Alrighty, I can't seem to get away from being stumped!
This season has been fairly dry, but certainly not dryer than last year. ALL of my horses are suffering from godawful cracks and breaking hooves, Jewel's feet are sprawling out at the bottom. I don't understand it at all. I'm putting hoof dressing (RainMaker) on them all, and on top of that, these cracks and nastinesses are happening a mere 3 weeks after the farrier's been here. Pretty Boy's shoes came off in 3 weeks, they've never done this before! I know it's not the farrier because my cousin moved her horse here, and ever since he's been on my property he's had the same troubles. What in the world is going on? What can I do? I got some bell boots for Pretty Boy when we put his shoes back on, but as for the rest they normally don't even need shoes!

THe other problem: The great saddle mystery. My TWH/SSH Jewel has puzzled me from day 1 on saddles. I have 4 saddles and not a single one of them fit her, so I went to a horse rescue auction and snagged a Spanish saddle "FOR A BROAD HORSE" thinking that would be perfect. I set it on her back and it fits her pretty well, but when I put a blanket and girth on her she proved me wrong. I've tried two different girth sizes, made the second one smaller, and tightened it as tight as it could possibly go, and still when I went to mount her the saddle slipped all the way down her belly. Just to see if she was blowing out I tried sliding it back up and it wouldn't budge. WHAT ON EARTH? Is there anything I should measure her for before I go saddle shopping, or maybe a certain kind of pad that I should try? I'm stumped, and I'm not made of money either so I can't just have a saddle made I really need to win the lottery... in the meantime, any suggestions before I have to save up for a year and then spend it all on the last resort of having something made? Thanks!

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