Athlete

Electrolytes and Insanity

What an exhausting week! And it’s not even over yet.

I’m sure the only reason I’m still going is my consumption of Gatorade, booster juice, and pizza. Okay maybe not the pizza. My days have been spent between work and organizing school stuff- and my evenings riding, coaching, a little gym time, and more riding. For all those concerned over the welfare of my butt, don’t worry- its surviving just fine!
Today was warm ups for Fall Harvest! I made it! Now I just have to survive the next 3 days. By Sunday it will be 7 straight days of intense riding, 5 of those days jumping days, and 3 of those 5 competition days. All that after 6 weeks of literal down time. One might consider this insanity. Needless to say I’m pretty tired, and sore. Feeling pretty out of riding shape, but so happy to be here and competing anyway. So far I’ve been pretty impressed with how my back/hip has been handling the sudden throw back into riding. Haven’t felt anymore then fatigue in my left hip, so far. This weekend will be a good test for it. This might be the result of any number of things- the surgery improving things was one theory, or the new treatment I’ve been trying is working (dry needling/active release), a month off has tricked it into behaving, perhaps- or any number of things. Whatever it is, I’m not complaining. But I am interested to see what comes of it after I compete for 3 days, as shows usually tend to bring out its worst. Fingers crossed!
This weekend I’m competing in my regular divisions, jr amateur 2’9 and both senior and open low 3 ft divisions- with the hope of doing the derby on Sunday. Our warm ups today went very smoothly, it was a very bendy course with a two stride! Which means the courses this weekend should be fun and provide a good challenge!
Tomorrow morning starts at 5:30 am, so I’ll leave it here for now and update when I have something more interesting to say!

Wish me luck!

Just in time

I’ve broken my record for length between posts, I think. Which must mean my life is finally getting back on track (insanely busy)!

It’s been just over a month now since “the surgery”, and I’m finally almost back to normal. I’m done dressing changes, and although there is still some healing needing to be done- I’m pretty much able to forget about it and just let it happen. Which is good, because that means I can ride! Yesterday was my first real ride back since surgery, and I haven’t been that happy in a long time! Willard has been moved to McMullans for the week as we’re planning on going to Fall Harvest this weekend. Yes, a show right after a month off- an excellent plan, isn’t it? Any other year I might not have felt comfortable doing this, but this year I have complete faith in my horse and our ability that this shouldn’t be too much of a problem. And here is where I need to say a HUGE thank you to my friend and fellow rider Laura Clark, who rides at Bluebear and also hails from Carman. She has been coming and hacking Willard for me over the past month and after riding him tonight in the ring I was so happy to find he was moving beautifully and so willing to do lateral work. Like I never got off! I knew he would be in good  hands with her. So, Laura if you read this, thank you thank you thank you!  It’s great to know my horse is in relative condition even when I’ve been unable to ride for a while.

I rode for about an hour and a half yesterday, and an hour today- I just couldn’t bring myself to get off. Even though my body has gotten a little too used to the easy life. I’ve been slowly trying to add things to my schedule, like work outs and now riding, plus work- and soon school again. 2 months ago it was easy to do all of those things in one day and still have energy at the end of the day. Now, it’s a little more challenging. I’m still trying to find the energy I used to have. I’m sure it will come back, I’m not really giving it a choice. Hopefully over the next couple weeks, as my schedule starts to pick up again I will feel back to normal. School is only a couple weeks away!!! I can’t believe how excited I am! Before I started this post I had my nose stuck in one of my texts already. Wonder how long this will last? Haha

