This is going to be a quick one, but I just wanted to announce how great I am feeling!
Today I am not getting any of that "take my breath away" pain I have been feeling. Not opening doors, not turning the steering wheel, not twisting around in my chair. Yeah I feel good!
Still have a little bit of stiff pain. Its dull, and always there. Perhaps whatever is knotting up has released itself finally, and the stiffness is just because it was strained in that way for so long.
Of course, this leads to all sorts of bad ideas brewing in my brain. I am seriously reconsidering the thought of doing 1 or 2 short rides this weekend.
Physio this afternoon, then assuming she doesn't severely hurt me more I will be jumping up in the saddle to see if posting trot hurts. I still believe strongly that riding did not hurt me, but the grooming did. Completely different use of the muscles, that theory is a good one and I will continue to believe it if it means I can ride.
The decision will be made 98% tonight whether Bentley will go, and 2% tomorrow morning.
Lee isn't too happy about this change in mind, but has grudgingly agreed to help out wherever needed should I go through with this.
Wish me luck!
Friday, September 28, 2012
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Bentley for Partboard
I had to make some difficult decisions today. The first is Oktoberfest.
After physio this morning I was barely able to walk. I am still having trouble getting around the office (and yet somehow people keep coming wanting to meet with me, resulting in many trips around the office, up and down the stairs). I haven't been to the barn all week, even to feed because its just too much for me.
So I had to be realistic that in 2 days, I wasn't going to be convincing my chubby horse onto a trailer, grooming him, tacking him up, setting up fences, riding 12 miles, running another 6, feeding, sleeping in the RV, riding Desi in 25 miles, and then crewing for Linda and my sister as they complete their rides, then packing up, loading him again, driving back again, and then convincing him off again, and then all the cleaning that may result if it ended up being muddy. Ok I am exhausted just typing it. I was starting to feel better this morning, but physio is making it feel worse before better.
I debated bringing him anyway so I didn't have to disappoint heather, but its really important to me for Bentley's first ride to be with me, not with her. Plus it would still be more work than I am ready for just running a brush over him, never mind that other stuff.
Next tough decision was what happens next?
Based on how the physio is going now, i have absolutely no clue when I will be back in the saddle. Its much worse now than it was before (with the exception of immediately after the accident). I don't even sleep much because every time my weight shifts I get stabbing pain and lose my breath.
I also start back to work at Halton Place the second weekend into October, which means if I am hopefully well enough to sweep and muck, I still lose a lot of weekend time. And I am guessing since that's so soon, sweeping and mucking will be enough strain on me, i wont want to ride after! Of course, I could never consider NOT working at halton place, with the lameness this summer and now my lameness, I really look forward to working there again. Even while I was riding, I still missed being there. Plus, Bentley needs new blankets this year as he has grown AND last years blankets got ripped up the shoulders, I doubt they have a full season left in them. We may even need a new saddle or 2. Yup. I have to do that weekend job!
I know whats best for Bentley is for him to have a job, and right now I cant do that for him. So I am looking for someone to partboard him so he gets all the exercise he needs and I cant currently give him. Hes a horse that loves to be ridden and I can tell he is pretty down this week because he hasn't gotten his usual attention.
In case you know anyone interested, here's my summary:
gray 4 year old arab trakehner cross gelding. Got the warmblood temperament and height, the arab face and endurance. Very flashy appearance and movement. Due to an injury last summer did not compete (now fully healed). Still green, but incredibly quick and happy learner. Just loves to be ridden. Currently trained for low dressage and competitive trail. Walk, Trot, Canter, leg yields wonderfully at walk and trot, shoulder-in at walk. We receive weekly lessons with Level 3 eventing coach and expect continuous improvement. I will be training him to jump low obstacles mid-winter (assuming I heal). No spooking on trails - even when a coyote was chasing a deer!
Great manners, especially for his age. Never bites or kicks. Can get a little too close into personal bubble, he's an attention hog and just loves his people a little too much. Does well with a rider with very light aids. Very calm even after weeks off. Frames up on his own with light but steady contact. Will put a huge smile on the face of any rider! So responsive, great for someone who wants to learn how to ride quietly.
The partboarding fees for our barn can be found here: http://georgetownequestrian.wordpress.com/fees/
This makes me sad, but right now its best for both of us :(
After physio this morning I was barely able to walk. I am still having trouble getting around the office (and yet somehow people keep coming wanting to meet with me, resulting in many trips around the office, up and down the stairs). I haven't been to the barn all week, even to feed because its just too much for me.
So I had to be realistic that in 2 days, I wasn't going to be convincing my chubby horse onto a trailer, grooming him, tacking him up, setting up fences, riding 12 miles, running another 6, feeding, sleeping in the RV, riding Desi in 25 miles, and then crewing for Linda and my sister as they complete their rides, then packing up, loading him again, driving back again, and then convincing him off again, and then all the cleaning that may result if it ended up being muddy. Ok I am exhausted just typing it. I was starting to feel better this morning, but physio is making it feel worse before better.
I debated bringing him anyway so I didn't have to disappoint heather, but its really important to me for Bentley's first ride to be with me, not with her. Plus it would still be more work than I am ready for just running a brush over him, never mind that other stuff.
Next tough decision was what happens next?
Based on how the physio is going now, i have absolutely no clue when I will be back in the saddle. Its much worse now than it was before (with the exception of immediately after the accident). I don't even sleep much because every time my weight shifts I get stabbing pain and lose my breath.
I also start back to work at Halton Place the second weekend into October, which means if I am hopefully well enough to sweep and muck, I still lose a lot of weekend time. And I am guessing since that's so soon, sweeping and mucking will be enough strain on me, i wont want to ride after! Of course, I could never consider NOT working at halton place, with the lameness this summer and now my lameness, I really look forward to working there again. Even while I was riding, I still missed being there. Plus, Bentley needs new blankets this year as he has grown AND last years blankets got ripped up the shoulders, I doubt they have a full season left in them. We may even need a new saddle or 2. Yup. I have to do that weekend job!
I know whats best for Bentley is for him to have a job, and right now I cant do that for him. So I am looking for someone to partboard him so he gets all the exercise he needs and I cant currently give him. Hes a horse that loves to be ridden and I can tell he is pretty down this week because he hasn't gotten his usual attention.
In case you know anyone interested, here's my summary:
gray 4 year old arab trakehner cross gelding. Got the warmblood temperament and height, the arab face and endurance. Very flashy appearance and movement. Due to an injury last summer did not compete (now fully healed). Still green, but incredibly quick and happy learner. Just loves to be ridden. Currently trained for low dressage and competitive trail. Walk, Trot, Canter, leg yields wonderfully at walk and trot, shoulder-in at walk. We receive weekly lessons with Level 3 eventing coach and expect continuous improvement. I will be training him to jump low obstacles mid-winter (assuming I heal). No spooking on trails - even when a coyote was chasing a deer!
Great manners, especially for his age. Never bites or kicks. Can get a little too close into personal bubble, he's an attention hog and just loves his people a little too much. Does well with a rider with very light aids. Very calm even after weeks off. Frames up on his own with light but steady contact. Will put a huge smile on the face of any rider! So responsive, great for someone who wants to learn how to ride quietly.
The partboarding fees for our barn can be found here: http://georgetownequestrian.wordpress.com/fees/
This makes me sad, but right now its best for both of us :(
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
45 Life Lessons, written by a 90 year old
Reblogged from http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1uDuXi/:EQTrf$ix:CDT@LGrJ/kangalex.com/post/31729006624/45-life-lessons-written-by-a-90-year-old/
A good pick-me-up now since I need a little help to stay positive :)
A good pick-me-up now since I need a little help to stay positive :)
1. Life isn’t fair, but it’s still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short not to enjoy it.
4. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and family will.
5. Don’t buy stuff you don’t need.
6. You don’t have to win every argument. Stay true to yourself.
7. Cry with someone. It’s more healing than crying alone.
8. It’s OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
9. Save for things that matter.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won’t screw up the present.
12. It’s OK to let your children see you cry.
13. Don’t compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn’t be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye… But don’t worry; God never blinks.
16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
17. Get rid of anything that isn’t useful. Clutter weighs you down in many ways.
18. Whatever doesn’t kill you really does make you stronger.
19. It’s never too late to be happy. But it’s all up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don’t take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don’t save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
22. Overprepare, then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don’t wait for old age to wear purple.
24. The most important sex organ is the brain.
25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words, ‘In five years, will this matter?’
27. Always choose Life.
28. Forgive but don’t forget.
29. What other people think of you is none of your business.
30. Time heals almost everything. Give Time time.
31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
32. Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
33. Believe in miracles.
34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn’t do.
35. Don’t audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
36. Growing old beats the alternative — dying young.
37. Your children get only one childhood.
38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else’s, we’d
grab ours back.
41. Envy is a waste of time. Accept what you already have, not what you think you need.
42. The best is yet to come…
43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
44. Yield.
45. Life isn’t tied with a bow, but it’s still a gift.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short not to enjoy it.
4. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and family will.
5. Don’t buy stuff you don’t need.
6. You don’t have to win every argument. Stay true to yourself.
7. Cry with someone. It’s more healing than crying alone.
8. It’s OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
9. Save for things that matter.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won’t screw up the present.
12. It’s OK to let your children see you cry.
13. Don’t compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn’t be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye… But don’t worry; God never blinks.
16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
17. Get rid of anything that isn’t useful. Clutter weighs you down in many ways.
18. Whatever doesn’t kill you really does make you stronger.
19. It’s never too late to be happy. But it’s all up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don’t take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don’t save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
22. Overprepare, then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don’t wait for old age to wear purple.
24. The most important sex organ is the brain.
25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words, ‘In five years, will this matter?’
27. Always choose Life.
28. Forgive but don’t forget.
29. What other people think of you is none of your business.
30. Time heals almost everything. Give Time time.
31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
32. Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
33. Believe in miracles.
34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn’t do.
35. Don’t audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
36. Growing old beats the alternative — dying young.
37. Your children get only one childhood.
38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else’s, we’d
grab ours back.
41. Envy is a waste of time. Accept what you already have, not what you think you need.
42. The best is yet to come…
43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
44. Yield.
45. Life isn’t tied with a bow, but it’s still a gift.
Ow Ow Ow!
I went to massage yesterday. It was very deep and painful, but luckily riding has given me the ability to consciously relax parts of my body although instinct says "tense up and hold your breath" I think the RMT was a bit impressed with my ability to breathe even under the max pressure.
What she wasn't impressed with however was how much damage is in my back. She found a lot more than the immediate spasms on my mid left side. Yes, there was a large knot there, following to another large knot on the side of me, but there was also hard muscles throughout my entire back. Particularly through my lower back and even on my right side. I probably just didn't even notice it was in bad shape because the squeaky rib was getting the grease (or the heat pack in this case).
The thought she had was that while I was in the air, I tensed my whole body, and when I landed, that kind of set the muscles in that state. That would also explain why I felt such pain in my calves immediately after I landed.
There were some looks on her face and tones in her voice of almost surprise about how bad it really is.
Related note: my spasms are a lot worse today. Had a lot of difficulty sleeping last night because every time I would move, I would be in enough pain to wake me up. Even woke Lee up once as a result. I was told to expect this. Lets hope its worth it and I can still ride come Saturday.
What she wasn't impressed with however was how much damage is in my back. She found a lot more than the immediate spasms on my mid left side. Yes, there was a large knot there, following to another large knot on the side of me, but there was also hard muscles throughout my entire back. Particularly through my lower back and even on my right side. I probably just didn't even notice it was in bad shape because the squeaky rib was getting the grease (or the heat pack in this case).
The thought she had was that while I was in the air, I tensed my whole body, and when I landed, that kind of set the muscles in that state. That would also explain why I felt such pain in my calves immediately after I landed.
There were some looks on her face and tones in her voice of almost surprise about how bad it really is.
