Monday, February 20, 2012

Yay riding lesson

Doing better at the trot. I can actually do it without feeling like I'm going to fall off... however, I have to force myself to breathe. I mentioned this to my instructor and she goes "Yeah, you're still doing better than some students I've had, I've not had to remind you to breathe yet, some have gotten themselves very red in the face." That made me laugh, I don't know why the heck I feel like I shouldn't be breathing. Maybe...

Maybe...

Maybe it's just breath-taking. :O

Overall though I feel I did a good bit better, but I'm still struggling with the right movement to move my hips to signal for a walk. I think I have the trot request down, but the walk motion is hard for me.

She wants me to practice on Siaga. I'm still worried about his weight, but by now he's gained back most of the weight and now we need to start focusing on rebuilding his topline. I think that on Wednesday, if it's decent, I'll load his back with padding and the surcingle and put on his bridle and we'll just walk. Probably on the road because I know the grass will be a big distraction.

I've ridden more in the past week than I have all winter, and I feel like it's beginning to show. Do to the pain in my lower back and my hip (the right hip, the same hip my dad, my uncle and other people on dads side of the family have big problems with (crap)) and the pain in my feet from the many hours I've spent on them in my muck boots, I walk with a limp, and I can't stand up straight when I first get up.

But strangely, I don't feel a thing when I'm on horseback. I think it's the fact that riding makes me so happy and my brain releases a ton of endorphins that mask the pain I'm feeling. It makes me want to spend all my time up there, and yet right now, sitting on the couch, my back hurts so much (dear trotting, you are really detrimental to my back when I also have a very voluptuous chest I must deal with) that the thought of standing up to go to bed and lay down makes me want to flop over on the couch and sleep here, which would not be a good thing, I'm sure.

I'm doing lots of stretches and almost-yoga and decompression for my spine and taking ibuprofen like its going out of style and soaking in the bath and just gah. And no, do not say "Welcome to the real world" or "Welcome to life with horses" or whatever. This is stuff I've always had, that has always been manageable and now I'm just trying to ignore it when the stretches and the ibuprofen and the hot soaks don't work.

I'm beginning to think what I need is either just a breast reduction and/or a session with a chiropractor to put everything back in to place. Not that I can afford any of that.

And regardless, I'll keep on trucking.

On the plus side, today I turned over one of the garden spaces at the barn and started the Thyme and Rosemary on inside planters to sprout. :) Felt wonderful to have my hands in the dirt.

2 comments:

  1. To do a downward transition, flex your core muscles and exhale.

    What find with breathing, because well, we all still hold our breath from time to time. Count strides, sing abc's, heck sing anything but do it in the rhythm of the stride.

    You will get there.

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  2. It's not so much an issue with downward transitions (though that usually ends in a complete stop because I can't move my hip bones like that while bouncing along at a trot, though you'd think after all these years of belly dancing that I'd be able to move them every which way one could think of, but no) as an issue with just... following the movement. My hips want to go side to side and when that happens, when I close my eyes to feel which leg is moving off, I get it backwards and I have to collect myself and really focus on front/back motion instead of side to side motion to get it, though once I do it's not too hard to keep. It's just I have such an issue in finding it.

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