bates saddles have always marked easily, specially around where the stirrup leather rest. Less marking & damage is caused if you actually use their leatghers rather than other makes. Other maikes are too hard & really scrape the saddle. Regarding other marks, I've always found that most marks come off with cleaning & the saddle builds up a nice lustre. My experience is with their saddles form possibly 10 years ago, things may well have changed though since then.......Oh, definately don't oil them!!

 

[Rodolfo E.]

I have had a customer return a Bates Wide she had bought before she realised it also didn't fit, the flaps had peeled with minimal wear. And no, you don't have to spend £2000 and the rest to get good leather, though good leather is harder to find - BSE meant that all animals entering the food chain were younger, EU tanning regulations have changed and now Walsall and the leather supply industry have contracted and everyone's fighting over the good stuff. Leather prices have shot up. Bates saddles aren't English leather, I believe they're European, not sure where they're made.

Thanks Sbloom!
Leather on the bates certainly looks different to anything I've seen before, then again my experience is limited mostly to western style saddles and old English saddles (old as in very used).
I'm a little scared about the peeling part. Could it be possible that the coat the flaps with something?
If the deterioration continues at this speed I will definitely return the saddle; do you have any suggestions on a better and price friendly saddle?
What did your customer get in the end?

 

[Rodolfo E.]

Bates saddles have always marked easily, specially around where the stirrup leather rest. Less marking & damage is caused if you actually use their leatghers rather than other makes. Other maikes are too hard & really scrape the saddle. Regarding other marks, I've always found that most marks come off with cleaning & the saddle builds up a nice lustre. My experience is with their saddles form possibly 10 years ago, things may well have changed though since then.......Oh, definately don't oil them!!

Hi Toby_Zaphod! Thanks for the suggestion.
I do have the Bates stirrup Leathers, as I mentiones before, I'm coming back to the sport after a 16 year absence so I don't really favor any one brand in particular so when I bought the saddle I chose the same brand for the leathers right there at the tack shop.
I had to buy, the saddle, the leathers, the stirrups, the girth, the bit, the bridles and two saddle pads. (I almost fainted when they told the the total).
I chose the bates based on two things:
1) easy change fit solution, which I thought it was a good idea since I'am not about to buy a different saddle for every horse I get to ride And there aren't any English saddle fitters in Mexico that I know of, let alone a saddle fitter that knows what he is doing.
but now have read many mixed opinions on the system's true capability to adapt to different horses.
2) it's supposed to be crafted with "top quality European leather" (<--- according to their website) and at a reasonable price for my budget.

Actually the leathers markings aren't bad at all, as you mention, with a good cleaning the flaps should look new again. What truly worries me as I told Tren and Sbloom, are the skirt's stitching markings because the peeled off/chipped off the flaps grain (if that is what it is) or coating.

 

[Rodolfo E.]

I can't PM you so have a good read through this thread instead, hope it helps
http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?685155-Leather-Conditioner-Recipe

Cremedemonthe THANK YOU very much for the tip, I will deffenetly buy the ingridients and follow your advice.

You mention to apply more conditioner on the flesh side, unfortunately my saddle flaps don't have a flesh side, just two grain sides. I think they glued two hide pieces together. I wish I had known this two days a go since I already ordered 54 US dollars worth of Bates Leather Balsam.
One other thing, should I decide to keep the saddle, I already applied a generous layer of the Bates product on it and left it overnight as it was suggested on the saddle's instructions. Will that product seal my saddle to the point where it won't take any other conditioners? And if it will, what can I do?

 

[xgemmax]

Not sure if you have the bates stirrup leathers but if not then these are designed to not mark the saddle, rather than using normal ones

 

[Rodolfo E.]

First attempt to upload picture:

 

[cremedemonthe]

Cremedemonthe THANK YOU very much for the tip, I will deffenetly buy the ingridients and follow your advice.

You mention to apply more conditioner on the flesh side, unfortunately my saddle flaps don't have a flesh side, just two grain sides. I think they glued two hide pieces together. I wish I had known this two days a go since I already ordered 54 US dollars worth of Bates Leather Balsam.
One other thing, should I decide to keep the saddle, I already applied a generous layer of the Bates product on it and left it overnight as it was suggested on the saddle's instructions. Will that product seal my saddle to the point where it won't take any other conditioners? And if it will, what can I do?