Related note: my spasms are a lot worse today. Had a lot of difficulty sleeping last night because every time I would move, I would be in enough pain to wake me up. Even woke Lee up once as a result. I was told to expect this. Lets hope its worth it and I can still ride come Saturday.
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Another Update
I went to my first physio appointment this morning. These are the results:
After a lot of searching (this was particularly difficult because apparently all my riding gives me big strong back muscles) the therapist was able to find the site of my difficulties. There are 3 vertebrae which are quite tender to the touch. While they seem to rotate fine left to right, they don't flex back and forth (if I were bending over say). I also have 2 ribs that don't seem to move at all. All that is going on in the site of my pain. The therapist believes that the pain is coming from where my ribs meet the vertebrae.
We started with some ultrasound therapy. I have never had this done, but WOW! I noticed an immediate improvement in the pain both when she prodded at my spine and when I moved. She told me what the ultrasound does is send the sound waves into the tissue, causing it to vibrate like a micro-massage. This sends more blood to the area and helps repair the tissue faster.
Next she pulled and stretched my back to which I heard lots of popping! When she explained what she was about to do to me, I immediately related it to this stretch I do with Bentley:
Always much easier for me when I can relate it to something horsey!
I also had her look at my knee. That's unrelated to the fall, but I was there anyway. I find after several miles, my right knee tends to start hurting. She immediately noticed that my right leg is smaller (less muscular) than the left. Whats likely happening is that the muscles are underdeveloped and tire faster in my right, so I rely more on the joint after X number of miles. Hence why only get joint pain in the one side. She gave me some exercises to do, but warned that I am going to have to do a LOT of them or add a LOT of resistance since due to riding I am already have much more muscle strength than the average person. Even in my "bad" leg.
I go in for massage tonight and to visit my family doctor. Physio again Thursday morning.
Hopefully its enough to get me to all my rides this weekend!
I asked the dreaded question "can I ride if I feel good" she didn't seem that happy about that idea, but said I can so long as I take it slow. No more than a walk. Hmm. Well... the trot didn't bother me any more than the walk last week as I keep my upper body very straight. I can cheat that a little. No cantering this weekend or if I do, its all in 2 point!
I AM working on backup plans though.
After a lot of searching (this was particularly difficult because apparently all my riding gives me big strong back muscles) the therapist was able to find the site of my difficulties. There are 3 vertebrae which are quite tender to the touch. While they seem to rotate fine left to right, they don't flex back and forth (if I were bending over say). I also have 2 ribs that don't seem to move at all. All that is going on in the site of my pain. The therapist believes that the pain is coming from where my ribs meet the vertebrae.
We started with some ultrasound therapy. I have never had this done, but WOW! I noticed an immediate improvement in the pain both when she prodded at my spine and when I moved. She told me what the ultrasound does is send the sound waves into the tissue, causing it to vibrate like a micro-massage. This sends more blood to the area and helps repair the tissue faster.
Next she pulled and stretched my back to which I heard lots of popping! When she explained what she was about to do to me, I immediately related it to this stretch I do with Bentley:
Always much easier for me when I can relate it to something horsey!
I also had her look at my knee. That's unrelated to the fall, but I was there anyway. I find after several miles, my right knee tends to start hurting. She immediately noticed that my right leg is smaller (less muscular) than the left. Whats likely happening is that the muscles are underdeveloped and tire faster in my right, so I rely more on the joint after X number of miles. Hence why only get joint pain in the one side. She gave me some exercises to do, but warned that I am going to have to do a LOT of them or add a LOT of resistance since due to riding I am already have much more muscle strength than the average person. Even in my "bad" leg.
I go in for massage tonight and to visit my family doctor. Physio again Thursday morning.
Hopefully its enough to get me to all my rides this weekend!
I asked the dreaded question "can I ride if I feel good" she didn't seem that happy about that idea, but said I can so long as I take it slow. No more than a walk. Hmm. Well... the trot didn't bother me any more than the walk last week as I keep my upper body very straight. I can cheat that a little. No cantering this weekend or if I do, its all in 2 point!
I AM working on backup plans though.
Monday, September 24, 2012
Words to train by
I wish I could remember where and when, but sometime in the last week I read a quote that really struck a chord with me, its since been in the back of my mind with everything I do with the horses.
The quote went something like this:
It isn't the student's responsibility to understand the question given, it is the teacher's responsibility to find a way to ask the question in which the student can find the answer.
How incredibly applicable to horses! Its no secret that communication is a giant fault in a human to horse relationships. It isn't up to the horse to get the right answer when you ask a question in a foreign language. If someone asked you a question in Japanese, would you understand? I think you can take 2 approaches to attain success in training communication.
1) Keep asking the question and allow the horse to get it wrong X number of times without punishment. Appreciate that he is trying to answer your question, not trying to misbehave by doing the wrong thing. Reward when he gets it right.
And if he still isn't getting it:
2) Rephrase the question. Take a step back in your training, use other aids, tools and responses in addition to the question you are asking him and guide him through what he already knows.
The quote went something like this:
It isn't the student's responsibility to understand the question given, it is the teacher's responsibility to find a way to ask the question in which the student can find the answer.
How incredibly applicable to horses! Its no secret that communication is a giant fault in a human to horse relationships. It isn't up to the horse to get the right answer when you ask a question in a foreign language. If someone asked you a question in Japanese, would you understand? I think you can take 2 approaches to attain success in training communication.
1) Keep asking the question and allow the horse to get it wrong X number of times without punishment. Appreciate that he is trying to answer your question, not trying to misbehave by doing the wrong thing. Reward when he gets it right.
And if he still isn't getting it:
2) Rephrase the question. Take a step back in your training, use other aids, tools and responses in addition to the question you are asking him and guide him through what he already knows.
Update on my Pains
Last week was a bit of a roller coaster.
As I mentioned, I felt pretty darn good on Monday and chose to ride. Tuesday I was in lots of pain!
Wednesday I rode, considering what happened the first time, but considered that to be "tomorrow's problem" but Thursday was much better than Tuesday!
Friday, I had intentions of riding again, but after coming to the barn and grooming, I was in far too much pain to ride. Couldn't even pick feet.
Saturday I stayed at home and relaxed, didn't even step out the door, but my pain was much worse again. Sunday didn't bring any better results, and again I felt more sore than the day before.
Errr, let me correct that last statement. The pain itself isn't increasing, but the number of things that set it off seem to be increasing. Example of this is on Wednesday, I was able to ride walk and trot without pain, but canter wasn't so fun. Come Sunday, I was almost crippled with pain as I plugged in the blender in the morning. The pain was the same level, but it is much easier to come by. Makes me think I have a pinched nerve or something. So I literally sat around on the couch all weekend hoping for improvement (something that mentally is very hard for me to do! Especially on one of the last few nice weekends before winter)
Today I had great difficulty opening doors and reaching out to my side.
The plan this week is to not ride at all. I am miserable sitting at home, but instead I am going to make a drastic last minute plan of doctor's appointments.
I have physio booked for tomorrow morning, a massage booked for the evening. I hope that the massage will help whatever is causing this. Hopefully I will still be good to ride this weekend for Oktoberfest.
As I mentioned, I felt pretty darn good on Monday and chose to ride. Tuesday I was in lots of pain!
Wednesday I rode, considering what happened the first time, but considered that to be "tomorrow's problem" but Thursday was much better than Tuesday!
Friday, I had intentions of riding again, but after coming to the barn and grooming, I was in far too much pain to ride. Couldn't even pick feet.
Saturday I stayed at home and relaxed, didn't even step out the door, but my pain was much worse again. Sunday didn't bring any better results, and again I felt more sore than the day before.
Errr, let me correct that last statement. The pain itself isn't increasing, but the number of things that set it off seem to be increasing. Example of this is on Wednesday, I was able to ride walk and trot without pain, but canter wasn't so fun. Come Sunday, I was almost crippled with pain as I plugged in the blender in the morning. The pain was the same level, but it is much easier to come by. Makes me think I have a pinched nerve or something. So I literally sat around on the couch all weekend hoping for improvement (something that mentally is very hard for me to do! Especially on one of the last few nice weekends before winter)
Today I had great difficulty opening doors and reaching out to my side.
The plan this week is to not ride at all. I am miserable sitting at home, but instead I am going to make a drastic last minute plan of doctor's appointments.
I have physio booked for tomorrow morning, a massage booked for the evening. I hope that the massage will help whatever is causing this. Hopefully I will still be good to ride this weekend for Oktoberfest.
Salsa and Guacamole
On Saturday I hosted our usual "Clothing Swap Party" where all us ladies bring all the clothes that we no longer like or no longer fits us and we share it amongst the group. Anything not finding a new home goes to charity. Always a ton of fun!
I made homemade salsa and guacamole for this event, and it received wide praise and was the first thing gone. So I am going to share my recipe here. Please note, I rarely measure things like salt and spices so this is my best guess!
Start with the salsa:
4 tomatoes, diced
1 onion shredded
***I use a mandolin, which does this all in less than 2 minutes (2 different inserts) If you don't have one, you should! Its the best thing i have in my kitchen.
Mix together
1.5 tsp crystal salt
1 tbsp chili powder
4-5 squirts of worchestschire sauce (excuse bad attempt at spelling... even spell check cant find that for me!)
6-10 squirts of Tabasco sauce.
Mix together and allow to marinate for at least an hour.
Guacamole:
3 cloves of garlic
2 tbsp olive oil
Combine in chopper and grind to a paste
4-5 ripe avocados.
1 tbsp lemon juice
Mix all together, then add about 1 cup of the salsa, mixing well.
Add chips and enjoy!
I made homemade salsa and guacamole for this event, and it received wide praise and was the first thing gone. So I am going to share my recipe here. Please note, I rarely measure things like salt and spices so this is my best guess!
Start with the salsa:
4 tomatoes, diced
1 onion shredded
***I use a mandolin, which does this all in less than 2 minutes (2 different inserts) If you don't have one, you should! Its the best thing i have in my kitchen.
Mix together
1.5 tsp crystal salt
1 tbsp chili powder
4-5 squirts of worchestschire sauce (excuse bad attempt at spelling... even spell check cant find that for me!)
6-10 squirts of Tabasco sauce.
Mix together and allow to marinate for at least an hour.
Guacamole:
3 cloves of garlic
2 tbsp olive oil
Combine in chopper and grind to a paste
4-5 ripe avocados.
1 tbsp lemon juice
Mix all together, then add about 1 cup of the salsa, mixing well.
Add chips and enjoy!
Working with Mav
On Friday, I had intentions of riding Bentley with Linda since Linda wasn't able to ride at all over the weekend. I got out to the barn, brought him in and started grooming.
By the end of curry comb, I was starting to get pretty sore. After using the body brush, it was obvious that the pain in my back was going to be too much to ride. So I put Bentley in a stall and went to text Linda that I wasn't going to ride.
Well she had got caught up in something and couldn't ride that night either.
Since I had already gotten myself to the barn and I didn't want to go home just yet, I brought Maverick in to do some easy (for me!) groundwork.
He was very good at playing follow the leader and would go forward, stop, and back along with me. I was very happy to see this! It makes things so much easier for me not just from a training perspective, but I also didnt have to use too much pressure that can hurt my back.
Once I had gotten to know this, I moved on to asking him to move sideways away from pressure. With my hand, I pressed lightly against his side. No reaction, so I gradually increased the pressure. At about half my top pressure, he started walking forward. Since it wasn't the response I was looking for, I continued increasing pressure on his side while asking him to halt with his face. This was a lot harder than i thought it would be, since I am having difficulty with my left side. So I adapted this exercise to let him walk forward and ask for more of a leg yield by continuing the pressure on his side. As soon as he had the slightest criss cross I rewarded him.
Eventually we got it so I was using much less pressure to get the sideways movement, which made it easier for my back to prevent the forward movement. I wasn't able to get much more than a shift sideways before the forward movement, but I was happy with the progress. I tried putting his nose into the wall, and it just seemed to make him uncomfortable by removing his escape route, so I dropped that idea.
