So this walking thing is pretty cool, and I'm definitely enjoying being able to, ya know, *do it* again. It's the small things, folks.
And particularly - I'm most especially grateful for having my hands again. It's hard to explain just how inconvenient the crutch-induced hands-less-ness was whenever I needed to move around.
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| coffee..... |
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| beer..... (and cat, obvi) |
In the meantime, any good recommendations for legging the mare back up again on dark evenings when we're relegated to the soggy outdoor arena? I'm hoping to get back to dressage lessons asap, with jump lessons not overly far behind... but want to make sure the horse is actually physically up for it.
Crutches are always such a nuisance, glad you're through the worst of it. Prob best to stick to flat lessons while you strengthen back up the damaged appendage. I hope Miss Izzy will be her usual great self
ReplyDeleteyea that'll be the real test - seeing how the leg actually holds up to being in a stirrup...
DeleteGOOD RIDDANCE, BOOT!
ReplyDeleteit can't come soon enough ugh!
DeleteHaving hands is pretty awesome. I'm not sure how helpful this will be because EPM is especially devastating to muscle tone, but with Stinker I did lots of walking and lunging. The tricky part was adding in the riding because he didn't walk like ever at that point. Basically I did ponied trail rides and lunging on hills. For awhile I had to lunge on the flat because he lacked the strength for the hills. If things are intense keep them short. And frequent breaks. As far as you jumping, be careful not to rush yourself on that one (I'm sure you will be fine considering how long you waited to get back on). PS sorry for the novel...
ReplyDeletethanks for all that info! i think izzy will automatically be starting a little beyond that, since she was more or less in peak condition just under 2 months ago and will (mostly) walk when she's supposed to. she's AWFUL at lunging tho (as am i) so we will probably avoid that entirely... regardless i'm so glad you and Stinker made it through that epm rehab!!
DeleteHopefully your boot goes away! I'd say that by the time the muscles in your leg are up to supporting jumping, Izzy will be alright to jump too.
ReplyDeletemakes sense, and matches what i've heard before that whatever the rider feels (in terms of soreness) is probably what the horse is feeling too. tho she told us quite clearly that she wanted to jump last weekend (see photograph of her treating that 12" cavaletti like it was quite impressive indeed lol)... i might take a *little* longer haha
DeleteTrot sets work wonderfully :)
ReplyDeleteso true.... but soooooo boring! lol ;)
DeleteHooray for hands!
ReplyDeleteWalk sets and trot sets are great, even if boring. Bring music?
yea.... i'm hoping to integrate lots of trail rides since ours are so hilly and are much more interesting for just getting the mare to move out. sadly we can't do that in the dark... guess i just need to suck it up haha
DeleteI don't envy you the leg rehab. Those boots are no fun.
ReplyDeleteyerp it's not my favorite thing haha
DeleteDon't push yourself to hard. I know someone that got out of the boot and then had to put it back on. Take it slow. You'll get there.
ReplyDeletethanks - there's pretty much zero chance of that, fortunately. if anything i'm a bit too conservative with what i expect the leg to do
DeleteKeeping fingers crossed that you get out of the boot!
ReplyDeletethanks! i'm super hopeful too :)
DeleteI'm two years out from rehabbing a shattered arm, and finally feeling back to 100%. It takes a while. Every day is an improvement though :D
ReplyDeleteCongrats on ditching the boot!
yikes - glad you're finally feeling better! i'm seriously hoping i don't have a similar experience (my break was pretty much as straight forward as a full break can possibly be). and thanks - i'm hoping to ditch the boot asap!
Delete1000 points for creative purse use!
ReplyDeleteTrot sets and trail rides sound good to me... I hear you on the boring though ;)
lol necessity is the mother of invention :) and yea... boring might just be the name of the game despite how i feel about that. it *is* about to be winter soon anyway...
DeleteI saw some people with a foot trolley (the best way I can describe it, do you know what I mean?) Like a razer scooter with your leg raised looked kind of fun.. but at the same time bah broken leg/ankle
ReplyDeleteha i had one of those scooters for the office and it was amazing - but i never took it outside bc even with hand brakes that thing really GOES haha
DeleteFor building conditioning with limited daylight and crappy footing (Ah, December!) I like running the gears. I do walk, trot, canter, (if fit enough gallop and then canter again), trot, walk, lather rinse repeat. Do ten steps, ten seconds, some reasonable interval there that keeps both of you focused without being overly pressed. Try for exact, nice transitions with preparedness -- doing this exercise well is hard work. If this is too easy when you start it, make the interval shorter until it's just at the edge of your skills... where you can do it nicely but it's... effortful. You want good quality transitions for best results (physically, for your horse).
ReplyDeleteYou can also use this exercise entirely within a single gait to enliven your trot sets... trot small, medium, big, medium, small without inverting, losing contact or rhythm, etc. Try for getting the change off your seat, particularly (at least with my horse) the ensmallening changes. It gives you something to do while trotting along which is, I totally understand, not that thrilling.
Also during trot sets, add in some sideways. If quarterline-to-wall is too easy (and I expect it is) then try for a zig-zag up the long side, quarterline to wall to quarterline to wall. How quickly can you flip her and go the other way? If that's super easy, then do shoulder-in to straight to shoulder-in to straight... or shoulder-in to haunches-in to shoulder-in to haunches-in. A judicious mix of sideways stuff can help fight off trot-set hypnosis as well.
If you are lucky enough to be able to do your trot sets in the great outdoors, you can still play lateral. I like ly from one tire track to the other and back again. Can I do it in four strides? How about ten strides? How about thirty? How granular is my control? Can I ly one direction, straighten two strides, and ly the other direction? Straighten one stride and go the other way? Straighten in mid-air? (For the record, No on that last one.) Play games with it -- nobody's watching. :)
thanks for all the insights!
DeleteDo you follow Denny Emerson at Tamarack Hill Farm at all? He has an opinion on EVERYTHING and ya know, he's a pretty amazing horseman so I kinda listen to what he says almost all the time. Anyway, you may find some good tidbits from his FB page. But I am a fan of lots of walking at first. You can shorten the walk, make it bigger etc. and those are all tough. Or trot sets. They'll get you both back in shape FAST! Can't wait to hear about it!
ReplyDeletethanks! the horse lives outside 24/7 so she can walk around on her own ;) but we'll be back at it shortly
DeleteGoodbye crutches! Maybe polework?
ReplyDeletepolework is a good idea - enough to keep her focused without getting overly annoyed at me haha
DeleteEmma, I saw you posted on Irene'd old blog. Not sure if you were gb friends with her or not, but sadly she passed. :(
ReplyDeleteShe had a lot of complications from that break, but I dont think they know cause of death yet.
thank you -i did learn about that and am fairly devastated by the news :(
DeleteFingers, toes, and eyes crossed for you two!
ReplyDeletethanks - soon!
DeletePsst..boots get you in front of the line at amusement parks. But they are a pain in the ass
ReplyDeleteha, wish i had known that sooner! oh well, maybe i'll hang on to it just in case :)
DeleteWhoa, I must have missed something! What happened to your leg? Regardless, be careful to not push yourself too much too soon. The consequences are not fun, at all.
ReplyDeletei broke my leg in october
Delete