My class schedule is pretty full. Actually, it is completely full. I have 10 courses, my 5 for the fall are: Nutrition, Biomechanics, Data Analysis, Anatomy and Physiology, and Scientific Principles of Fitness and Conditioning. Following those, with my AP running all year, are: Intro Kinesiology, Research Methods, Prevention and Care of Injuries, and Psych in Sport and Life. It’s definitely going to be a challenging year, to say the least. To add onto my school schedule, I plan on riding and working as well. Although fall has some of my tougher courses, I think it will be the easier term, schedule wise as most days all my classes are in the afternoons- so I’ll have most mornings and evenings free to work and ride and study. The winter term things get a little crazier with courses spanning from late morning to evening classes plus a Saturday class- which means I’ll be in school 6 days a week. Unfortunately this was the only way I could schedule things so I got into all my classes and labs, so it will have to do! The past week or so has been a flurry of me organizing text books, gym memberships, locker rentals, and everything in between. Thankfully most of that is done now and I can focus on Fall Harvest, and then finish moving things to the city and settle in there. As much as I’ve been pretty stressed lately, it’s all for the right reasons and I’m very excited to face the challenges that come up this year in school. I proved to myself in Anatomy this spring that I can get decent grades if I work hard at it, so I hope I can continue proving that to myself in the future. That B was definitely not easy for me, but it was such an accomplishment when I got it! I still stop and wonder sometimes why I chose this path. What is someone who has always drifted towards arts and never did well in sciences doing in a Bachelor of Science degree in one of the most challenging specialities?! At the same time, I can’t see myself doing anything else. And the more I talk to other people in the profession, the more I fall in love with it.

That’s all I’ve got for now, I’m exhausted! Here are a couple pictures from my ride on Sunday- and I hope I write again soon! There will definitely be a Fall Harvest update!

MS River Rouge cruise!

Roomies!

Relax?

If you have me on Facebook, you will know that I’ve had a rough week.. and me and this whole “laying low, recovery, not doing much”, is absolutely driving me nuts. Surgery itself I’m sure went smoothly, however we learned that anesthetic and me don’t mix well..at all- and morphine does not work on me (unless maintaining the pain but crashing my stats is the plan). The first couple days after surgery were easy because I slept for approximately 20 hours a day. By Sunday I had stopped taking pain medication, more because I hate pain meds and less because the pain was manageable. On Monday I had an MRI for my back and hip, which was probably the most painful experience of my life- as I had to lay on my back where I still have stitches- for 40 minutes and try and stay perfectly still. About 10 minutes in I started praying I would pass out. I didn’t, of course. By Tuesday it physically hurt to lay in any position. Not because of the incision site, but because I’d been laying still for so long my body was protesting. By Wednesday I was up the wall with boredom. I love reading, but I can only read so many books before I completely lose all concentration. I hit that point by the third day into recovery. In 7 days, I’ve gone through 6 good size books. I’ve probably watched more TV in the past week then I have in the past 5 years, and I’m even sick of napping. How is that possible?! Going from being so busy I don’t know what day it is to not knowing what day it is due to lack of a life is quite the transition. But I know its for the best. Proof of that came on Monday after my MRI, I couldn’t function. The whole 3 hours I spent away from the house completely wore me out, granted I was in horrible pain for part of the day. Tuesday I spent around the house, and it was my registration time in the afternoon- and after fighting with scheduling for 2 hours- I was really not feeling good. Seriously, if I did anything but stay still I got dizzy, and nauseous. Thankfully by Thursday I started feeling better. This weekend I spent at Lake of the Prairies, doing some fishing and a lot more reading. Tomorrow, finally, I get my stitches out. And this week is starting to look a bit like my old schedule. Which I am ever so grateful for. I’m not sure I could handle much more laying around the house.

As I mentioned earlier, I am finally all registered for classes this fall and winter.  And I did achieve a B in my anatomy class (!!!)- thank heavens, I wasn’t sure where I was going to fit it in if I needed to retake it. My schedule is pretty packed full. In the winter semester I’ll be in classes 6 days a week. Not really surprising, though, knowing me. This week I start back at work, which will hopefully take my mind off of not riding. I figured that I would be able to handle the riding withdrawal as I spent 4 months earlier this year doing just that- not riding, by choice.  But I forgot how hard it is. It was equally as hard back then too. Hopefully it won’t be 4 months before I’m in the saddle again. I caught myself getting teary watching people ride horses on a tv show the other day. Really. Also going through some serious exercise withdrawal. At least last time I took a break from riding I could do other things to keep active. Right now though, I can’t even stretch my lower body. Which does not feel good. Actually, my SI joint has been decent this week. Probably because I haven’t been riding. The real problem is my hip, and glutes. They are very hard to stretch when I can’t lay on my back and I’m laying on my stomach all the time. So very excited for when it doesn’t hurt to lay flat anymore! Soon, soon. I’m realizing that I apparently only have patience when working with horses, or coaching. In all other aspects of my life.. not so much.