I moved to the other side and the response was much quicker. He seems to be quite logical this way and can adapt one side to the other quite easily. Very happy with that!
From there, I started working with him in circles. I don't think my body is ready to lunge quite yet, so I kept him in close where i could reach from his head to his side with only walking small circles myself. I asked him to move out from his side, allowing him to move forward, but keeping his head in towards me. For a while, it was pretty jagged as he figured out exactly what I was asking. Eventually he picked up the circle and was crossing his feet nicely. Only complaint still was that he was bending from the base of his neck and not through the rest of his body.
We worked both directions, once he had gotten the basics, I asked him to drop his head and try and flex a bit more. I was able to get him to flex a little more through the body but I could tell it was still very difficult and I couldn't ask him to hold it for too long. So brief bend, reward of going straight, and ask again. We will certainly be doing more of this activity in the future!
So pleased with his progress, I called it a day, gave him a massage and turned him and Bentley (who had at that point finished his dinner and discovered that if he banged the stall door, it would swing out and back in what must have been a fun way, and was really bugging all the girls trying to groom) back out to the paddock.
A good day's work!
By the end of curry comb, I was starting to get pretty sore. After using the body brush, it was obvious that the pain in my back was going to be too much to ride. So I put Bentley in a stall and went to text Linda that I wasn't going to ride.
Well she had got caught up in something and couldn't ride that night either.
Since I had already gotten myself to the barn and I didn't want to go home just yet, I brought Maverick in to do some easy (for me!) groundwork.
He was very good at playing follow the leader and would go forward, stop, and back along with me. I was very happy to see this! It makes things so much easier for me not just from a training perspective, but I also didnt have to use too much pressure that can hurt my back.
Once I had gotten to know this, I moved on to asking him to move sideways away from pressure. With my hand, I pressed lightly against his side. No reaction, so I gradually increased the pressure. At about half my top pressure, he started walking forward. Since it wasn't the response I was looking for, I continued increasing pressure on his side while asking him to halt with his face. This was a lot harder than i thought it would be, since I am having difficulty with my left side. So I adapted this exercise to let him walk forward and ask for more of a leg yield by continuing the pressure on his side. As soon as he had the slightest criss cross I rewarded him.
Eventually we got it so I was using much less pressure to get the sideways movement, which made it easier for my back to prevent the forward movement. I wasn't able to get much more than a shift sideways before the forward movement, but I was happy with the progress. I tried putting his nose into the wall, and it just seemed to make him uncomfortable by removing his escape route, so I dropped that idea.
I moved to the other side and the response was much quicker. He seems to be quite logical this way and can adapt one side to the other quite easily. Very happy with that!
From there, I started working with him in circles. I don't think my body is ready to lunge quite yet, so I kept him in close where i could reach from his head to his side with only walking small circles myself. I asked him to move out from his side, allowing him to move forward, but keeping his head in towards me. For a while, it was pretty jagged as he figured out exactly what I was asking. Eventually he picked up the circle and was crossing his feet nicely. Only complaint still was that he was bending from the base of his neck and not through the rest of his body.
We worked both directions, once he had gotten the basics, I asked him to drop his head and try and flex a bit more. I was able to get him to flex a little more through the body but I could tell it was still very difficult and I couldn't ask him to hold it for too long. So brief bend, reward of going straight, and ask again. We will certainly be doing more of this activity in the future!
So pleased with his progress, I called it a day, gave him a massage and turned him and Bentley (who had at that point finished his dinner and discovered that if he banged the stall door, it would swing out and back in what must have been a fun way, and was really bugging all the girls trying to groom) back out to the paddock.
A good day's work!
Friday, September 21, 2012
Another good ride. Then a rest
On Wednesday at about 4:20 (10 minutes before I leave work) I got a message from Linda asking whether or not I wanted to do a lesson with her and Margie as was the routine before Bentley's lameness.
Hmmm. My thought was about how I wasn't able to ride on Tuesday in my lesson because I was too sore from riding on Monday. Do I really want to potentially give up my Thursday and push myself for a lesson? And when am I going to test these trails I have mapped out on paper for the harvest hack? I don't have a lot of evenings with light in them in the near future. So what if I am too sore to test them on Thursday?
After a bit of debating, I decided that if I was to be sore tomorrow, that is a problem for tomorrow, and I should just do the lesson today! So as fast as I could I left work, changed, and got my horse ready for a lesson.
Again, I suspect Bentley must have known that I wasn't in any shape to deal with nonsense, and didn't pull any funny business. He even reduced the number of times he snaked his neck down for nibbles, which is great because trying to pull him up was painful on my back! Or maybe he just wasn't hungry as usual... Margie did think he was pretty darn fat and called him a "round bale with legs"
Most of our lesson focused on trying to keep him in contact. I have a tendency to let the reins drop as soon as he drops his head into a frame. Possibly I am over compensating when trying to soften to reward him for dropping his head down. As a result, we lose the contact even though he is in frame, and he cant hold his balance very long. So getting used to the feeling of keeping shorter reins and making smaller adjustments through my arms.
I also let him lose momentum once he gets into a frame and contact and do a trot so slow I will reserve it for our CTR trot ins! Instead, I am going to have to work on finding the exact amount of pressure to give him with my legs to keep moving forward and into my contact without making him run or lose contact. Again, tiny tiny adjustments to be made.
I am very proud of the fact that our work was focused on such tiny things. Its whats going to take us from a good partnership to a great partnership, and it means that we already have a good partnership! It was nice to feel it coming together like that.
We pleasantly surprised Margie with our canter. I am sure she was prepared for the horse explosion that Bentley usually gives me, but instead he gave the same calm transitions that he showed me and heather in this last week. Hes so funny though, even though there was no explosion, he flips his tail right around every time we make the transition. So cute.
It was nice because instead of just working on getting him to slow down, I was getting instructions to help us with our form. It seems like I bring my outside shoulder back when we canter (even when straight) I am not sure if that's a habit or a result of my sore back. It seemed to be far more severe in the direction where my not-sore side was on the outside. But that was also our first direction, so maybe I just reminded myself enough and corrected it by the time we changed directions.
My back was starting to get pretty sore after a few minutes of cantering both directions. So I called it quits a minute or two early. Besides, it was such a good canter, I was very happy to end on those notes.
We had enough daylight after the lesson so Linda and I tested the trail for the Harvest Hack. I had drawn some potential routes out on paper, and hoped that it would be the 3.5 mile loop we were looking for. Lucky me, it was!
I also didn't hurt quite as much trotting, even over hilly terrain, I guess I must use more of my back when I canter than when I post. Would make a lot of sense.
Another great improvement was our descent down the big hill. That was the one where Bentley would try and run down and then almost bucked me into a tree. However, this time he carefully stepped down without trying to take off. Also listened to my aids to rebalance himself whenever he was getting a little too front heavy.
So overall, a great ride! He is certainly ready for Oktoberfest, I sure hope I am too!
Yesterday i was pretty sore again so instead of riding, I had a nice salt bath and watched some TV. I did have to go over to the barn to give Bentley his dinner, and since we were already in, decided to work on his ground skills again.
Lee worked on backing him up like I had on Sunday, trying to use as little pressure as possible. Eventually I took over and had him walking forwards, stopping and backing up with only my movements (no lead rope) to guide him. Eventually we threw a pole into the equation too.
First I had him walk forward over the pole and stop with only his front feet in front of the pole. I would back up and have him follow back over the pole. For the most part he did this very well, but he didn't seem to actually care whether he stepped half on the pole or not. But at least he didn't refuse and stayed straight.
Next I tried bringing all 4 feet in front of the pole and back completely over. He started out going backwards crooked and made a mess of the pole. Reset it and tried again. Went back straight this time, but again didn't seem to care about actually stepping over the poles. We ended up with both front feet standing on top of the pole like a log roller. Somehow he was content with this. He did back up off the poles when asked. I counted this as a win and that was it for the night. I am hoping all this work will help him back out of the trailer. I guess we will see!
Hmmm. My thought was about how I wasn't able to ride on Tuesday in my lesson because I was too sore from riding on Monday. Do I really want to potentially give up my Thursday and push myself for a lesson? And when am I going to test these trails I have mapped out on paper for the harvest hack? I don't have a lot of evenings with light in them in the near future. So what if I am too sore to test them on Thursday?
After a bit of debating, I decided that if I was to be sore tomorrow, that is a problem for tomorrow, and I should just do the lesson today! So as fast as I could I left work, changed, and got my horse ready for a lesson.
Again, I suspect Bentley must have known that I wasn't in any shape to deal with nonsense, and didn't pull any funny business. He even reduced the number of times he snaked his neck down for nibbles, which is great because trying to pull him up was painful on my back! Or maybe he just wasn't hungry as usual... Margie did think he was pretty darn fat and called him a "round bale with legs"
Most of our lesson focused on trying to keep him in contact. I have a tendency to let the reins drop as soon as he drops his head into a frame. Possibly I am over compensating when trying to soften to reward him for dropping his head down. As a result, we lose the contact even though he is in frame, and he cant hold his balance very long. So getting used to the feeling of keeping shorter reins and making smaller adjustments through my arms.
I also let him lose momentum once he gets into a frame and contact and do a trot so slow I will reserve it for our CTR trot ins! Instead, I am going to have to work on finding the exact amount of pressure to give him with my legs to keep moving forward and into my contact without making him run or lose contact. Again, tiny tiny adjustments to be made.
I am very proud of the fact that our work was focused on such tiny things. Its whats going to take us from a good partnership to a great partnership, and it means that we already have a good partnership! It was nice to feel it coming together like that.
We pleasantly surprised Margie with our canter. I am sure she was prepared for the horse explosion that Bentley usually gives me, but instead he gave the same calm transitions that he showed me and heather in this last week. Hes so funny though, even though there was no explosion, he flips his tail right around every time we make the transition. So cute.
It was nice because instead of just working on getting him to slow down, I was getting instructions to help us with our form. It seems like I bring my outside shoulder back when we canter (even when straight) I am not sure if that's a habit or a result of my sore back. It seemed to be far more severe in the direction where my not-sore side was on the outside. But that was also our first direction, so maybe I just reminded myself enough and corrected it by the time we changed directions.
My back was starting to get pretty sore after a few minutes of cantering both directions. So I called it quits a minute or two early. Besides, it was such a good canter, I was very happy to end on those notes.
We had enough daylight after the lesson so Linda and I tested the trail for the Harvest Hack. I had drawn some potential routes out on paper, and hoped that it would be the 3.5 mile loop we were looking for. Lucky me, it was!
I also didn't hurt quite as much trotting, even over hilly terrain, I guess I must use more of my back when I canter than when I post. Would make a lot of sense.
Another great improvement was our descent down the big hill. That was the one where Bentley would try and run down and then almost bucked me into a tree. However, this time he carefully stepped down without trying to take off. Also listened to my aids to rebalance himself whenever he was getting a little too front heavy.
So overall, a great ride! He is certainly ready for Oktoberfest, I sure hope I am too!
Yesterday i was pretty sore again so instead of riding, I had a nice salt bath and watched some TV. I did have to go over to the barn to give Bentley his dinner, and since we were already in, decided to work on his ground skills again.
Lee worked on backing him up like I had on Sunday, trying to use as little pressure as possible. Eventually I took over and had him walking forwards, stopping and backing up with only my movements (no lead rope) to guide him. Eventually we threw a pole into the equation too.
First I had him walk forward over the pole and stop with only his front feet in front of the pole. I would back up and have him follow back over the pole. For the most part he did this very well, but he didn't seem to actually care whether he stepped half on the pole or not. But at least he didn't refuse and stayed straight.
