Wednesday, January 16, 2013

"I'll Be Back Upon My Feet"

I miss my horse!!!  He hasn't gone anywhere, he's right outside my door.  The trouble is, I'm stuck on the other side of the door.  My knee surgery on the 3rd prevented me from being out in then barn but now that I could be in the barn, I've been side-lined by daily migraines and nausea/vertigo attacks.  I did get out for a little while this morning and helped a wee bit with chores despite feeling ill and it was lovely to see my boys again.  It was very apparent that they have been being spoiled by my students who have been riding them while I'm laid up when they both immediately frisked me for cookies.  As of 8:00 this morning, they are on the no-had-feeding list, right at the top and underlined twice.

It was good to see those boys.  When my leg is a little sturdier and my head isn't pounding and I don't feel like I'm on the Tilt-A-Whirl, I'll spend more time with them.  And Venus.  Poor Venus is even more neglected because there aren't any students riding her.  For a walk/trot only horse, she's complicated.  She's a good girl but keeping her balanced so that she trots instead of pacing takes some delicate riding.  Not that I have anything against pacers, they are fun to ride, but I've tried to discourage her pacing so that she can go to horse shows.  That topic could be a whole post on its own so I'll save that for another day.

One thing I really want to try with Venus is some bridle-less riding.  We do a lot of groundwork without a halter & lead, but the riding would be something that would challenge both of us and give us another goal.  I need goals when I'm riding.  There has to be an event or horse show or level or something for me to work for.  There are days when I just want to get on and have a nice ride, but usually I need to have that destination in mind to keep my riding fresh.  I don't always need to work on the horse, there are lots of things I can work on for myself.  Looking at photos from last Summer it is very obvious that I have been lax about heels down.  There is the ever-present problem of my posture, which has improved but needs to be better and I need to work on jumping to help assuage my own trepidation.

As soon as I can, I'll be back out in the barn and back to work.  It will be at least another 3 weeks before I can ride due to my knee brace which is basically a shark cage on my leg. The brace keeps my knee from slipping sideways and undoing the ACL surgery I just went through, and should any Great Whites attack, my left leg is completely safe. 


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