The Cure For All Evil

A week ago after Twisterpants got shoes on I went riding. Due to time constraint of the napping child, I decided to tack up western because it takes me half the time. I am so glad I did. While things at the walk-trot were no different than in my English saddle, cantering was a whole other story.

Due to my pelvic floor dysfunction and prolapse, cantering has been a bitch. I always knew having a baby would affect my riding but I never realized that it would affect it more than just having time. It's been so hard to do things that were second nature to me 2 years ago. This time 2 years ago I was jumping over 2ft consistently and getting ready for a show. Today I have issues cantering more than a few strides.

But I've been doing PT for all that and taking it very seriously. And when I asked Twister to pick up his left lead and he proceeded to drag me like he thought he was freaking Bernardini out for a morning gallop, I was able to sit deep, yank his head up and ride several circles with no issues other than being out of shape. It felt fucking fantastic. Like you have NO idea.

So than I asked for his right lead. And same thing. Felt amaze-balls. Normally I'd say that riding western to help me get a strong, deep seat is cheating. But after everything my nether-regions have gone through I'm going to go ahead and say that it's only helping me get back to being able to ride like I was 2 years ago, without all the issues I've been dealing with. So I'll just ride western for a couple months. May not be my favorite but at least I'll be riding!!!!!!

And then it's rained on and off the last week keeping my paddocks and yard too mushy to ride at all. Might be okay for a walk this afternoon before it rains....again.... tonight.

Shoes

This morning the farrier came to do all 4 boys. And my person and i drcided to throw shoes on Twister. First time in shoes in over 4 years. But it needed to happen..... he's been lazy and short- strided and when he's only  ridden once a week he should be friskier. So I'm chalking it up to his feet. But maybe he's just lazy. I can't wait to ride and find out. But either way his feet suck and until I have time to trim weekly the shoes need to stay on. And until I can ride daily and give his feet the workout they need the shoes stay on....

Meeting AP

One of my friends, a fellow Coby grad who also lives in KY now after realizing how much better it is here than in NY where everything sucks and you have to stand on the corner by Stewart's to afford just about anything, won tickets to Ashford. So I loaded up the baby and we went to meet American Pharoah. 

It's a gorgeous farm. And I loved, as always, see all the big time studs. Giant's Causeway who is like 25 now. And FuPeg who is 100. Okay, well not really. Lookin At Lucky is there and Uncle Mo

"dog!" she says. everything is a dog.

They said he's 16.2 but doesn't he look smaller than Twister who is also 16.2?

And even though I was told I'd get a real, baby-free ride today, it didn't happen. I got a baby free ride, but only 10 minutes puttering around bareback on a super lazy horse who has NO topline anymore and his bony spine hurt!!

Wish List

Just because it's not Christmas doesn't mean I don't need things. As the weather is sporadically nicer, I am getting to ride more. And once it gets nice on a regular basis I will be holding my person to his promise to help me be able to ride 3-4x a week. SJ sits and watches in the stroller pretty well. But usually that only lasts about 20 minutes. I need to start riding again 30-45 mins a ride. Not because I plan on showing this year or anything like that. I just want to be fit and sane. Right when I got pregnant Twister and I were finally getting our shit together in the dressage department. Much of that is thanks to the lessons with Silke. And then he got basically a year and a half off. He hasn't been half bad the last couple rides, all things considering, but we have a LOT of work to do to get back to where we were before the time off.

As I get back into it, I am finding I need some things....

Paddock boots... because someday I WILL show again so I'd rather not trash my tall boots with day to day riding.... and Mona chewed a hole in my old pair.

Helmet.... my Ovation is still in great shape but the only way it fits is with all my hair shoved under it. It gets old. I want a nice schooling helmet for day to day riding and I LOVE this one. I don't care if it doesn't match anything else Twister goes in .

Carly's dressage saddle....or any dressage saddle. Or to have the knee rolls taken out of my saddle. I really hate my saddle.  I hate it. Hate it so much. The only reason I haven't taken it to the tack shop to get all of $50 for it is because it fits my awkward to fit horse.

Curtis has been turned out in Twister's brand new (in June 2015) Woof boots and has all the neoprene torn up. So annoying. Twister hardly used them. So I don't NEED these. But I'd like them. Luckily we still have a pair of sport boots that are too big for racehorse's dainty legs that are in good shape.

Twister is Middle-Aged

Happy Birthday to my big horse, a whopping 13 years old today. He is now free to have a mid-life crisis.

I've ridden a couple times in the last week and it all comes down to this lesson, get the hell off my leg. Other than that he's been pretty good. After riding today I can tell the PT I've been doing is actually helping. (Pelvic floor PT). It's nice that so many of the exercises to strengthen my damaged pelvic floor muscles are also those which are going to give me so awesome riding legs.

bareback on a muddy pony

we all look ridiculous but we are having fun!

 We haven't done too much in the way of work. I just want him to move off my leg and to follow my hands. He's actually been pretty good about following my hands. It's my leg he's always leaning on because he's lazy and fat. But there isn't much point in making him do too much or getting after him too much because the weather around here can't make up it's mind so I might ride 3 times one week and not ride again for 3 weeks...........

working on that top line

birthday boy ride

"dog" she says hahaha
right now everything with 4 legs
is a dog