Next I tried bringing all 4 feet in front of the pole and back completely over. He started out going backwards crooked and made a mess of the pole. Reset it and tried again. Went back straight this time, but again didn't seem to care about actually stepping over the poles. We ended up with both front feet standing on top of the pole like a log roller. Somehow he was content with this. He did back up off the poles when asked. I counted this as a win and that was it for the night. I am hoping all this work will help him back out of the trailer. I guess we will see!
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Barn Cat Cuties
These guys still wont snuggle with me, but they sure do love each other. I thought this was a super cute progression of pictures
They came from opposite sides into a full head-butt
Left together
Went for a roll
Joined up with 3rd cat and disappeared into barn
The cold is here!
Yesterday was mom's birthday and we went out to see the Campaign with Will Ferrell.
After we left the theatre, I was rudely surprised by how cold it was (considering the summer we have had!) and lucky me had my back seize up. Lots and lots of pain by the end of the day.
I was supposed to ride my usual lesson on LBH last night, but since my pain was getting worse through the day, dinner and a movie with the birthday girl sounded much better!
Good news is despite the cold this morning, I am feeling a lot better today. I may try to ride again tonight and see if it kills me again.
Of course, with the cold coming, I need to start thinking about blankets for Bentley. Doing some shopping now but I think its time to get expensive ones. The shedrow ones last year all ripped at the shoulder gussets. Any good suggestions?
After we left the theatre, I was rudely surprised by how cold it was (considering the summer we have had!) and lucky me had my back seize up. Lots and lots of pain by the end of the day.
I was supposed to ride my usual lesson on LBH last night, but since my pain was getting worse through the day, dinner and a movie with the birthday girl sounded much better!
Good news is despite the cold this morning, I am feeling a lot better today. I may try to ride again tonight and see if it kills me again.
Of course, with the cold coming, I need to start thinking about blankets for Bentley. Doing some shopping now but I think its time to get expensive ones. The shedrow ones last year all ripped at the shoulder gussets. Any good suggestions?
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Oktoberfest Plans
Ok, so I know I promised after last time I wasnt going to plan in advance, but planning is my nature and I think I am close enough now to hopefully not jinx myself!
So this is how my Oktoberfest rides are looking:
Saturday
Me and Bentley FINALLY doing our first ride - 12 mile set speed. Shooting for 5.34-5.59 mph which would earn us a grade 1 if his heartrate is as low as 40-41, grade 2 from 41-45, grade 3 from 44-48. Hoping to be somewhere in that range!
Linda and I maybe doing a ride and tie on Sable. Depending on how my back is feeling about running 6-12 miles.
Sunday
Linda does her first 50!
I am riding Desiray (the Pecile's horse) in the 25. Not sure what their goal for her is so I will assume for now we will be shooting for 7mph.
Heather will ride Bentley assuming Saturday goes well. Shooting for speed between 4.04 and 5mph.
Now I just need to figure out how to contain my beast overnight.
So this is how my Oktoberfest rides are looking:
Saturday
Me and Bentley FINALLY doing our first ride - 12 mile set speed. Shooting for 5.34-5.59 mph which would earn us a grade 1 if his heartrate is as low as 40-41, grade 2 from 41-45, grade 3 from 44-48. Hoping to be somewhere in that range!
Linda and I maybe doing a ride and tie on Sable. Depending on how my back is feeling about running 6-12 miles.
Sunday
Linda does her first 50!
I am riding Desiray (the Pecile's horse) in the 25. Not sure what their goal for her is so I will assume for now we will be shooting for 7mph.
Heather will ride Bentley assuming Saturday goes well. Shooting for speed between 4.04 and 5mph.
Now I just need to figure out how to contain my beast overnight.
The Harvest Hack
Its getting time for my favourite GEC event, and by no coincidence, its an event that Linda and I run together. Something about planning a fun day for all just gets my blood flowing right and I cant keep my mind off it!
One thing that I am looking forward to this year is the sheer numbers of people. We easily have double the amount of riders at our barn this year due to last winter's merger with Halton. Not only are there more of them, but many of them actively compete in the schooling shows and outside shows, meaning I get a whole lot of enthusiasm from the bunch, which is contagious to all the riders in the barn. All the events this year have had higher participation than last year.
They also have never done this before, and I love sharing this with new people. Best part is, we will have a lot of riders who did the event last year who can lead the way so to speak. Also, with the mileage program, I think a lot more riders will be more confident in riding the trails and pacing themselves. All these factors in addition to the way things went last year led me to come up with some fun ideas to keep everyone involved and interested.
One thing for sure is that the course will be different. Yes all the same trails will be touched, but in different order!
Second, the gobble gallop will be held at the speed of real OCTRA set speed - bronze level 4-7mph at a higher distance than last year, 10 miles. Since most set speeds start at 12-15 miles, it will be a great indication to riders whether they and their horses might be ready for a real competitive ride.
The minimum speed of the turkey trot has also been boosted so it better reflects the name of the event... in other words, expect to trot a lot!
I have added a 3rd division called the pumpkin plod. This is for our less experienced riders and horses. There is no minimum speed, and the max speed will be that of a fast walk or a medium walk with a little bit of trotting. The pumpkin plod division will also bypass the big scary hill (but will still have some challenging hills to try) and will allow someone on the ground to lead (make sure you bring water shoes!)
Some other changes I made is for the 2 higher divisions, some easy obstacles will be on trail and optional. I am going to try and base it around some things you may see when riding off property.
Some other ideas I have floating around are:
One thing that I am looking forward to this year is the sheer numbers of people. We easily have double the amount of riders at our barn this year due to last winter's merger with Halton. Not only are there more of them, but many of them actively compete in the schooling shows and outside shows, meaning I get a whole lot of enthusiasm from the bunch, which is contagious to all the riders in the barn. All the events this year have had higher participation than last year.
They also have never done this before, and I love sharing this with new people. Best part is, we will have a lot of riders who did the event last year who can lead the way so to speak. Also, with the mileage program, I think a lot more riders will be more confident in riding the trails and pacing themselves. All these factors in addition to the way things went last year led me to come up with some fun ideas to keep everyone involved and interested.
One thing for sure is that the course will be different. Yes all the same trails will be touched, but in different order!
Second, the gobble gallop will be held at the speed of real OCTRA set speed - bronze level 4-7mph at a higher distance than last year, 10 miles. Since most set speeds start at 12-15 miles, it will be a great indication to riders whether they and their horses might be ready for a real competitive ride.
The minimum speed of the turkey trot has also been boosted so it better reflects the name of the event... in other words, expect to trot a lot!
I have added a 3rd division called the pumpkin plod. This is for our less experienced riders and horses. There is no minimum speed, and the max speed will be that of a fast walk or a medium walk with a little bit of trotting. The pumpkin plod division will also bypass the big scary hill (but will still have some challenging hills to try) and will allow someone on the ground to lead (make sure you bring water shoes!)
Some other changes I made is for the 2 higher divisions, some easy obstacles will be on trail and optional. I am going to try and base it around some things you may see when riding off property.
Some other ideas I have floating around are:
- speed signs to help riders choose where they can make up time and where they should take it slow
- maps for everyone
- allow offsite riders (need to figure out what this would entail)
- Maybe offer a ride and tie?
Rehab
So I mentioned in my earlier post about Maverick. After a few minutes last night working with him, I have been deep in thought about him, and actually woke up in the middle of the night thinking of plans and things to try with him, and couldn't get back to sleep!
Maverick came to Heather last year and became her second standardbred project. Within an incredibly short amount of time, she had him broke to ride, and competed him in the GEC schooling shows, placing ahead of other more experienced horses, who were not standardbred! A few months later she took him in our set-speed style event on the property and won!
Winter rolled around and he was having problems with his hocks, Heather gave him the injections that the vet recommended and he slowly came back. I believe this problem came as a result of the track, and was delayed due to the length of time it took to lose track muscle and whatever he may have had in his system. With the injections and patient work, he was showing recovery.
A little bit into his treatment, Heather found a new home for him as she was expecting her first child and wouldn't have time for 2 horses. He came back to her this summer as this home was not able to keep him. Unfortunately, he doesn't seem to be the same horse anymore.
He seems to have lost most of the training and confidence he had gained with Heather before. His balance is very off, and he feels very crooked to ride. Heather doesn't trust him on hacks because of his balance and re-greeness. She asked me to get on him because his trot, while it doesn't look terrible from the ground, has been throwing her out of the saddle. It starts small and works higher and higher like bouncing on a trampoline. I found the same thing with him.
Another issue I found was how utterly impossible it was to ride straight. If we rode straight, he was bent almost 90 degrees to the outside. If I gave him a large open rein to the inside he would straighten out his body and was not so bouncy, but would travel in a circle. He doesn't seem to respond to leg, so the first thing I think he needs is some groundwork to teach him to move off of pressure. What I think is happening is that he doesn't know how to balance himself because of his greenness, off track, and doesn't understand commands that the rider may use to help teach him balance. Its back to square one!
Hopefully I can find myself with some extra time this weekend to try some lunging and see how he balances without a rider. Also try to get him moving off pressure from the ground.
Also, I gave him a good run-over with my hands and found several areas that were hard as rock, particularly in his neck and hindquarters (which would explain a lot about how he rides). Massage will do him well. Also I am going to go through my big book of stretches and exercises that I used to rehab Bentley and see what might work the areas I have targeted without too much stress. Hmm. Not sure where I put that now, I have to find that for Heather!
He may also need chiro, but due to cost, we are going to see what we can get done on our own with massage and stretching, while it wont cure it, perhaps we can alleviate some of the pressure causing him to twist. One thing I did notice was that when he was relaxed in crossties, he would always keep weight to one side with a slight twist. He would square up, but when relaxed again he would revert to this pose.
Heather's goal is to ride him in our Harvest Hack on thanksgiving. I guess I can be thankful the rehab stuff was so fresh in my memory. May be completely different problems from Bentley, but the analysis and planning skills haven't gone away that's for sure! Wish us luck!
Maverick came to Heather last year and became her second standardbred project. Within an incredibly short amount of time, she had him broke to ride, and competed him in the GEC schooling shows, placing ahead of other more experienced horses, who were not standardbred! A few months later she took him in our set-speed style event on the property and won!
Winter rolled around and he was having problems with his hocks, Heather gave him the injections that the vet recommended and he slowly came back. I believe this problem came as a result of the track, and was delayed due to the length of time it took to lose track muscle and whatever he may have had in his system. With the injections and patient work, he was showing recovery.
A little bit into his treatment, Heather found a new home for him as she was expecting her first child and wouldn't have time for 2 horses. He came back to her this summer as this home was not able to keep him. Unfortunately, he doesn't seem to be the same horse anymore.
He seems to have lost most of the training and confidence he had gained with Heather before. His balance is very off, and he feels very crooked to ride. Heather doesn't trust him on hacks because of his balance and re-greeness. She asked me to get on him because his trot, while it doesn't look terrible from the ground, has been throwing her out of the saddle. It starts small and works higher and higher like bouncing on a trampoline. I found the same thing with him.
Another issue I found was how utterly impossible it was to ride straight. If we rode straight, he was bent almost 90 degrees to the outside. If I gave him a large open rein to the inside he would straighten out his body and was not so bouncy, but would travel in a circle. He doesn't seem to respond to leg, so the first thing I think he needs is some groundwork to teach him to move off of pressure. What I think is happening is that he doesn't know how to balance himself because of his greenness, off track, and doesn't understand commands that the rider may use to help teach him balance. Its back to square one!
Hopefully I can find myself with some extra time this weekend to try some lunging and see how he balances without a rider. Also try to get him moving off pressure from the ground.
Also, I gave him a good run-over with my hands and found several areas that were hard as rock, particularly in his neck and hindquarters (which would explain a lot about how he rides). Massage will do him well. Also I am going to go through my big book of stretches and exercises that I used to rehab Bentley and see what might work the areas I have targeted without too much stress. Hmm. Not sure where I put that now, I have to find that for Heather!