 

Beachy Keen

*insert usual line about being busy, time flying, etc..

Legit had to go back and read my last post to remember what it was I last wrote about! But here we are, two weeks have flown by. Last time I was writing about studying for exams while and a show and stressing over course schedules for fall, and fitting in as much physical activity as humanly possible before surgery. Exams are done, so are shows for the time being (not for long if I can help it), courses are planned, and ready for me to register- fingers crossed that I get into the sections I want, and surgery is less than 12 hours away.

Lets start with exams. Because it’s probably the most exciting part, for me anyway! I still don’t know my overall mark for the course- but I do know my exam marks, both bell ringer and written. As you may recall I was a bit worried about the bell ringer, and my instincts were right on that. I got a 35.5/60 which is a 59%. I was still above my class’ average, which was 32. The exciting part is the written. I scored a 138/170 (81%!!!), well above average, which was 108/170. I quadruple checked to make sure I was reading the right line of scores, because it’d be embarrassing if that wasn’t actually mine. But it is! Yay! We know where my test writing skills lie! I also did very well on the last quiz, which is how I felt afterwards. So hopefully between all that I get over a B in the course!

Next up was Beach Party horse show. After a very rushed day of pre ops in Winkler, where I was told I was disgustingly healthy (by my own mother, lol), we headed straight for warm ups at the ex grounds. It was hot, and the ground was hard. But my horse mustered up enough energy to be a star- all weekend! Each one of our courses went great. Of course a few mistakes, horse and rider, here and there- but over all I could not have asked for a better show. Again it comes back to both our confidence, and therefore ability improving and things really starting to come together. The highlight for me would have to  be placing 2nd in my Medal class on Sunday. Medal classes are equitation classes and have one round over fences and a flat class judged mainly on the rider. I’m pretty sure this is the highest I’ve ever placed in a medal class, which was a huge boost for me and proof of how far I’ve come over the past couple years. It was so great to be able to go around courses this weekend and know that my horse was there with me, taking me to the jumps. Both our instincts have made leaps and bounds over the past year. He trusts mine, and I trust his. Of course my eye isn’t perfect yet, so we still find some awkward spots. But we’re consistently getting beautiful distances, and staying on a nice rhythm around the course. We’ve turned into a real team this year, and its great to finally be seeing some solid progress.

After the long hot weekend, you’d think the last thing I’d want to be doing is any sort of exercise. WRONG! I crammed in as much as I possibly could this week. Monday was kick boxing, Tuesday was one on one volleyball, and today was tennis. My shoulder and back aren’t quite pleased with this. But it was so worth it, even in the heat. Of course I rode yesterday and today as well, and I’ve found a wonderful young up and coming rider who has agreed to hack Willard for me during my time off. Which will make my goal of being ready for Fall Harvest in late August very plausible.

Tomorrow is surgery, and I opted for general anesthetic instead of the spinal option. Because frankly I don’t want anybody going near my spinal cord with any sort of needle and I hate the idea of A) being awake for the surgery, and B) not being able to feel half my body. Crossing my fingers they stitch it, because that makes recovery much quicker and easier. Overall just not thinking about it because it’s out of my control anyway. Not excited at all for t3’s, as I really do not like pain killers in any form- but I’m sure that will change once I want sleep. I’m well stocked up on books and work to entertain myself, and already have a busy month ahead of me. Looking at my calendar it would not appear that I’m having surgery the way it’s scheduled. But, that’s the way I like it, right?

Here is some video of my rounds over the weekend!

