Magic

 It's no secret that I have an obsession healthy and totally normal appreciation of saddle pads. 

I have tried quite few and learned what I like and what is 'meh'. One issue that I have with Carmen is that often the saddle pad will slip behind the saddle at the withers. That's because she has a flat, Andalusian wither with a broad Andalusian barrel. The Lemieux saddle pads work well with that- especially the one with a roll in front. I've been following Hufglocken on FB for a while and wondered if their pads were as good as advertised. But I didn't really need another one. 

Then they had a sale: 25% off and free delivery world wide. 

I worked through the whole 'design your saddle pad' and actually managed to choose options. I then hit 'buy' and the deed was done. 

That was back in July. I waited for it to be delivered. 

And waited. 

You see, once you pay they then make it and then ship it. With a name 'Hufglocken' I thought it would be made in Europe. Nope, it was Australia.

A few weeks ago I had notice that it was ready to be shipped. It probably took at least 2 weeks. But Friday it arrived. 

eeee

TaDah! It looks like a smoking jacket!

I was quite happy with the quality. Burgundy velvet, with black and white piping and front sheepskin. 

Today I tried it on Ms. Carmen. I love how it fit on her and she looks snazzy. 

Carmen: at least it's not a torture device this time

In our ride today I noted that the saddle pad stayed in place. I may or may not have found myself stroking the sheepskin often (it's sooooo soft). 

And Carmen was a dream. For the ride she didn't argue with me once. It was a great ride and she was lovely. 

Clearly it's not just a pretty pad, it's a MAGICAL PAD that turned Carmen into a  lovely unicorn. (I mean it couldn't be that I rode well, right?).