He may also need chiro, but due to cost, we are going to see what we can get done on our own with massage and stretching, while it wont cure it, perhaps we can alleviate some of the pressure causing him to twist. One thing I did notice was that when he was relaxed in crossties, he would always keep weight to one side with a slight twist. He would square up, but when relaxed again he would revert to this pose.
Heather's goal is to ride him in our Harvest Hack on thanksgiving. I guess I can be thankful the rehab stuff was so fresh in my memory. May be completely different problems from Bentley, but the analysis and planning skills haven't gone away that's for sure! Wish us luck!
Back in the Saddle
Last night I got on Bentley again for the first time since my fall.
I have to admit, I am a bit more sore waking up today than I was yesterday. I am going to chalk that up also partly due to the miserable weather.
****Added - also partly due to the fact my 10 day supply of antiinflammitories ended yesterday (early) because one arthritic boyfriend kept sneaking pills from my stash!
Somehow we managed to get somewhere around 7.5 miles done that evening without too much pain. That included walk, trot and canter.
Other than my mere survival of the ride, there was a ton to rave about. It was one of those perfect rides! I don't know if Bentley sensed my need for a good ride, if the supplements are cooling him out totally, or if he is just enjoying work so much he has no reason to goof off, but he was wonderful! Absolutely no funny business, great enthusiastic gaits, relaxed and happy through all the movements, no spooking (thank goodness, I cant imagine what would happen if i was suddenly wrenched sideways!) and perfect canter transitions maintaining through to happy calm canters.
We even saw deer twice while we were riding alone in the corn fields. First they were statues on the other side of the fence about 25 feet from us. It was a doe and her fawn. Either he didn't notice or didn't care. Head didn't even turn their direction. Next lap we came trotting down the centre of the fields since I didn't want to spoil their dinner with our speed, but they had moved into our fields and once again were 25 feet away. They bounded away, over the fence and through the trees, their little white tails flapping. Bentley looked and got a little excited, but kept his cool and we both watched the deer disappear while keeping our trot. How many 4 year olds do that!?
The whole time I could walk, trot, and canter on a loose rein and he didn't try and take advantage and run his excitement out.
Heather and Jay rode with us for one last lap around the fields, Maverick spooked at something and heather fell and landed on her ankle, rolling it. Bentley didn't seem to think much of the situation, and let Jay hold him mounted while I helped Heather get back on.
After darkness fell, we worked in the ring for a while and again he was brilliant, we had an audience, so that's always nice! Worked a bit on happy canters and trotting leg yields and for the most part he got them. However the tractor, visible only by its headlights at that time, was out delivering roundbales to the paddocks beside the ring and merited a good look instead of a leg yield. Cant blame him, that thing must be scary for him and I figured he would be through the roof! A look isn't bad at all.
We finished the night with Heather and I switching horses, she wanted me to try Mav to see if I noticed something (which i will write about in another post) and she had a nice trot with Bentley too, always a good pickmeup after a rougher ride with the standardbreds :)
I have to admit, I am a bit more sore waking up today than I was yesterday. I am going to chalk that up also partly due to the miserable weather.
****Added - also partly due to the fact my 10 day supply of antiinflammitories ended yesterday (early) because one arthritic boyfriend kept sneaking pills from my stash!
Somehow we managed to get somewhere around 7.5 miles done that evening without too much pain. That included walk, trot and canter.
Other than my mere survival of the ride, there was a ton to rave about. It was one of those perfect rides! I don't know if Bentley sensed my need for a good ride, if the supplements are cooling him out totally, or if he is just enjoying work so much he has no reason to goof off, but he was wonderful! Absolutely no funny business, great enthusiastic gaits, relaxed and happy through all the movements, no spooking (thank goodness, I cant imagine what would happen if i was suddenly wrenched sideways!) and perfect canter transitions maintaining through to happy calm canters.
We even saw deer twice while we were riding alone in the corn fields. First they were statues on the other side of the fence about 25 feet from us. It was a doe and her fawn. Either he didn't notice or didn't care. Head didn't even turn their direction. Next lap we came trotting down the centre of the fields since I didn't want to spoil their dinner with our speed, but they had moved into our fields and once again were 25 feet away. They bounded away, over the fence and through the trees, their little white tails flapping. Bentley looked and got a little excited, but kept his cool and we both watched the deer disappear while keeping our trot. How many 4 year olds do that!?
The whole time I could walk, trot, and canter on a loose rein and he didn't try and take advantage and run his excitement out.
Heather and Jay rode with us for one last lap around the fields, Maverick spooked at something and heather fell and landed on her ankle, rolling it. Bentley didn't seem to think much of the situation, and let Jay hold him mounted while I helped Heather get back on.
After darkness fell, we worked in the ring for a while and again he was brilliant, we had an audience, so that's always nice! Worked a bit on happy canters and trotting leg yields and for the most part he got them. However the tractor, visible only by its headlights at that time, was out delivering roundbales to the paddocks beside the ring and merited a good look instead of a leg yield. Cant blame him, that thing must be scary for him and I figured he would be through the roof! A look isn't bad at all.
We finished the night with Heather and I switching horses, she wanted me to try Mav to see if I noticed something (which i will write about in another post) and she had a nice trot with Bentley too, always a good pickmeup after a rougher ride with the standardbreds :)
Monday, September 17, 2012
More Abbey Snuggles
Abbey fell head over paws in love with Lee's brother in the week that he was living with us. Here are some pictures of her waiting for him to come home one night.
Update on my ouchies
Well it has been about 5 1/2 days since my fall, and I have to say, I am impressed with my body's ability to heal itself. I haven't been sick or injured in so long, I don't think I knew what to expect.
As I mentioned in my earlier post, I had enough in me to go for a good walk on Saturday.
On Sunday, I took Bentley out for some free lunging. It was still pretty sore to groom him, but walking (and sometimes running) around chasing him in the ring wasn't so bad!
I have officially determined that T3s don't do anything for me. In fact, they have almost the opposite effect. Instead of getting drowsy along with pain relief, I don't experience any relief, get a bit of a headache, and it keeps me about as alert as half a cup of coffee. So I am giving up on those!
Yes I still have some pain, but it doesn't get any worse with activity. Its more like something in my back and the base of my neck is pinched, certain types of movement remind me its there... quite rudely, but for the most part I am functioning normally.
I hope to get back in the saddle tonight. We will see how this goes!
As I mentioned in my earlier post, I had enough in me to go for a good walk on Saturday.
On Sunday, I took Bentley out for some free lunging. It was still pretty sore to groom him, but walking (and sometimes running) around chasing him in the ring wasn't so bad!
I have officially determined that T3s don't do anything for me. In fact, they have almost the opposite effect. Instead of getting drowsy along with pain relief, I don't experience any relief, get a bit of a headache, and it keeps me about as alert as half a cup of coffee. So I am giving up on those!
Yes I still have some pain, but it doesn't get any worse with activity. Its more like something in my back and the base of my neck is pinched, certain types of movement remind me its there... quite rudely, but for the most part I am functioning normally.
I hope to get back in the saddle tonight. We will see how this goes!
Heather on Bentley
My back and neck pain has been steadily improving. Enough so that on Saturday, I was able to walk down to the plateau and give a lesson for a little over an hour (and I walk a LOT when I teach).
Since I was not yet well enough to go in the saddle, my sister had the chance to ride Bentley and got a lesson on the house ;) Here is a compilation of clips. Look how great they are!
It was a good thing for me too, not only did my body feel great after (I'm sure partly due to walking and stretching, partly due to me forgetting about myself and focusing entirely on other stuff) but I noticed a lot of the same things wrong with Heather's position as my own. Its one thing to hear "legs back legs back legs back" and try and consciously make an effort to keep them there, its another to see the effect from the ground.
Since I was not yet well enough to go in the saddle, my sister had the chance to ride Bentley and got a lesson on the house ;) Here is a compilation of clips. Look how great they are!
It was a good thing for me too, not only did my body feel great after (I'm sure partly due to walking and stretching, partly due to me forgetting about myself and focusing entirely on other stuff) but I noticed a lot of the same things wrong with Heather's position as my own. Its one thing to hear "legs back legs back legs back" and try and consciously make an effort to keep them there, its another to see the effect from the ground.
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
About Last Night
Since I have posted a few hints on facebook and in talking to a few people, so I figured I would just tell the story to dispell the worry that may be brewing.
I apologize in advance as I have some T3s in my system so please excuse any typos or any other strange things that might pop up!
I had my usual Myrddin lesson on LBH. Until one point, I thought I was having the best lesson and riding my best to date.
We were jumping a 3' line: short approach to oxer, one long stride to a vertical. I wasnt getting enough speed for the height and distance for our first few trips through and kept getting a long spot. So pushing him through on another attempt, his off/on switch clicked in and instead of a nice canter, 2nd jump was done in a gallop. Thats where the naughtiniess happened, we landed, he bucked, bolted, and bucked and I came off.
I landed on my back, skidded about 12' due to speed and came to an abrupt stop as the top of my head hit the wall. Thank goodness for a helmet! I could certainly feel the pressure from my head to the base of my neck, immediately looked at the top of my helmet to see "how bad" and there is no external damage to the helmet, not sure about inside. It did take me a minute to get my thoughts together and test myself out before I got up. Usually I spring right up from the ground. Biggest complaint at that point was my neck and somehow both of my calf muscles got pulled and were solid and sore.
I got back on, completed the line while finding the line between too slow and too fast, and then did it as part of a course. Usually we do the course twice but my back was hurting really bad on the left side at that point so I asked to call it a night after an acceptable course.
Hurt more to get off the horse again than it did getting back on. I untacked, bandaged and all that stuff with some pain but I think i was running on some adrenaline. Nathan, the other student did a flash test to make sure i didnt hace a concussion.
Got home and it was very difficult to get out of the car, walk, or even breathe. After about an hour of debating with Lee, he made me go to the hospital. The pain in my back on the left side is excruciating and I chose not to sit at the hospital since trying to sit/stand hurts the most. After a few hours of waiting, a doctor poked me a few times and determined since i was only sore to move, not sore to the touch(no matter how terrible the pain was), there were no broken ribs which was what we were worried about.
So I was diagnosed with a sprained neck and severe muscle damage in my back. Got a prescription for physio, anti-inflammitories and T3s. They had me take 2 of the Ts before bed and I was told it would be enough to ease my pain and knock me out for the night. Neither of those happened and I had absolutely no sleep. Thats just to give you an idea how much pain really was there.
In the morning, it would take me to about the count of 100 to sit or stand, about 5 minutes to get in or out of the car. After picking up my prescriptin I was able to have a good long nap for most of the afternoon. Now I am able to get out of bed comparitively easily and no pain when when i breathe anymore. However, my neck is much more stiff and achey.
To make matters worse however, Lee had a flareup from the stress of bringing me to the hospital, this time in his knee, so we are both gimpy and he is sneaking from my prescription. I am not really in a position to stop him. Girlfriend abuse!!!!
I apologize in advance as I have some T3s in my system so please excuse any typos or any other strange things that might pop up!
I had my usual Myrddin lesson on LBH. Until one point, I thought I was having the best lesson and riding my best to date.
We were jumping a 3' line: short approach to oxer, one long stride to a vertical. I wasnt getting enough speed for the height and distance for our first few trips through and kept getting a long spot. So pushing him through on another attempt, his off/on switch clicked in and instead of a nice canter, 2nd jump was done in a gallop. Thats where the naughtiniess happened, we landed, he bucked, bolted, and bucked and I came off.
I landed on my back, skidded about 12' due to speed and came to an abrupt stop as the top of my head hit the wall. Thank goodness for a helmet! I could certainly feel the pressure from my head to the base of my neck, immediately looked at the top of my helmet to see "how bad" and there is no external damage to the helmet, not sure about inside. It did take me a minute to get my thoughts together and test myself out before I got up. Usually I spring right up from the ground. Biggest complaint at that point was my neck and somehow both of my calf muscles got pulled and were solid and sore.