Intro to Summer

As usual the past few weeks have been a blur. Between studying for exams, showing, working, and finally writing exams- I’m now realizing I feel quite lost not having anything to study for.. until September anyway. I’ve filled that gap by trying to plan out my courses for next year. A task that is actually impossible, seeing as I’ve been given a VERY late registration date because somebody in the office screwed up and lost my paperwork along the way, so most of the sections I’m hoping to get into will most likely be full by the time I register, which means I’ll be rearranging this schedule a thousand times over no doubt. Luckily, I have a friend on the inside (my AT) who is always there to help pick the right courses and answer any questions! Can we say hero?

As you may recall, I was at Summer Smiles horse show over the past weekend, and it was definitely summery and full of smiles! I got into Winnipeg from Regina at 8am (getting up at 3:30am was really fun), and made a fast transition from half asleep, grody commuter to semi-awake student and managed to get to the University by 9am to catch my last review lab. After that I had a quick study date at Olive Garden with my favourite study buddy Michelle, and then squeezed in a quick nap before heading out to BHP for warm ups. Because my mom is awesome, my horse was already there and all I had to do was check in at the show office, put numbers on tack, and head out to the ring. Will was a star, very concurrent to how he’s been all spring. So after going over a few jumps, having pizza with Mike and Charlene and a few others from the barn, braiding, and making sure everything was good to go for the morning- I made it back to my apartment, only almost falling asleep on the way back to the city a couple times. Back at the park for Day 1 by 7:30, I quickly realized that Mr. Willard had waaaaay too much energy for the hunter ring, or any ring. So, since I had hours to spare, I set about working his energy levels down. Generally I’ll hack for about half an hour on show mornings. I spent an hour and a half on him that morning, and believe me- one of us was worn out. Nevertheless, it was the right choice- as he was perfect for all our rounds that day! We won our 2’9″ Jr/Amateur class, and placed top 5 in all our Sr. Low rounds. Mike summed it up perfectly later that day by saying “you have to do what’s necessary to be successful”, so if that means spending almost two hours hacking- it’s worth it. My original plan for this weekend was to spend the extra time I always have at shows studying and reviewing for exams. I have no idea why I thought that was going to work. I really tried hard on Saturday to focus on studying, but when I’m in horse show mode- trying to memorize the origin, insertion, actions, and innervation of the pectineus muscle just doesn’t work out. Plus I was extremely tired. So I decided to give up on the day time studying, and focus on studying after the show day was over. Again, why would I think that would work? By the time I got back to my place at 7:30pm, I sat down to study and woke up an hour later with metal ring imprints across my cheek from passing out across my notebook. After that I decided I should maybe just go to bed, at 8pm. That 14 hrs of sleep was worth it though, Sunday was another great day, without excess energy thankfully. We pulled off a reserve champion in the Jr/Amateur Division, and again top 5 placings in the 3ft classes. I even had enough left in the tank to do a little studying that night.

Patti, Charlene, Alison, and I rushing to wait some more..

Monday morning began with the last quiz of the course, and it went very well! That gave me a little bit of confidence to roll with for the exams on Wednesday and Thursday. The bell ringer on Wednesday wasn’t my best work, I don’t think anyway, but Thursdays written portion felt really good. Either way, I’m done for a couple months! Now what?

On Tuesday this week, I had my second consult with a sports med regarding the old reoccurring back injury that never seems to leave and also opinions on if and how the cyst on my tailbone could be affecting it. A couple weeks ago I had a consult with a doctor at Pan Am, on the same thing, who x-rayed my back and found nothing and ordered a MRI which I’m booked for later in July. She was pretty unhelpful, in the sense that she couldn’t really give a definitive answer to anything I was asking other then saying that the pilonidal sinus could be related, but there were too many factors to be sure, and that SI joints are tricky and the best thing she could suggest is cortisone shots and discussing other invasive treatments outside of the therapy I’m already doing.  The doctor I saw this week, at Legacy, is also very interested in seeing the MRI and hopes to be able to give me a better answer after those results. Although his initial diagnosis, without the MRI results, isn’t the best (mechanical back pain, likely chronic), he seemed pretty proactive and willing to help me try out more treatment options such as acupuncture/dry needling to go along side therapy – seeing as I’ve tried everything else. My AT, who I trust more then anyone, is thinking that this upcoming surgery on the cyst is going to make a big difference. There is a structural problem that keeps reoccurring, and we can’t quite figure out why. Basically what happens is my SI joint slips out of place, causing the left part of my pelvis to rotate funny- in turn causing lower back muscles, hip, and thigh muscles to do really painful things. Bending over lots is usually what really sets it off, which is a good reason that I’m no longer working in the manual labour field- because that’s all I was doing. As much as I’m frustrated that nothing is fixing this problem long term, I’m very glad I have such a talented AT on my side- keeping me functioning and somewhat sane.

