In the Arena #122 - If it doesn't kill you...

Val and I parted ways this week. Unanticipated dismount.

I've spent the last couple of days eating ibuprofren like candy, and moving around very gingerly. Well, if I don't sugar coat, I feel like I got hit by a truck - but it could have been so much worse. Happily, I had my helmet on, as I might not be capable of typing this, had I not. Helmets are good.

The first giant horse flies of the season? They were buzzing us during grooming. Captain Outburst next door shooting something out of his mower as he rode up and down next to the arena? His timing is uncanny. Me paying more attention to a visitor to the farm, than to my horse? Probably. Me blocking my horse as I tried to get a trot transition rather than the canter? Definitely. I had second thoughts about riding when both horses spooked violently at my visitor's dog as she arrived - Val bolted, losing his saddle that I hadn't quite girthed up yet. (Hated, hated, hated watching my new saddle hit the dirt!)

It doesn't ultimately matter. After a nice warm up, I rode out a warning buck, but a few minutes later lost my seat as Val bronced across the arena. I remember me coming down and him coming up, and then knowing I was about to hit the dirt, just like my saddle.

I landed on my side quasi rolling, but still very hard. I turned over. Everything seemed to move okay. My vision was blurry for a few minutes though (concussion?), as I collected my bemused horse. I remounted, and rode for a half hour or so on the buckle.

I haven't fallen off for a couple of years. I've come a long way I guess. My reaction this time wasn't doubting my horsemanship or fearing my horse, but obsessing over what I could have done differently. Even though my former trainer isn't in the area for me to get lessons from, she generously makes herself available for telephone debriefing. Thank you E.!

Our conclusions were that falling off is inevitable, and more importantly, cannot be prevented. Falling off is a moment in time - the horse isn't obsessing about so neither should we. Our horses deserve 100% of our concentration and attention when we work with them. Anything less is disrespectful, and occasionally dangerous.

E. gave me some good advice (again) for how to move forward with our trot / canter issue, namely never let your horse know that what he's doing isn't what you wanted. Don't get upset. It's more productive to go with the wrong gait and then ask for the downward transition. Never let them see you sweat. Keep a light heart.

Bright side. I didn't break anything, or miss any work. It wasn't as bad as the anticipation - nothing ever is. If statistics mean anything, I'm a lot farther away from my next fall, than I was the other day. :)

Probably need a new helmet

Wish my ass had stuck to the saddle

Hand needed attention

Shiner on my hip

Later that evening - it's all good...

In the Arena #47 - You can't have one without the other

I've read some good posts about getting in shape recently... Kate over at A Year with Horses and Carson at The 7MSN Ranch. They got me thinking about fitness, and what makes a successful fitness program, specifically riding related fitness. It's certainly that time of year, when we're stuck indoors more than we'd like, and may be dealing with holiday over-indulgences.

After putting on several pounds a year for a few many years, I found myself huffing and puffing, uncomfortable in my clothes, heading down the road to ill health. And worst of all embarrassed to be seen on my ride at the time - Ginger the Banker pony - who topped out at a strong but petite thirteen hands. Photos don't lie...

I am super lucky that my job is a physical one, because otherwise, I might be as big as a house, as much as I love eating :) I basically get paid to exercise, and much of it is weight bearing activity. (which helps to avoid osteoporosis!) For instance, this time of year, we get our mulch delivery in. Forty or so pallets, seventy bags per pallet, forty to fifty pounds per bag. I handle every one of those bags at least once. If you do the math, that's a total of sixty three tons - minimum.

Dieting by denying myself food has never worked for me. Eating is such an integral part of life, and should be an enjoyable experience. Better food choices, proper timing and size of meals are all helpful approaches.

I struggled with weight for half of my life before I had any kind of success. I've lost (and kept off) twenty pounds for the last three years. My weight still fluctuates seasonally, but the fluctuation is very minor now. Weight finally doesn't feel like an issue.

Increasing activity and controlling consumption are typical approaches to fitness. In my experience there is a mental component that is equally important. Mental energy. Focus. Focus helps with improving eating habits. Shop for and prepare food mindfully. Eat mindfully. Appreciate the look, smell and taste of the meal. Stop eating when full...