I got back on, completed the line while finding the line between too slow and too fast, and then did it as part of a course. Usually we do the course twice but my back was hurting really bad on the left side at that point so I asked to call it a night after an acceptable course.
Hurt more to get off the horse again than it did getting back on. I untacked, bandaged and all that stuff with some pain but I think i was running on some adrenaline. Nathan, the other student did a flash test to make sure i didnt hace a concussion.
Got home and it was very difficult to get out of the car, walk, or even breathe. After about an hour of debating with Lee, he made me go to the hospital. The pain in my back on the left side is excruciating and I chose not to sit at the hospital since trying to sit/stand hurts the most. After a few hours of waiting, a doctor poked me a few times and determined since i was only sore to move, not sore to the touch(no matter how terrible the pain was), there were no broken ribs which was what we were worried about.
So I was diagnosed with a sprained neck and severe muscle damage in my back. Got a prescription for physio, anti-inflammitories and T3s. They had me take 2 of the Ts before bed and I was told it would be enough to ease my pain and knock me out for the night. Neither of those happened and I had absolutely no sleep. Thats just to give you an idea how much pain really was there.
In the morning, it would take me to about the count of 100 to sit or stand, about 5 minutes to get in or out of the car. After picking up my prescriptin I was able to have a good long nap for most of the afternoon. Now I am able to get out of bed comparitively easily and no pain when when i breathe anymore. However, my neck is much more stiff and achey.
To make matters worse however, Lee had a flareup from the stress of bringing me to the hospital, this time in his knee, so we are both gimpy and he is sneaking from my prescription. I am not really in a position to stop him. Girlfriend abuse!!!!
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Bentley Update including (only slightly) sad news.
Ok I will get it over with right away. Sad news is I couldn't find anyone to trailer Bentley up to Myrddin next Sunday, so we won't be doing the show. I guess its not so bad, instead I can use the $ for more lessons and really rock it next year. See, that news is only slightly sad!
The good news far outweighs the bad. Bentley is looking pretty fine! I took him out both Sunday and Monday, and even started canter work with him again (expecting we would need to practise this for the dressage show this weekend as it was still the plan at that time)
Sunday I just rode in the ring as it had recently rained and I was worried about slippery conditions in the grass. He was a little pokey at the trot, ok lets say it was relaxed and quiet. Nothing to be too worried about. He worried me for a few moments with a bit of a bob, but I think it was stiffness and getting comfortable with the muddy sand footing. I am not sure if Lily rode him or not while I was "gone" which would explain some stiffness. I still slightly hold on to the theory that not exercising him makes him lame since that seems to be the common denominator. So I was nervous that his lack of activity in the past week had caused it again.
No cause for concern however, he worked out of it and grudgingly splashed through the puddles (he hates mud!) Since it was going well and we needed to work on the canter, I went around the outside of the ring both ways. He picked up both leads easily and didn't try any funny business... until it was time to trot again. Then he made it clear he wasn't quite ready to be done cantering and we spent several laps "discussing" the choice to trot. Eventually he calmed down, I gave him a walk, and it was time to work on cantering 20m circles. The dressage test would require us to trot a 20m circle, pick up canter on the last quadrant, circle 20m at the canter, go straight and back to trot. The first half was very easy, it is never hard to ask him to go up a gear. Returning to trot wasn't terrible either. However, keeping that trot was another question. Every time I circled or asked for bend it was a cue for canter in his head. This led us to doing 20m circles endlessly trying to alternate between canter and trot. Many of those trot circles became rhombus, trapezoids, and isosceles triangles. Well, maybe all forms of triangles and other geometric shapes. The pattern was starting to occur that whenever we would near a jump, the nose would go up, ignored the steering, and veer straight for the standard resulting in me panicking last minute, and a hard tug and weight shift to the inside. Leg wasn't working either because any leg was again; cue to canter. Woo. I was really sweating in fear we would both end up on top of those jumps!
In this case, I just had to tough it out and win the argument. None of us ended up hurt and eventually Bentley realized it was more fun to work with me than argue. Or maybe he was just tired? Or maybe he thought something else? Either way, one loop it just seemed to click and we got the happy canter loop then the happy trot loop and I called it a day!
Monday I took a different approach. We started in the plateau and had a nice long warmup. Its starting to get cold and the last thing I want to do is neglect a warmup, even if it IS dark less than half an hour into my ride. When I asked Bentley to trot... wow! How do I even describe it? He was so eager and felt so great! My GPS didn't track us as any faster than usual (about 8mph) but did he ever feel like he was going fast! He was lifting his legs up high, stretching out beautifully, and very obviously enjoying himself! It was THE BEST TROT that I have felt from him to date. I gave him his head to see what he would do with all that energy, and he was brilliant, no trying to run or be silly, just continued on with a steady happy trot. No witnesses (other than lee) to it, but I can imagine what it must be like to watch it, it would be one of those trots that would silence the crowd and make you forget to breathe.
After lots of that, it was time to canter in the plateau. Its very different out there because if you let them, they can take advantage of the space and stretch out and really motor... which is exactly what Bentley likes to do. Here is where my different approach came into play. Instead of asking for calm canter right away, I let him have his fun. We had zippy canter ranging from 14-19mph. Usually that's when his brain leaves his head (if we were in the ring) but we had fine steering and I was able to do some comfortable large circles. However I cant keep up with that speed in my hips so I am sure he wasn't too pleased about my bumping around on his back. Once we had the zippy fun stuff out of the way, a plan of half halting every other stride was put into action and he developed a nice hunter canter of 12mph. It became very sane, relaxed, and fun for me!
After that, it was almost completely dark. We went back up but the outdoor with lights was PACKED full of kids, so I went into the indoor. Bit of a mistake there, Bentley was spooking to the extreme at one corner of the ring. How am I supposed to work on our dressage test when he isn't paying any attention to me? lee told me that I should be working on the indoor problems anyway, but I countered with "I have all winter to work on that!" Eventually Bentley would go to the one side of the arena, but we were still having issues with straightness. Seriously, Bentley looked like an upside down L to the outside. He was not letting the wall out of his sight, which meant no inside bend, and making it IMPOSSIBLE to get the correct canter lead. Again, had to trooper through it with the tiniest of improvements each time. Eventually I found the best solution to be was avoid the ends of the arena and just trot and canter a big 20m circle in the centre. Not a 100% win, but enough to be happy with the result!
Also, I let "Crazy Sarah" out for a bit of the arena ride. I removed my stirrups and practised sitting trot (which Bentley has very little experience or patience with) and some posting trot. I learned a lot by doing this. One is that I have allowed myself to get severely out of shape in my core and have difficulty in my balance as a result. There were a few times I had to grab the pommel and hold myself down, other times I would just like to forget. Not my finest moments! I used to do a lot of work without stirrups, but I hadn't been comfortable enough with Bentley to do it, and he takes so little encouragement to go or bend that I am not surprised that I have lost a lot of strength from my core down. (oh did I mention hes brilliant at leg yielding at both walk and trot now, barely even have to touch him!)
Another thing I learned, or at least was reminded of, was how terrible the position of my lower leg is while trotting. I have a tendency to push my legs forward instead of keeping my ankles beneath my hip. So when I lost the stirrups, and my leg was where it should be, Bentley got all worked up because he isn't used to feeling my leg that far back against my side (well... unless we CANTER!!!!!) So it was a little extra motivation to work on that. Motivation meaning I almost got dumped in one corner every single time we passed.
One other thing crazy Sarah tried before calling it a night was cantering stirrupless in the good canter direction (for the first time ever). No problems there! I think Bentley was relieved to have me stop bumping so much. Hopefully we can find a way to cool him out while improving me too so I can keep doing stirrupless work. I actually love it and think it is one of the most important skills to learn... especially after 25 miles on the trail when my knees start screaming!
The good news far outweighs the bad. Bentley is looking pretty fine! I took him out both Sunday and Monday, and even started canter work with him again (expecting we would need to practise this for the dressage show this weekend as it was still the plan at that time)
Sunday I just rode in the ring as it had recently rained and I was worried about slippery conditions in the grass. He was a little pokey at the trot, ok lets say it was relaxed and quiet. Nothing to be too worried about. He worried me for a few moments with a bit of a bob, but I think it was stiffness and getting comfortable with the muddy sand footing. I am not sure if Lily rode him or not while I was "gone" which would explain some stiffness. I still slightly hold on to the theory that not exercising him makes him lame since that seems to be the common denominator. So I was nervous that his lack of activity in the past week had caused it again.
No cause for concern however, he worked out of it and grudgingly splashed through the puddles (he hates mud!) Since it was going well and we needed to work on the canter, I went around the outside of the ring both ways. He picked up both leads easily and didn't try any funny business... until it was time to trot again. Then he made it clear he wasn't quite ready to be done cantering and we spent several laps "discussing" the choice to trot. Eventually he calmed down, I gave him a walk, and it was time to work on cantering 20m circles. The dressage test would require us to trot a 20m circle, pick up canter on the last quadrant, circle 20m at the canter, go straight and back to trot. The first half was very easy, it is never hard to ask him to go up a gear. Returning to trot wasn't terrible either. However, keeping that trot was another question. Every time I circled or asked for bend it was a cue for canter in his head. This led us to doing 20m circles endlessly trying to alternate between canter and trot. Many of those trot circles became rhombus, trapezoids, and isosceles triangles. Well, maybe all forms of triangles and other geometric shapes. The pattern was starting to occur that whenever we would near a jump, the nose would go up, ignored the steering, and veer straight for the standard resulting in me panicking last minute, and a hard tug and weight shift to the inside. Leg wasn't working either because any leg was again; cue to canter. Woo. I was really sweating in fear we would both end up on top of those jumps!
In this case, I just had to tough it out and win the argument. None of us ended up hurt and eventually Bentley realized it was more fun to work with me than argue. Or maybe he was just tired? Or maybe he thought something else? Either way, one loop it just seemed to click and we got the happy canter loop then the happy trot loop and I called it a day!
Monday I took a different approach. We started in the plateau and had a nice long warmup. Its starting to get cold and the last thing I want to do is neglect a warmup, even if it IS dark less than half an hour into my ride. When I asked Bentley to trot... wow! How do I even describe it? He was so eager and felt so great! My GPS didn't track us as any faster than usual (about 8mph) but did he ever feel like he was going fast! He was lifting his legs up high, stretching out beautifully, and very obviously enjoying himself! It was THE BEST TROT that I have felt from him to date. I gave him his head to see what he would do with all that energy, and he was brilliant, no trying to run or be silly, just continued on with a steady happy trot. No witnesses (other than lee) to it, but I can imagine what it must be like to watch it, it would be one of those trots that would silence the crowd and make you forget to breathe.
After lots of that, it was time to canter in the plateau. Its very different out there because if you let them, they can take advantage of the space and stretch out and really motor... which is exactly what Bentley likes to do. Here is where my different approach came into play. Instead of asking for calm canter right away, I let him have his fun. We had zippy canter ranging from 14-19mph. Usually that's when his brain leaves his head (if we were in the ring) but we had fine steering and I was able to do some comfortable large circles. However I cant keep up with that speed in my hips so I am sure he wasn't too pleased about my bumping around on his back. Once we had the zippy fun stuff out of the way, a plan of half halting every other stride was put into action and he developed a nice hunter canter of 12mph. It became very sane, relaxed, and fun for me!
After that, it was almost completely dark. We went back up but the outdoor with lights was PACKED full of kids, so I went into the indoor. Bit of a mistake there, Bentley was spooking to the extreme at one corner of the ring. How am I supposed to work on our dressage test when he isn't paying any attention to me? lee told me that I should be working on the indoor problems anyway, but I countered with "I have all winter to work on that!" Eventually Bentley would go to the one side of the arena, but we were still having issues with straightness. Seriously, Bentley looked like an upside down L to the outside. He was not letting the wall out of his sight, which meant no inside bend, and making it IMPOSSIBLE to get the correct canter lead. Again, had to trooper through it with the tiniest of improvements each time. Eventually I found the best solution to be was avoid the ends of the arena and just trot and canter a big 20m circle in the centre. Not a 100% win, but enough to be happy with the result!