And so now I get to enjoy 2 weeks of summer before I go under the knife and spend most of July recovering. I’m loving my new job, although it’s quite a transition going from outdoor work to a office job. What’s on my list of things to do during the next two weeks?

1. Ride (duh), as much as possible! I had an awesome ride tonight, even though it was nothing more then a simple hack in the ring here at home. It was one of those rides where I felt completely ‘in the zone’ the whole time, and like my horse could read my thoughts, and I his. Every rider will know that feeling, and know how great (and addicting) it is. With the MHJA Beach Party show approaching this coming weekend- I’m grateful for every ride I have like this. There is no better feeling then feeling that focused in competition!

I’ve also been coaching a local girl for a few weeks now, and I’m loving watching her progress! It’s a great challenge for me trying to explain the simplest parts of riding to someone who doesn’t necessarily understand them yet. It’s not always easy to explain something that has become second nature to you. I’m getting better at it though, and by the improvements I see every week in my student- she is understanding at least some of what I say! I’m happy that at least if I can’t be riding most of the summer, I can be helping someone else build skills in the sport!

2. Run, bike, plank, push up, pull up, lunge, squat, lift, press, work out! I’m seriously going to miss the gym, almost as much as I’ll miss riding during recovery time. The changes I’ve seen in myself over the past 6-8 weeks of consistent training are amazing, and I am so excited to get back into it as soon as I can.

3. Work. Because my student life has taken a serious tole on my bank account. The fact that I’ve been in between pay cheques for quite a while now doesn’t help either. Luckily for me, my next pay cheque should come through.. right after surgery. So my two weeks of real summer will be spent doing the cheapest activities I can find. AKA, hanging out with my parents.. a lot 🙂

All that makes for a very, very busy couple weeks. But, I usually function better when I’m kept busy- so I’m glad for that! There will certainly be some crazy days, where I’m not quite sure how the schedule is going to fit. Example being, next thursday when I have my pre-op/anesthesiologist appts all afternoon at Boundary Trails in Winkler, and then warmups at the RRX grounds in Winnipeg. Everything always works out though, in the end- so all I can do is keep right on going- one day at a time.

Somebody told them they could grow up, graduate, and make me feel old!

The Gift

It’s next to impossible to predict where you’re going to end up, or how happy you’re going to be, or what you need when- until you know. We go so long not appreciating what we have, only to look back and realize what we missed. Sometimes I think that happens for a reason; how else would we be able to learn from experience? There was so many times in NZ that I couldn’t get myself out of what was definitely the darkest place I’ve ever been. But upon drawing from past experience and lessons learnt I didn’t give into that, and low and behold I learned too much to list and was able to turn some brutal times into experience that will help me the rest of my life. It’s taken me awhile to be grateful for all the crap I had to handle over there- and believe me I still have moments where I struggle to see the good in some things. But it’s getting easier to appreciate ‘the gift’ all that bad brought me. Insert typical “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” quote.

I’ve been thinking about NZ a lot lately. To be honest I never really stop thinking about it. Thinking about all the good, and the.. challenging things I experienced in those 6 months away. Thinking about all that’s changed and how I’ve grown. Thinking about what I miss and what I don’t. I remember often being frustrated while I was over there because I couldn’t make progress towards goals that had to do with school, or sport and being anxious to get home for that reason; so I could get back into school and into training. What I didn’t realize then was that I was taking steps towards those goals, just in a different way. During my time there I came to the realization that I wanted to change career paths. Who knows if I would have come to that conclusion as quickly if I’d been here in school. More then that, being away taught me how much I really want to reach those goals. I came home more driven and focused then I’ve ever been in my life. And in order to keep the schedule I do, that is what I needed. There is no way I could have a life like I do right now and not be determined or focused. As it is I could do with a little more focus sometimes.

