Monday, December 7, 2015

shh, don't tell my doctor!

Well the inevitable happened :D

Probably a few of you would have reached this point before I did... but really, once I felt solidly stable and balanced on me feet it was time to end my longest non-riding streak in nearly 5 years.

proof!
Ah, and what a feeling to swing a leg over again! A barn mate held Izzy for me since she's never been particularly well-mannered about the mounting block and I was predictably feeling a little vulnerable about the mechanics. It was surprisingly easy to hop on tho. Yay for ponies!

The saddle is such a comfortable place to be - we were in business the moment I was on! Naturally tho I can't do much with the leg from the knee down riding-wise. The design of the boot is really.... not very horse friendly haha. Plus I opted to drop my other stirrup too to avoid any unnecessary torque on her back. That's ok tho - we just hit the trails to get a little reacquainted :D

so happy to have this view again
It probably wasn't really the best choice for a hot horse who has been out of work... but eh, the weather was gorgeous and the pasture lanes were beckoning.

Plus I have total and complete faith in this hackamore. Izzy will not run through the curb chain (in fact I actually cover it with sheepskin to dampen its effect), and I don't end up getting fussy with her mouth.

so much better than crutches
As it was tho, after looping around all the big summer pastures and meandering through the woods a bit, Izzy started getting pretty amped up and jiggy when we turned onto the trail towards home. My general rule for the trails is that Isabel is allowed to walk as fast as she wants (and she can really haul ass in the walk) provided the gait maintains four beats. I hate the jig. Ugh. Hate.

does she look happy?
Tho on this ride, even Isabel's jigging, snorting and head flinging couldn't bring down my mood. I just kept talking to her and trying to stay soft with my legs and seat (no stirrups, remember). But then she ran my bum leg into a tree and I decided to be a bit more assertive about those rules lol.

the weather was perfect too - all week it'll be clear and in the 50s. i'll take it!
So I turned back away from the barn and she immediately found her four beat walk again. Funny how that works lol. We went a little ways like that, making sure she understood that she was being very good for walking, then turned back for home and made it back much more politely.

still plenty of grass to snack on too
So more or less a very successful ride and I felt SO GOOD to get out there! The jigging episode doesn't bother me excessively, especially given her speedy recovery. Isabel is mostly confirmed out on the trails - but she can get a wild hair every now and then. The only antidote really is more trails. Oooh and a martingale haha. That will probably come along with us next time (are there any issues with a running on a hackamore?).

tho the woods are fairly well cleared of anything green
Plus it was a great workout for me - and I was very pleasantly surprised by how not-loose I felt in the tack. Granted I was probably more tense than is ideal... but eh that's ok too and will get better as I get my strength back.

dis how we selfie. you can get most of her face, or mine. but not in the same pic!
Not sure yet how much saddle time I'll get in the next couple weeks. The whole process was much easier than I anticipated (provided someone holds the mare while I get on), and actually getting off was a total breeze.  But... we're pretty limited in what we can actually do (esp in the evenings when it's dark).

The boot isn't fit for any serious schooling, but maybe I can at least build back some of my own riding muscles and help give Isabel a semblance of a routine (even if she doesn't end up doing a lot of actual work)? We'll see haha.

For now tho, I'm just SO HAPPY OMG to ride my horse!!!! :D

62 comments:

  1. Yay!!!!! It has to feel awesome to be back on the pony. The trail ride looks like so much fun. I'm so happy for you!

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    1. thanks! it was definitely a great feeling :)

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  2. Haha! There's something about horse ppl. We just don't listen to our doctors, but listen to vets to a tee.

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  3. Yay to getting back in the saddle! I'll have my first ride back this weekend.

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  4. I'm surprised it took you this long! I always used a running with a hack when I used to jump Bobby in one. No issues there.

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    1. good to know! and yea it definitely took a while... but standing completely on the one leg was not something i wanted to rush into lol

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  5. YAY! How exciting!!! So happy for you!

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  6. Sounds like a successful trip back! I have almost the exact same photo of myself in a boot riding a fat little Haflinger pony.. let's just say that ride was one of the most embarrassing moments in my riding career, when she came home from our trai ride without me! XD

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    1. oh no!!! ha i'm so glad i didnt' follow a similar fate, esp when the mare started acting a fool in the middle of the woods....

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    2. Haha yeah.. You don't know shame until you're a fully grown adult hobbling down a road asking people if they saw your pony run by...

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    3. ugh nooooooooooo :( i think i would just have had to lay down and cry for a little while lol, that's awful

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  7. Yay! This is so great!

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  8. Replies
    1. lol i may or may not have said exactly the same thing once i was up there

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  9. Hahaha you lucky dog! When I was nursing broken bones, I made the mistake of telling my responsible barnmates I couldn't ride for 6 weeks and they ENFORCED it. Whoops.

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    1. lolz i definitely got plenty of looks and side eye (and may or may not have told one person that they couldn't hold the horse for me bc they were too nervous about it) but eh. i made it 6 weeks, so that's sufficient in my book

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  10. tsk tsk ;)

    Glad everything went well :)

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  11. WooHoo!!!! Ah, such beautiful trails too! Well you missed no-stirrup November, so now you can make up for it!

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    1. lol something like that haha - and how crazy is it that i'm actually sore from the ride too?

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  12. I had a feeling it wouldn't be long till this happened. You did so much better than I would've done to stay out of the tack!

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    1. ha maybe - once i felt like i was stable enough to actually get on the horse, the rest was easy

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  13. Yay for riding. I thought you'd be on there soon. I have ridden so many times with broken bones. Doctors be like "don't even go near a horse bc you have a wound that leads to a broken bone and you will get a bone infection and have your foot amputated" and I'm like, "bareback riding doesn't really count as riding, right?" Also, running martingales and hackamores are generally a no-no. Especially if she already doesn't like hitting the curb. Slip a noseband under the hackamore and add a standing martingale. And raise your hackamore an inch or so.

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    1. lol docs just don't get it. also - the mare isn't crazy or wild about hitting the chain, it's just more brakes than she needs. but when she's being a spaz in the woods i *never* regret having that extra braking power.

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  14. Pfffff .... what boot/cast/thingy? Yay for riding!!

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  15. Yay!!! I think I would be on Rico ASAP if I had a broken anything, but TC... maybe I'd take the doctor's advice. Maybe. Glad Iz was good (enough) for you!

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    1. haha good (enough) is definitely the right way to phrase it. but yea, you won't see me climbing up on Bali in the boot...

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  16. Just curious - did it hurt you when getting on/out of the saddle?
    Also - I don't think I've ever said this, but that hackamore is cute! Love the red.

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    1. thanks i love that hackamore too (in its current version - past versions were WAY fuglier haha). and no there was no pain getting on or off - that's what i was waiting for, to be able to do it easily and safely without unduly risking further pain/injury

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  17. YAY!! So happy! And you're such a badass for doing it not stirrups (not like you have a choice) on a redhead in the winter. So happy it went well!

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    1. ha i'm happy it went well too and that my mare didn't make me regret the no stirrups choice

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  18. HUZZAH! No stirrup.....winter? lol

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  19. Yaaaay!!! Sometimes just sitting on the silly horse is all it takes to make me happy. True for most equestrians probably :)

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  20. Woot! Congratulations! You're the second person this week I've seen ride a horse with a bum leg! I'm glad you got up there and had a good ride, soon you'll be all healed and zipping around again!

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    1. ha i'm pretty sure everyone was falling for fall - the boots are all the rage right now :)

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  21. Replies
    1. and sooooon the boot will be gone for evvvarrrr!!! :)

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