Also, I let "Crazy Sarah" out for a bit of the arena ride. I removed my stirrups and practised sitting trot (which Bentley has very little experience or patience with) and some posting trot. I learned a lot by doing this. One is that I have allowed myself to get severely out of shape in my core and have difficulty in my balance as a result. There were a few times I had to grab the pommel and hold myself down, other times I would just like to forget. Not my finest moments! I used to do a lot of work without stirrups, but I hadn't been comfortable enough with Bentley to do it, and he takes so little encouragement to go or bend that I am not surprised that I have lost a lot of strength from my core down. (oh did I mention hes brilliant at leg yielding at both walk and trot now, barely even have to touch him!)
Another thing I learned, or at least was reminded of, was how terrible the position of my lower leg is while trotting. I have a tendency to push my legs forward instead of keeping my ankles beneath my hip. So when I lost the stirrups, and my leg was where it should be, Bentley got all worked up because he isn't used to feeling my leg that far back against my side (well... unless we CANTER!!!!!) So it was a little extra motivation to work on that. Motivation meaning I almost got dumped in one corner every single time we passed.
One other thing crazy Sarah tried before calling it a night was cantering stirrupless in the good canter direction (for the first time ever). No problems there! I think Bentley was relieved to have me stop bumping so much. Hopefully we can find a way to cool him out while improving me too so I can keep doing stirrupless work. I actually love it and think it is one of the most important skills to learn... especially after 25 miles on the trail when my knees start screaming!
Passive Aggressive Ideas
I have to drive through Brampton to get to work. Every day it seems that the drivers get worse and worse. The start of September has also brought extra traffic, yesterday it took me an hour and a half to get to work (which is only a 35km commute).
There is a little something special about Brampton drivers. To say they lack common sense is an understatement. I sometimes wonder if they are even human, or if they are cattle crammed behind the wheels of SUVs and large sedans.
I came up with an idea for another blog, but I am still pondering the legalities of it. Every time I see someone do something dangerous, rude or downright illegal, I want to take a picture of their car and post it on the Internet for everyone to see. I think it would make for a great blog where people could submit their rude drivers and vent it out, and see all the fun stories about the terrible drivers out there. Not sure if posting that sort of stuff is legal, particularly due to the fact that I would have to whip out my camera phone while driving.
HOWEVER.
This morning I chose to take the train to save the stress of driving, and while waiting for my friend and co-worker to pick me up, I saw lots of rude Brampton drivers doing what they do best... ignoring all posted laws/rules of the parking lot. So here they are!
There is a little something special about Brampton drivers. To say they lack common sense is an understatement. I sometimes wonder if they are even human, or if they are cattle crammed behind the wheels of SUVs and large sedans.
I came up with an idea for another blog, but I am still pondering the legalities of it. Every time I see someone do something dangerous, rude or downright illegal, I want to take a picture of their car and post it on the Internet for everyone to see. I think it would make for a great blog where people could submit their rude drivers and vent it out, and see all the fun stories about the terrible drivers out there. Not sure if posting that sort of stuff is legal, particularly due to the fact that I would have to whip out my camera phone while driving.
HOWEVER.
This morning I chose to take the train to save the stress of driving, and while waiting for my friend and co-worker to pick me up, I saw lots of rude Brampton drivers doing what they do best... ignoring all posted laws/rules of the parking lot. So here they are!
That first lane is a no vehicle zone (fire route) the second lane is a thru lane, meaning don't block the damn thing! Both these cars are in park.
Another winner parked in the no car zone. Literally stayed there for 10 minutes until their passenger got out. I timed them.
This person was also in the no car zone, but wasn't quite as long there. Maybe 5 minutes of blocking fire route.
Red car parked in both the no car zone and the thru lane. As a result, silver car who only intended on blocking one lane, parked diagonally in both lanes.
Another big honkin SUV blocking the fire lane. Again, they sat there for an eternity in fire route time.
Whats another van in the no car zone when its already blocked?
This was my favourite. There were almost no cars around (at least 2-3 lanes of kiss and ride dropoff parking available) Parks diagonally across the thru lane and into the fire lane. Stays for at least 5-10 minutes (i had left partway through)
What a fine sampling of Brampton. Can you imagine what happens on the roads?
What a great feeling to vent, it somehow makes the traffic and stress that much more tolerable.
Monday, September 10, 2012
Friday, September 7, 2012
Busy weekend ahead!
On Wednesday night, instead of my usual evening spent at the barn, I took to the park with Cassie and Mat to do engagement photos.
Backtrack a little, we have been trying to do this for the best part of summer, pretty much ever since they asked me to be the photographer for their wedding. Between my crazy schedule and their crazy schedules, it ended up taking a few months. In fact, the wedding is TOMORROW.
No room for error here.
We had a great time at the park and their doggie Rocky joined in on the fun. I was pleased that I was able to take acceptable shots since I haven't really picked up my camera at all this summer! Also, I always say I want a new camera, but my good little G10 always pulls through some great shots. It may not be capable of adding telephoto lenses or any other gadgets, but its really a great piece of machinery, even though it is quite out of date by today's standards.
In my excitement for the shoot, I treated myself to a tripod. I have never owned one, and it was the perfect excuse to get one. I didn't go high end or anything, but it does its job. Best part about it, has a bubble level and was really quick to adjust, so even when we were down on the river bank, I was able to get straight shots. Only downside is I have to shoot landscape, and for these occasions, I would love to be shooting portrait. I guess that's where I just have to edit!
Lee's dad printed them for us and express shipped them to me. I received them earlier today and am very pleased with the results. I think they are going to be very happy with their photos AND their NEW LIFE!
Rehearsal is tonight, wedding is tomorrow. I am following Cassie to all of her appointments, so I am going to be very busy!
I will share the engagement photos after the wedding, I want Cassie and Mat to be the first to see them!
Backtrack a little, we have been trying to do this for the best part of summer, pretty much ever since they asked me to be the photographer for their wedding. Between my crazy schedule and their crazy schedules, it ended up taking a few months. In fact, the wedding is TOMORROW.
No room for error here.
We had a great time at the park and their doggie Rocky joined in on the fun. I was pleased that I was able to take acceptable shots since I haven't really picked up my camera at all this summer! Also, I always say I want a new camera, but my good little G10 always pulls through some great shots. It may not be capable of adding telephoto lenses or any other gadgets, but its really a great piece of machinery, even though it is quite out of date by today's standards.
In my excitement for the shoot, I treated myself to a tripod. I have never owned one, and it was the perfect excuse to get one. I didn't go high end or anything, but it does its job. Best part about it, has a bubble level and was really quick to adjust, so even when we were down on the river bank, I was able to get straight shots. Only downside is I have to shoot landscape, and for these occasions, I would love to be shooting portrait. I guess that's where I just have to edit!
Lee's dad printed them for us and express shipped them to me. I received them earlier today and am very pleased with the results. I think they are going to be very happy with their photos AND their NEW LIFE!
Rehearsal is tonight, wedding is tomorrow. I am following Cassie to all of her appointments, so I am going to be very busy!
I will share the engagement photos after the wedding, I want Cassie and Mat to be the first to see them!
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Another Myrddin Lesson
Last night I had my usual lesson again on LBH. We started out in the outdoor ring which was more of a swamp than a sand ring. Got some lovely mud splashed up to MY elbows, and LB has to be about 15.3hh! Of course, since we were starting at 8pm, darkness fell quickly and we moved into the indoor! Yay! Usually I am game to ride in all circumstances, but cantering weaving through jumps (the ring was packed) with deep water in the dark wasn't so fun, I could barely see where the jumps were to avoid them (and I think one terrifying castle one must have been set to about 4 feet... don't want to go over that by accident!)
What was worse was I was embarrassed by my feet, since I mounted in the muck, i had wet sand all over my boots, making the stirrups feel more like a slip and slide. I just couldn't keep them on! Has anyone ever begged a coach to do stirrupless work? I honestly hate cantering in stirrups, I just tense up and byebye! The sand was just that extra bit of oil on the slip and slide.
So moving to the indoor, I brushed off as much as the sand as I could. It felt a lot better, but I still couldn't get those lower legs under control. I grip far too much with the thighs and not enough with the calf. I am going to have to make a conscious effort over the next little while to separate movement from the lower leg to the rest of my body.
Once we got into the jumping part of our lesson, this lower leg thing was elevated. Margie made me put my stirrups even higher than my usual jumping length, I felt like a jockey haha. She told me she "remembered" how I liked my extra long stirrups, and it didn't sound like a good thing! Oops! I guess I should save that length for the trail!
I do have to admit, crunching my legs up like that did make me feel more secure although it was a lot harder to get LB moving and bending around my leg. He isn't nearly as flexible as Bentley. In fact, the comparison I can best think of is riding a brick vs riding a gummy worm. Bentley is flexible, but lots of times can be too wiggly. Hes also very sensitive to what I do. LB takes very strong leg and feels almost impossible for me to bend (though we did get some, it wasn't always consistent) but can keep straight well and is a lot more trustworthy when I screw up and ride terribly! So big differences going from one horse to another.
I went into my lesson debating whether to ask Margie about taking LB in the short course in 2 weeks. My poor riding and difficulty in the lesson stopped me from asking. However, I did ask about trailering Bentley. She had some suggestions of people who may have extra room in the trailer and would be passing by our farm. I think my gut was telling me that while it would be fun to do the jumping component of the short course, I would rather have a great dressage round on my own horse and forgo the jumping. I am just not ready to jump a full course in competition yet, and I think it would be better to set myself up for success the first time out. Well, success in the trot at least. I am guessing the moment we have to canter our dressage score will blow up in "excitement" but it does sound a lot better than having a poorer dressage score and only a satisfactory jumping round.
Don't get me wrong, LB is fine, but the lack of sensitivity and me not being used to using hard leg the first time means we have slow transitions and i have trouble moving him into the connection. Also, I wont have much time to practise the dressage test with LB and I am equally worried about forgetting the movements and becoming "lost on trail". Practising it on one horse and performing it on another just doesn't seem like a good idea, I wont be able to predict and prevent!
What was worse was I was embarrassed by my feet, since I mounted in the muck, i had wet sand all over my boots, making the stirrups feel more like a slip and slide. I just couldn't keep them on! Has anyone ever begged a coach to do stirrupless work? I honestly hate cantering in stirrups, I just tense up and byebye! The sand was just that extra bit of oil on the slip and slide.
So moving to the indoor, I brushed off as much as the sand as I could. It felt a lot better, but I still couldn't get those lower legs under control. I grip far too much with the thighs and not enough with the calf. I am going to have to make a conscious effort over the next little while to separate movement from the lower leg to the rest of my body.
Once we got into the jumping part of our lesson, this lower leg thing was elevated. Margie made me put my stirrups even higher than my usual jumping length, I felt like a jockey haha. She told me she "remembered" how I liked my extra long stirrups, and it didn't sound like a good thing! Oops! I guess I should save that length for the trail!
I do have to admit, crunching my legs up like that did make me feel more secure although it was a lot harder to get LB moving and bending around my leg. He isn't nearly as flexible as Bentley. In fact, the comparison I can best think of is riding a brick vs riding a gummy worm. Bentley is flexible, but lots of times can be too wiggly. Hes also very sensitive to what I do. LB takes very strong leg and feels almost impossible for me to bend (though we did get some, it wasn't always consistent) but can keep straight well and is a lot more trustworthy when I screw up and ride terribly! So big differences going from one horse to another.