When I was flying over BC in March, looking at the snow covered mountains, I had to work hard to fight back tears. Mostly tears of excitement over being home after what seemed like a long, hard 6 months. I was ready to be back in the comfort of home. But, as anybody who travels will tell you, its hard to come home after being away for so long. Especially after growing so much as a person.  It took about a week of me being home for me to feel a little lost somewhere that is the most familiar to me. But- at the same time- I came back with a different perspective. I came back ready to chase my dreams harder then I ever have before. I don’t get shaken by much anymore because more then once I’ve experienced how far you can fall and then all at once find a way to get back up. I started to realize what my priorities are, and that I can’t wait for people to make decisions about my life- because it’s just that, my life. I know I made the right decision to come home when I did. I love school, and that my horse is going as well as he is so far this season. Neither of those would have been possible without that extra 3 months in the home country. Part of what is sometimes disorientating about being home, still, is trying to fit in as the person I became in the place of the person I left as. If that makes sense. As much as I adore everything about living at home- small town life isn’t quite jamming with where I’m at right now. There really isn’t a better way to describe it.

I think the past few posts have been about my amazing horse. The fact that he has been going so well this year is also partially thanks to all those things I picked up in NZ. The confidence I feel between us lately is spectacular, and I can thank every horse, trainer, and owner that I worked with/under overseas. Riding different horses is such a good way to develop confidence and skills in the saddle. Doing that under the scrutiny of other trainers and in a high stress situation really doesn’t hurt either (well, after the fact anyway). My riding is more instinctual now. It takes less time for me to process decisions. Where I used to hesitate, I now act. All of this is effecting my horse in the most positive way possible. Because horses are such responsive creatures, every ounce of confidence I feel- he picks up too. One of the reasons riders are some of the most focused people I know- without that, there is no partnership, and with no team- you have no success. And as any rider will tell you, what you feel when all there is between you and your horse is pure trust and you feel like you can do anything- is by far the best feeling out there. I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to achieve that in almost every ride this season so far. 

Our first show will most definitely be Summer Smiles in June at BHP. I’m more then excited, and really hoping all he’s been doing at home is going to come through at the show- otherwise I’ll look like a dick saying all these wonderful things about him haha. To makes things a little more stressful, because that’s what I excel at apparently, my final exams fall approximately 2 days after that show- which means on top of showing I’ll have to be studying in every single spare second I have. As far as the midterm, I’m not going to complain about my mark. It definitely could have been higher- but it also could have been much worse. It’s good enough to keep my average at a place I’m happy with. It’s at the right level to kick my ass in gear to push a little harder next time- which is good. Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.

 

 

Go

So my weekly posts have quickly turned into monthly posts. Such is life.

As I mentioned before, I’m pretty busy (understatement) lately. Between school 3 days a week, work, riding, studying and keeping myself in shape- I really don’t have many spare moments. I can honestly say I’ve never been more tired then I was the past 2-3 weeks. Last week about 20 hours of my life were dedicated to just driving. Kudos to everyone out there who commutes long distances to work everyday of the year, I am already pretty tired of highway 3. But it’s worth it, I’m loving my class and hopefully retaining everything I’m learning; midterm is on Monday. And I’ll have a place to live in the ‘Peg as of June 1st, so that will cut some driving down. Or at least provide a place to nap between drives.

On the horsey side of things, I cannot get over how well Will is doing. I’ve probably said it before, but I feel like I came home to a completely different horse (more then just the extra weight). After those first couple weeks of ADHD and wild horse syndrome, he’s been absolutely perfect. Both of us are more confident, and although I was initially worried about how much his winter off would set us back- I’m now realizing how much it benefitted him. The things we struggled with last year seem easy now and we’re able to focus on progressing further. I’m very excited for our first show, which will be the Summer Smiles show in mid-June.