I don't know what's in the Bate's balsam so can't comment on their product, most conditioners will seal to a certain extent but the secret is, to load the cells/fibres with good fat content so keep the leather nourished and in tip top condition.
It will slowly release the moisture/conditioner back out and then you re apply,same as dry hands,keeps doing it
The conditioner in my thread will go in to the grain side but it might take longer or another coat.
They do tend to spray/coat the leather with a finish now in some tanneries,helps to hide flaws, makes it more hard wearing (!) and empathises the colour of the leather but the fact that they recommend a balsam, even if it is one of their own, suggests that the leather will accept a conditioner of some sorts and maybe the leather isn't sealed too much so try a test area first if I were you to make sure it's absorbed in properly.

 

[cremedemonthe]

I have had a customer return a Bates Wide she had bought before she realised it also didn't fit, the flaps had peeled with minimal wear. And no, you don't have to spend £2000 and the rest to get good leather, though good leather is harder to find - BSE meant that all animals entering the food chain were younger, EU tanning regulations have changed and now Walsall and the leather supply industry have contracted and everyone's fighting over the good stuff. Leather prices have shot up. Bates saddles aren't English leather, I believe they're European, not sure where they're made.

Beautifully and thoroughly explained, as always with your posts

 

[cremedemonthe]

you have to post a certain number of times for PMs to be enabled now

Thanks Ester, I didn't realise that, no wonder I can't PM newbies!

 

[Rodolfo E.]

Ok guys! I guess I got my answer. I thank you all very much for the tips and advice.
There's much to learn for me and it's going to be a long journey, but at least it's going to be one that I will enjoy going through.
Cremedemonthe, as soon as I get the ingridients I'll let you know how it all went. Thank you very much everyone!

Ohh! One more question. Today when riding (more like bouncing around really) I asked a friend if I was keeping a vertical line from head to hips to heels and she told me my heels where forward.
Do you guys have any suggestions of how to fix this? What am I probably doing wrong? Might it be something else? Is it my saddle, is it the length of the stirrup leathers? I'm already using them in hole #1 so I can't make them longer. I do not know what it is. Any help and advice would surely be appreciated.
Thank!

 

[Firefly9410]

If your stirrups are too long so you are reaching for them that can make you push your lower leg forward. See what happens if you shorten your stirrups so the bottom of them is level with your ankle bone. Riding without stirrups is good for your position to encourage your legs to lengthen meaning you can then ride with longer stirrups for dressage. Riding without stirrups has to be practiced regularly though if you stop doing it your legs shrink again! It is good for your general balance too, if that is not good enough then without stirrups you will fall off or start to grip upwards with your legs to stay on which is a bad fault.

You said you bounce. This sounds like a lack of flexibility in your lower back, if you absorb the horses movement here the rest of you stays still. It is a mistake to try to achieve this by slouching in the saddle instead you should sit upright with a flexible lower back, it means you need strong stomach muscles. If you are bracing against the stirrups due to insufficient balance your lower leg will be pushed forward and you might be gripping with your knee too which will make you bounce more. The weight has to go into your heel, but the weight comes down your thigh past your knee and into your lower leg then naturally into your heel with no force to push it there. Try standing in your stirrups with a hand on the neck for balance, let the weight drop into your heels, then sit down in the saddle whilst keeping your leg position.

The other possible problem is you have a close contact saddle which I think means a jumping saddle? If that is right the stirrup bars on the saddle will be more forward meaning your stirrup hangs more forward because for jumping you need to be able to take a position over the fence where your bottom slides back but your lower legs stay forwards and your shoulders move forwards to match so you can reach your hands forward and the horse can stretch over the fence and you stay in balance. Like a V shape on its side with your shoulders, knees and bottom making the points of the V. It is different to a hacking or flatwork or dressage position so it is not as easy to adopt a normal position in a jumping saddle because you will fight the pull of the stirrups. You can let your stirrups down longer from jumping length and sit up straighter but the saddle will try to cause your lower leg to be forward of the ear/shoulder/hip/heel line if it is a jumping saddle.

Hope this is of some help to you. Sorry if this is telling you stuff you already know but it sounded like you do not have much professional help in Mexico for horse related things.

 

[Rodolfo E.]