I went into my lesson debating whether to ask Margie about taking LB in the short course in 2 weeks. My poor riding and difficulty in the lesson stopped me from asking. However, I did ask about trailering Bentley. She had some suggestions of people who may have extra room in the trailer and would be passing by our farm. I think my gut was telling me that while it would be fun to do the jumping component of the short course, I would rather have a great dressage round on my own horse and forgo the jumping. I am just not ready to jump a full course in competition yet, and I think it would be better to set myself up for success the first time out. Well, success in the trot at least. I am guessing the moment we have to canter our dressage score will blow up in "excitement" but it does sound a lot better than having a poorer dressage score and only a satisfactory jumping round.
Don't get me wrong, LB is fine, but the lack of sensitivity and me not being used to using hard leg the first time means we have slow transitions and i have trouble moving him into the connection. Also, I wont have much time to practise the dressage test with LB and I am equally worried about forgetting the movements and becoming "lost on trail". Practising it on one horse and performing it on another just doesn't seem like a good idea, I wont be able to predict and prevent!
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Abbey gets poofy tail
The photo may not have been in focus, I had to act fast. But when Abbey gets startled, scared or playful, she sometimes gets poofy tail.
Love when this happens!
Progress with Bentley
With all the other exciting things happening, progress hasn't been reported recently. So here is an update:
Last week: Rode a few times, lots of long walking around the fields and plateau. I started to introduce 5 mins of trotting each ride, broken up into 2 1/2 minute trots. Nothing too stressful, just kind of testing. Hes going along happily, with great movement and doesn't seem to have any problems after it.
Saturday: I did a 2 1/4 hour ride, 10 mins of that was trotting broken up into 2.5 min trots like before. He was happy to trot and easy to ride. We did some of the big hills that Linda had cleared. At one point, we were going down the big hill on the far east side of the property and something clicked with me. Well, Bentley had to practically scream at me to make it click. We started walking down the hill with the tiniest steps, the moment he could see the ground becoming less steep ahead of him (mind you we weren't on the gentle slope, we were still on scary steep hill) he would bolt down the hill in an uncoordinated trot, making me think we were both going to go down. At the bottom of the hill, he started bucking and bucking and bucking. I came within inches of landing in a nearby tree, luckily there was enough bucking to knock me out and then back into the saddle? Is that possible? I start to question what exactly happened because I swear i didn't lose stirrups, was upside down at one point beside his neck, but then I was in the saddle again. As I said, I don't remember losing stirrups, but somehow when I looked down, one stirrup was on backwards and the other stirrup leather had twisted inside out. It was quite the mess!
So what was all that grumpiness about? The answer has to be he is afraid and uncomfortable going down the hills. We spent some time correcting his behaviour on the hills and practising his balance going down. It took a lot of effort for me, but we got down again safely and he started being a bit happier about hills. I know I haven't been pushing him to do that trot down the hills, I am much happier with the tiny tiny baby steps he takes. So I would let him take the baby steps and halt him whenever he felt like he was going to take a leap. By the end of our ride, we were able to do a nice long hill fully at the baby steps. No nice comfortable walk, but no fearful awkward running, and I am very happy with that!
Monday: I continued to work on the hills, nothing big this time, but I have noticed down to the plateau we have a problem with speeds and steering down the hill. In fact, he wobbles from one side to the other. I am ok with zigzagging down a steep hill, but its not that steep here and what he was doing wasn't even close to zigzagging. More of a zig-spin-lunge-twist-zag-throwhead-and straight! So a few times down there and we had a reasonable zigzag, as well as straight descent. It wasn't perfect, he still had a couple of those "drop" steps, but it was varied from leg to leg, so I wasn't too worried that he was hurting, I think it was more the nervousness distracting him still.
Lily also hopped on Bentley to give him a try, I have a busy week coming up so shes going to ride him this week. Shes not used to such a sensitive horse who really needs next to no leg. Their first trot attempt was nothing less than an explosion. I can laugh a bit at it because she got it under control pretty quickly and with some more getting used to each other, they will be just fine. Also it didn't help that the stirrups were set to my length, a good 5 holes different from what she is used to!
That's about all I have to say for Bentley today. I guess just stay tuned for next week as I wont be riding for a little while!
Last week: Rode a few times, lots of long walking around the fields and plateau. I started to introduce 5 mins of trotting each ride, broken up into 2 1/2 minute trots. Nothing too stressful, just kind of testing. Hes going along happily, with great movement and doesn't seem to have any problems after it.
Saturday: I did a 2 1/4 hour ride, 10 mins of that was trotting broken up into 2.5 min trots like before. He was happy to trot and easy to ride. We did some of the big hills that Linda had cleared. At one point, we were going down the big hill on the far east side of the property and something clicked with me. Well, Bentley had to practically scream at me to make it click. We started walking down the hill with the tiniest steps, the moment he could see the ground becoming less steep ahead of him (mind you we weren't on the gentle slope, we were still on scary steep hill) he would bolt down the hill in an uncoordinated trot, making me think we were both going to go down. At the bottom of the hill, he started bucking and bucking and bucking. I came within inches of landing in a nearby tree, luckily there was enough bucking to knock me out and then back into the saddle? Is that possible? I start to question what exactly happened because I swear i didn't lose stirrups, was upside down at one point beside his neck, but then I was in the saddle again. As I said, I don't remember losing stirrups, but somehow when I looked down, one stirrup was on backwards and the other stirrup leather had twisted inside out. It was quite the mess!
So what was all that grumpiness about? The answer has to be he is afraid and uncomfortable going down the hills. We spent some time correcting his behaviour on the hills and practising his balance going down. It took a lot of effort for me, but we got down again safely and he started being a bit happier about hills. I know I haven't been pushing him to do that trot down the hills, I am much happier with the tiny tiny baby steps he takes. So I would let him take the baby steps and halt him whenever he felt like he was going to take a leap. By the end of our ride, we were able to do a nice long hill fully at the baby steps. No nice comfortable walk, but no fearful awkward running, and I am very happy with that!
Monday: I continued to work on the hills, nothing big this time, but I have noticed down to the plateau we have a problem with speeds and steering down the hill. In fact, he wobbles from one side to the other. I am ok with zigzagging down a steep hill, but its not that steep here and what he was doing wasn't even close to zigzagging. More of a zig-spin-lunge-twist-zag-throwhead-and straight! So a few times down there and we had a reasonable zigzag, as well as straight descent. It wasn't perfect, he still had a couple of those "drop" steps, but it was varied from leg to leg, so I wasn't too worried that he was hurting, I think it was more the nervousness distracting him still.
Lily also hopped on Bentley to give him a try, I have a busy week coming up so shes going to ride him this week. Shes not used to such a sensitive horse who really needs next to no leg. Their first trot attempt was nothing less than an explosion. I can laugh a bit at it because she got it under control pretty quickly and with some more getting used to each other, they will be just fine. Also it didn't help that the stirrups were set to my length, a good 5 holes different from what she is used to!
That's about all I have to say for Bentley today. I guess just stay tuned for next week as I wont be riding for a little while!
Toronto Air Show
Amongst my crazies on Sunday, we went down to the Toronto Air Show at the CNE.
We had a great spot for viewing at Ontario Place, perhaps the only place with a beer tent and a front row view of everything. It was like the show was being put on just for us!
Since I had seen all the planes before, it was exciting to share with my friends the names I had given them and recount how "Nemesis" had blown over our fences and sandblasted our cars. Then of course, shake my fist in anger at the plane.
Here are some pictures I took with my phone, I deeply regretted leaving my good camera at home!
We had a great spot for viewing at Ontario Place, perhaps the only place with a beer tent and a front row view of everything. It was like the show was being put on just for us!
Since I had seen all the planes before, it was exciting to share with my friends the names I had given them and recount how "Nemesis" had blown over our fences and sandblasted our cars. Then of course, shake my fist in anger at the plane.
Here are some pictures I took with my phone, I deeply regretted leaving my good camera at home!
I am slowly going crazy...
I don't know whats going on with my brain recently. I must just have too much going on.
Saturday night I got a response for something big I am doing at work. So naturally I got excited and was going to have trouble sleeping. I forwarded a question I couldn't answer to my boss, and decided to go to bed and wait for a response the next morning. Now, this is where things get a bit foggy.
I remember waking up in the middle of the night and checking my phone. There were 3 emails for month end reports on our various aircraft. Something I usually don't look at until I need them, I just usually delete them off my phone. There was also a response from my boss with instructions as to how to proceed with the question I had earlier. It had a website and everything. I remember this so vividly. I woke up several times through the night knowing that in the morning I would have to go through these steps very quickly before heading out for the day. As I said, this is something pretty big I am doing so I didn't want to have it wait until the weekend was over.
So I wake up for real at about 7:30 and first thing I do (naturally) is turn to my phone to get the instructions while not in a groggy half sleep. Strange... no new emails? I scroll through and there is no email from my boss or the month end reports. Darn it, did I delete my boss's email along with the month ends? Try to reconnect with desktop but nothing new comes. Oh well, I guess I will have to go into work on my way home from the air show and get the email off my computer.
I will blog about the airshow in another post, this is reserved for my crazies.
I get into work and enjoy the silence of work on weekends. Boot up my computer and check my email. Nothing in there. What? Did the server start deleting my emails again (I swear it has happened before!) At this point, we suspect that I may be losing my mind a little. Regardless, I re-forward the email again with my questions to my boss, in case he never got it.
So now I am back at work for real, and asked if he had emailed me on Saturday night. Nope, didn't email me at all. So I must have literally dreamt the whole thing up. I dreamt it so vividly that I had convinced myself it was real enough to go into work on a weekend? And I knew so many details around it. Very very crazy!
To add to the crazy, yesterday after I came home from the barn, I drove right past our house. I literally didn't even recognise our house until I was well past it. So instead of going nose into the driveway, i just backed up into it... and right into the rock wall, scratching up the bumper and knocking rocks everywhere.
Whats going on in there? Seriously?
Lee asked me if I fell off the horse. Nope, just going crazy is all!
Saturday night I got a response for something big I am doing at work. So naturally I got excited and was going to have trouble sleeping. I forwarded a question I couldn't answer to my boss, and decided to go to bed and wait for a response the next morning. Now, this is where things get a bit foggy.
I remember waking up in the middle of the night and checking my phone. There were 3 emails for month end reports on our various aircraft. Something I usually don't look at until I need them, I just usually delete them off my phone. There was also a response from my boss with instructions as to how to proceed with the question I had earlier. It had a website and everything. I remember this so vividly. I woke up several times through the night knowing that in the morning I would have to go through these steps very quickly before heading out for the day. As I said, this is something pretty big I am doing so I didn't want to have it wait until the weekend was over.
So I wake up for real at about 7:30 and first thing I do (naturally) is turn to my phone to get the instructions while not in a groggy half sleep. Strange... no new emails? I scroll through and there is no email from my boss or the month end reports. Darn it, did I delete my boss's email along with the month ends? Try to reconnect with desktop but nothing new comes. Oh well, I guess I will have to go into work on my way home from the air show and get the email off my computer.
I will blog about the airshow in another post, this is reserved for my crazies.
I get into work and enjoy the silence of work on weekends. Boot up my computer and check my email. Nothing in there. What? Did the server start deleting my emails again (I swear it has happened before!) At this point, we suspect that I may be losing my mind a little. Regardless, I re-forward the email again with my questions to my boss, in case he never got it.
So now I am back at work for real, and asked if he had emailed me on Saturday night. Nope, didn't email me at all. So I must have literally dreamt the whole thing up. I dreamt it so vividly that I had convinced myself it was real enough to go into work on a weekend? And I knew so many details around it. Very very crazy!
To add to the crazy, yesterday after I came home from the barn, I drove right past our house. I literally didn't even recognise our house until I was well past it. So instead of going nose into the driveway, i just backed up into it... and right into the rock wall, scratching up the bumper and knocking rocks everywhere.
Whats going on in there? Seriously?
Lee asked me if I fell off the horse. Nope, just going crazy is all!
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