Focus is essential to riding as well. You can practice mindfulness and improve your riding skills when you're not on a horse. For example, focus on engaging the core - all day, in all activities. Focus on posture... shoulders up and back, head in line with your spine. Stand with your weight evenly in both of your feet. (not more heavily on one foot than the other which torques your hips)

Being mindful / paying attention is harder that it seems, as are all new habits. It's like learning a new language. Multitasking, in a good way. And I don't know about anyone else, but I always benefit from more focus when I ride. Use your mind to slim down, tone up and ride right - it's all good.

In the Arena #41 - Looking a gift horse in the mouth

It been busy around here with holiday preparations / obligations so this post will attempt to catch up on the news. I had a real lesson in barn ownership over the weekend. Turned on the hose Saturday night and no water came out. Bummer! It wasn't frozen, we're thoroughly winterized, so likely there was a problem with the well pump. It was dark and pouring freezing rain, so I had to wait until Sunday to discover that the pump was indeed history - seized up. Can't think of anything I'd rather do than handle cold metal pipes and cold metal tools out in the cold - fun! The morning was spent replacing the pump (and freezing) with my Dad, who luckily is such a handy man. Mechanics, carpentry electric and plumbing - he can do it all. Problem solved, and no toting water... yea! Dad - you're the best :)

It was more complicated than it looks

                       ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Today was the bright spot in the weather forecast for the week... time to saddle up, or not saddle up and ride bareback as the case may be :)

As I was preparing to mount, Val wiped his muzzle up and down my leg, with his mouth open. It seemed strange, so I inspected further. He had some blood on his front upper gum line - just a tinge. I'm planning on some warm salt water rinses for a few days. I have recently contacted a new dentist, and am in the process of scheduling an appointment. He's not due until April but my gut feeling is the sooner the better. I'm still not convinced that some of our turning difficulty hasn't got to do with dental / tmj issues. Thanks to Kate at A Year With Horses for setting me on the path to finding a more enlightened horse dentist.

                        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Do I get extra cookies for courage?!

It was just a little distracting down at the barn today. Let's see... the neighbor was working in his yard (power tools of course) which always seems to include yelling (a lot at the top of his lungs) at his dogs. Yelling at his dogs who came crashing through the woods and spooked Val. Apparently it's easier to ride out a spook bareback because I swear, I didn't even realize it had happened until it was over. I continue to be impressed with the benefits of bareback riding.

Next came the yowling feral cat bursting out from the woods. A minor prelude to the little button buck bouncing around just outside of the arena. Why was he out in the open, so bravely, so uncharacteristically you ask? Well maybe, because my boarder's mom decided to chum him and his deer buddies up with piles of corn. I figured this out while the boarder family were at my place over the weekend for a holiday open house. (As they arrived they managed to let my Jack Russell terror run out the front door - it took half an hour to catch her!)

Over holiday punch I happened to mention that Val had been extremely distracted for a few days. Distracted to the point of dropping hot mash out of his mouth and tearing off to the far end of his paddock where he stood and stared for hours. Distracted to the point that one morning when I arrived at the barn no water and barely any hay had been touched overnight. "Oh, he's probably seeing the deer. I've been feeding them. I want to touch that little one!" Needless to say, no more corn at the barn. Special prize was awarded for self control...

But I digress... despite all of the commotion, we still managed to focus and get some nice work done. Most of the work was getting Val to pay attention to me and move forward. We did some pretty turns on the forehand, and the contact again seemed improved - another no glove ride. Afterwords we did some work in the backup arena - located smack in the middle of the bermuda triangle of horse eating monsters. I could tell Val wanted to get excited, but I firmly kept his mind on me. As I began some in hand trot work he popped up a little bit and scooted around, but all it took was a firm voice to get him back on track. Val did beautifully! I was so proud of my horse today. His reward was some grazing on the tiny patch of grass I still have, a pocketful of gingersnap and all my love. What a good boy!

Happy Holidays!!