If your stirrups are too long so you are reaching for them that can make you push your lower leg forward. See what happens if you shorten your stirrups so the bottom of them is level with your ankle bone. Riding without stirrups is good for your position to encourage your legs to lengthen meaning you can then ride with longer stirrups for dressage. Riding without stirrups has to be practiced regularly though if you stop doing it your legs shrink again! It is good for your general balance too, if that is not good enough then without stirrups you will fall off or start to grip upwards with your legs to stay on which is a bad fault.

You said you bounce. This sounds like a lack of flexibility in your lower back, if you absorb the horses movement here the rest of you stays still. It is a mistake to try to achieve this by slouching in the saddle instead you should sit upright with a flexible lower back, it means you need strong stomach muscles. If you are bracing against the stirrups due to insufficient balance your lower leg will be pushed forward and you might be gripping with your knee too which will make you bounce more. The weight has to go into your heel, but the weight comes down your thigh past your knee and into your lower leg then naturally into your heel with no force to push it there. Try standing in your stirrups with a hand on the neck for balance, let the weight drop into your heels, then sit down in the saddle whilst keeping your leg position.

The other possible problem is you have a close contact saddle which I think means a jumping saddle? If that is right the stirrup bars on the saddle will be more forward meaning your stirrup hangs more forward because for jumping you need to be able to take a position over the fence where your bottom slides back but your lower legs stay forwards and your shoulders move forwards to match so you can reach your hands forward and the horse can stretch over the fence and you stay in balance. Like a V shape on its side with your shoulders, knees and bottom making the points of the V. It is different to a hacking or flatwork or dressage position so it is not as easy to adopt a normal position in a jumping saddle because you will fight the pull of the stirrups. You can let your stirrups down longer from jumping length and sit up straighter but the saddle will try to cause your lower leg to be forward of the ear/shoulder/hip/heel line if it is a jumping saddle.

Hope this is of some help to you. Sorry if this is telling you stuff you already know but it sounded like you do not have much professional help in Mexico for horse related things.

It was of GREAT help FireFly! In fact, I took so long to answer because I wanted to understand every part of the advice given and I went to the arena to try and put it into practice.
And mine is a jumping saddle indeed. This is it:

http://www.daviddyersaddles.co.uk/product-1727.htm

We do have pretty good professionals and trainers in Mexico for horse related things, just very few of them teach/coach in any of the English schools or any other European School for that matter. And those who do; are expensive and live far from where I live.

I thing my fitness level is one of the main problems, in fact it sucks. Besides the fact that I'm just beginning again after so many years I'm about 16 to 20 kilos overweight right now (about 35 to 45 pounds I think) but I'm already working on that too. Even if my saddle is encouraging my legs to be forward you are right in everything you said.
I used to ride bare back quite often, unfortunately, by doing it wrong, I developed the habit of gripping with my thighs and my knees. Let's not even talk about the bracing the stirrups part, I've done that all my life. I guess I didn't really know much after all and I will have to practice a lot of footwork before attempting to jump again, which will do wonders for my mare as she is just beginning her training as well and wasn't going to be jumping anything soon anyways.

I'm beginning training and my mare isn't the helping kind either. She is a stubborn off the track 16.2 hand quarter horse that until a month ago the only thing she was trained for was to sprint as if she was trying to catch lightning. And although, while grooming, we tend to get a long well; in the arena we have a rather complicated relationship nowadays Lol. She is not the bucking kind, but she still lowers her head trying to pull the bridle, fights the bit a little and in short, is a very dominant mare amongst other things.

Would you advice to practice bare back to gain stability and strengthen the main muscles used in riding or is it better to use the saddle without stirrups as you mentioned for this purpose? Where would you suggest we start our training? I'm 6 feet tall and as I mentioned, with 16 extra kilos; my saddle is 18 inches, do you think that loosing the extra weight will have an effect on my saddle size? I'm asking because loosing that weight is priority for me right now and it will happen so it would be good to know if it will have an impact on my saddle size.

Thank you very much for your advice, you have helped me a lot already.

 

[Rodolfo E.]

By the way, after three rides on my saddle, markings and peelings under the saddle's skirt did get worse. All the skirts stichings are puncturing the flaps. In fact it's like a print of the stiching pattern.

 

[Rodolfo E.]

By the way, after three rides on my saddle, markings and peelings under the saddle's skirt did get worse. All the skirts stichings are puncturing the flaps. In fact it's like a print of the stiching pattern.

