I came across a blog today by accident. It caught my eye with the heading..."A Fat Girl & A Fat Horse". What an eye opener. This young woman struck me right down to the bone. You can, be happy in your own skin! Struggling with my own weight for the biggest part of my life, it's real easy to look around at those who are seemingly in better shape and wish I was there. It was because of my weight I became introverted in the first place. Never wanting to go any where or do any thing, because I was always worrying about what people would think. It's taken me a lot of years to become comfortable with my self. And to tell you the truth, I just got damn sick and tired of being depressed with myself. So I got up off my FAT ass and bought a horse. It's been two years now since I bought him. I really have my Granddaughter to thank for that. She's 12, going on 13 come February and she loves the horses. Initially, it was her, I bought another horse after a ten year break from the equine world. It was because of my weight, I'd thought I'd never own another horse again. I had had my mind made up, that I couldn't do it. Little did I know, that I can do it and do it quite well, in spite of my limitations. It was a grueling experience the first six months on the back of my Granddaughters horse. Both of us were out of shape, neither of us could breath and my muscles screamed during the night from exhaustion. The prior owners stalled him and never rode him, and when he was ridden, it was by a six year old girl. Poor guy! lol After the several months atop Handsome's back, I decided to look for a horse of my own. I found her in January just five short months after we got Handsome. She, to was out of shape. She hadn't been ridden in three years. Both of us got a crash course in respect. She was mare-ish and bitchy! I thought myself nuts for a short time. Buying a horse that had to be tuned up was a huge challenge for a fat woman! Leizurely riding was all either of us could do at first. I excercised her 30 minutes or more, a day most days, until we were fit enough to do as much as 4 to 6 hour rides, 2 or 3 times a week. Our distances varied between 10 and 15 miles. There were a couple of time we rode 20 miles round trip. I must have put nearly 1000 miles on her in less than six months. Who was it, that said "a FAT woman can't ride the distance"?
I was lurking about on eBay and found a Australian saddle. The price was right, so I bid on it. The starting price was 99 cents. I ended up paying 112.50 for it. Now, I know it's not top of the line, but for the price, I could make it work. I picked it up today and was quite surprised by the condition. Not half bad for a cheap saddle. There are a few things that would make it better. I had one before and remembered after cinching up the saddle why, I got rid of it in the first place. ha ha! It didn't tighten up enough for my fat ass to get aboard. So, I've been searching for a English to Western converter for it. There are a couple of options to check out. Though my Granddaughter tried it out and loved it. And she didn't have any problem getting aboard the saddle. I'll probably end up letting her have it. Another thing I'm not crazy about are the stirrups. I'm going to convert them to irons instead of the western ones. It also needs some fleece on the stirrup leathers for comfort. The first thing you know is, I'll end up having another 100 in it after it's all said and done. All in all, I'm very pleased with the purchase. : ) 