It's sort of disappointing really but at least it's not visible. You'd have to lift the skirt to see it. In the end I think I'll keep it because I bought it in the US so I would have to drive 7 hours and go through all the hassle involved to return it (hotel, two days off from work, SeaWorld screaming nephews in the car, souvenirs, etc.). In the end, I think it's cheape to leave things as they are Lol. I just hope it doesn't peel further down the flaps.

 

[Tnavas]

This is very unusual for a Bates saddle - they are usually of the highest quality - especially the Caprilli - its a high end range. Mine is at least 20 years old and still going strong. I had many for my riding school horses as they place the rider so nicely.

Contact Bates in Australia - and explain what has happened, include pictures etc. I am sure they will advise what needs to be done.

 

[Tnavas]

I have had a customer return a Bates Wide she had bought before she realised it also didn't fit, the flaps had peeled with minimal wear. And no, you don't have to spend £2000 and the rest to get good leather, though good leather is harder to find - BSE meant that all animals entering the food chain were younger, EU tanning regulations have changed and now Walsall and the leather supply industry have contracted and everyone's fighting over the good stuff. Leather prices have shot up. Bates saddles aren't English leather, I believe they're European, not sure where they're made.

They are made in Australia - and they are usually of very high quality. Awesome saddles - I have had many of them, for my own horses and also for the riding school. My current saddle is at least 20 years old.

 

[Firefly9410]

Bareback riding would be fine, except from your description of your fitness levels and your horses training level I think it would be highly likely you would fall off. If you use the saddle but cross the stirrups over the horses withers in front of the saddle and ride without them you have more security and the pommel to grab in an emergency. Gripping with your knees and thighs in an emergency to stay on is ok but you need to correct it as soon as possible each time so you learn to stay on by balance, which will improve as your fitness improves. The main thing to remember is not to grip with your lower legs because the horse can mistake it for forwards aids and that is the last thing you need if you are having a wobbly moment. You want your legs kept flexible but kept still, against the horses sides but resting there ready to use not gripping. Except your knee. In a normal or dressage position such as will be developed without stirrups, combined with riding in a jumping saddle, your knee will be floating in space instead of resting against the knee rolls.

I cannot say if weight is likely to make you need a different size saddle, I have always been a stable weight. It would make sense that the bigger the riders bottom the bigger the saddle you sit in needs to be! But losing 20kg I do not think you will need a smaller size, though if a shorter length saddle would suit your horse better the weight loss could help you fit in a smaller saddle. I read it on here recently that the main point for the saddle fitting the rider is the length from hip to knee and that will not change with you losing weight.

Your horse needs to learn the basics, stop and start, turn left and turn right. She might get confused if she has raced. I know almost nothing about ex racers but I am not sure they know even the basics. She might get confused by thinking riders legs means Go Faster and not understanding that legs are used in turning and that when they are resting against her sides is just where they are supposed to be. That will lead to you pushing your heel down and your leg forward to keep them off her sides and avoid an explosion! To start with keep everything simple for her to try to avoid confusion. Do not get bogged down in technicalities at this point, you can refine things later. Use your voice teaching her words for each movement to help her understand when you start to refine things. You can train anywhere. Somewhere enclosed is best if there is high risk of falling off so your horse does not escape. But even out on tracks ask for each bend properly instead of allowing the horse to wander around any old how. This will help with suppleness even if you have nowhere to ride circles. You could pick a tree and decide to halt when you are level with it to test obedience. It is all practice to improve. There is no need for fancy facilities.

The leaning on the bit could be tiredness, a need to stretch, sharp teeth, the wrong size bit for her mouth, a dislike of that particular bit either shape or type of metal, uneven hands from the rider or a rider who hangs on the horses head whilst riding. You aim for an even, flexible contact moving with the nod of the horses head in walk, canter and gallop, staying still in trot which means opening and closing your elbows as you rise and sit so your hands stay in the same place. Horses need to stretch on a long rein at times particularly at the beginning and end of a riding session. Which bit they prefer depends on the shape of their mouth and the interaction between horse and rider.

If you stay on the forum and read other peoples threads there is lots of information here about everything

 

[Rodolfo E.]

This is very unusual for a Bates saddle - they are usually of the highest quality - especially the Caprilli - its a high end range. Mine is at least 20 years old and still going strong. I had many for my riding school horses as they place the rider so nicely.

Contact Bates in Australia - and explain what has happened, include pictures etc. I am sure they will advise what needs to be done.

Thank you Tnavas! Perhaps mine is an exception. After all it is a production line saddle and not every single one is going to be perfect. In fact I started the thread by asking whether it was normal or not because I sincerely don't know. But you are right, I should contact Bates in Australia and see what comes of that, in fact, that's where I should have started to begin with.
Thank you very much Tnavas!

 

[Rodolfo E.]

Bareback riding would be fine, except from your description of your fitness levels and your horses training level I think it would be highly likely you would fall off. If you use the saddle but cross the stirrups over the horses withers in front of the saddle and ride without them you have more security and the pommel to grab in an emergency. Gripping with your knees and thighs in an emergency to stay on is ok but you need to correct it as soon as possible each time so you learn to stay on by balance, which will improve as your fitness improves. The main thing to remember is not to grip with your lower legs because the horse can mistake it for forwards aids and that is the last thing you need if you are having a wobbly moment. You want your legs kept flexible but kept still, against the horses sides but resting there ready to use not gripping. Except your knee. In a normal or dressage position such as will be developed without stirrups, combined with riding in a jumping saddle, your knee will be floating in space instead of resting against the knee rolls.

I cannot say if weight is likely to make you need a different size saddle, I have always been a stable weight. It would make sense that the bigger the riders bottom the bigger the saddle you sit in needs to be! But losing 20kg I do not think you will need a smaller size, though if a shorter length saddle would suit your horse better the weight loss could help you fit in a smaller saddle. I read it on here recently that the main point for the saddle fitting the rider is the length from hip to knee and that will not change with you losing weight.

Your horse needs to learn the basics, stop and start, turn left and turn right. She might get confused if she has raced. I know almost nothing about ex racers but I am not sure they know even the basics. She might get confused by thinking riders legs means Go Faster and not understanding that legs are used in turning and that when they are resting against her sides is just where they are supposed to be. That will lead to you pushing your heel down and your leg forward to keep them off her sides and avoid an explosion! To start with keep everything simple for her to try to avoid confusion. Do not get bogged down in technicalities at this point, you can refine things later. Use your voice teaching her words for each movement to help her understand when you start to refine things. You can train anywhere. Somewhere enclosed is best if there is high risk of falling off so your horse does not escape. But even out on tracks ask for each bend properly instead of allowing the horse to wander around any old how. This will help with suppleness even if you have nowhere to ride circles. You could pick a tree and decide to halt when you are level with it to test obedience. It is all practice to improve. There is no need for fancy facilities.

The leaning on the bit could be tiredness, a need to stretch, sharp teeth, the wrong size bit for her mouth, a dislike of that particular bit either shape or type of metal, uneven hands from the rider or a rider who hangs on the horses head whilst riding. You aim for an even, flexible contact moving with the nod of the horses head in walk, canter and gallop, staying still in trot which means opening and closing your elbows as you rise and sit so your hands stay in the same place. Horses need to stretch on a long rein at times particularly at the beginning and end of a riding session. Which bit they prefer depends on the shape of their mouth and the interaction between horse and rider.

If you stay on the forum and read other peoples threads there is lots of information here about everything

Thank you very much FireFly. I got rid of my stirrups yesterday as suggested and you are right.
At the beginning I found my self gripping to stay balanced but then I took a deep breath, began breathing slowly and really concentrating in flowing with the move, so to speak. I asked my mare for a slower trot, which to my surprise she delivered without objection, and I can see how this will definitely have a positive impact in my riding skill especially because I'm just beginning after such a long time and at the beginning of almost anything, gains are always big. In fact, no more stirrups for me for now, at least until my mare masters the walk, trot canter transitions and until she changes leads properly, with which she is have some trouble too, Lol. I think that will give me time to see dramatic improvement on my balance.

On the bit part I guess I might be to stiff with her, keeping too much contact, not to the point of telling her to stop, but still a little unforgiving of her natural movements. I'll be more relaxed.

Thank you very much for your advice! I sure will be staying around here. I Began the thread asking about my saddle and I got carried away asking questions on different topic because I'm happy to be riding again and I just have so many things to ask. I'm sure most of my questions have already been asked and answered on other threads so I will be reading them and working from there.

I thank you all so much for the time and advice. RE.

 

[Rodolfo E.]

To start with keep everything simple for her to try to avoid confusion. Do not get bogged down in technicalities at this point, you can refine things later.

This.
Thumbs up!