I wrote a post not too long ago about upping my fitness level- and that is also going extremely well. After 4 weeks straight of almost everyday work outs, I was feeling so much stronger in the saddle. At the 4 week mark I took two weeks off heavy work outs as I had a brutal cold and a few injuries arise.. strained tendon in ankle/foot (serves me right for not buying new running shoes earlier-still paying for that one) and some minor alignment issues with my shoulders and hips- easily remedied with some rehab and stretching- which I’m all too used to by now. I’m back into regular work outs now, and feeling great! The tendon in my foot is still not 100%, so no high impact (running, etc) for a while. Good thing I like the rowing machine! Tonight is interval night (4x1000m rows), my favourite.. In all seriousness though, the difference I can feel in my riding ability is amazing. Can’t wait to see the improvements after 12 weeks!

My mid-term on Monday consists of the entire skeletal system from head to toe. And is worth 25% of my grade, a grade that must be above a B for me to progress in my chosen degree. Needless to say that I have quite a bit of memorizing to do this weekend. With that being said I’m going to head off to the gym, and then bunker down for a crap load of bones, ligaments, and joints.

Look! No Hands!

Yes, I know its been a very long time since I’ve posted. And I have lots to write about. Unfortunately, I’m dead tired and flat out busy basically 24/7. So you’ll just have to wait. Until then, here are some stills from some video. No hands grid exercise was brought out again, and all I will say is somewhere over the last 8 months everything we’ve been working on with Willard has clicked and I seem to have a superstar on my hands now. As you can see in the pictures, the ears are pricked and he is having a blast, making everything look easy. Happy dance!

 

Time flies when you’re having fun?

Hard to believe I’ve already been home almost 2 months! The past few weeks have been an absolute blur for me, so I apologize for the lack of posting going on. If you have me on facebook you will have some idea of how insane my schedule is getting- if you don’t, I’ll briefly outline it for you.

A day in the life.

6:45am get up, proceed to spend 20-30 min in the shower continuing the waking up process. Make lunch, breakfast, and whatever else- walk to work and work 8am-6pm (or 5 depending on the day). Get home, work with horses (depending on weather, of course), eat somewhere in there, and usually by 7 or 8pm be working out with my fantastic personal trainer until 9 or 10pm. Get back home, find bed, and set alarm for the next day- as I’m working 6 days a week right now. This is a very general schedule- soon, as in next week, we’ll be adding in study time as I start classes on Wednesday. Most of the time, if you asked me what day it is, I would not be able to give a quick answer.

So there you go, that’s where all my time is flying to.

Willard is coming along quite nicely, if I do say so. We’ve gotten over the fear of being in the ring alone and can now work successfully without prancing for the first half hour. The other night we even ventured to the back pasture by ourselves to so some conditioning. I was so proud! As it stands right now, I don’t think the Victoria Day Weekend show will be in our reach- as my work schedule will still be insane and we are nowhere near show ready. I’m hoping to make the Summer Smiles show in mid June, that’s my goal anyway. That gives us a month and a half to get ourselves organized. It still might be a stretch.

We had a lesson today with Charlene, and it went so so good! I’ll post some videos later. His canter has become so adjustable lately, all our flat work is paying off! My eye has also improved 110% since last year. Charlene pointed that out, I can see distances from 4/5 strides out and adjust, if needed, so I get to the jump at a good spot. It all felt so natural today. We didn’t have one bad jump! Even cantering to a single oxer off a diagonal turn, which was our weakness last year. Happy dance!

And yes, I have a personal trainer. Or the equivalent of. It’s been 2 weeks of working out 5 days a week, plus riding- and I have to say, I’m feeling awesome. I feel stronger in the saddle (and more confident as a result), and all those pesky injuries haven’t bothered me much at all since starting this new work out. A lot of what we do is strength stuff, as that is what I need more of. I already have the flexibility of a elite gymnast. The reason I end up with so many out of the blue muscular problems is because of that flexibility, so we’re balancing it out with some strength. I’ve made the decision to commit to improving my fitness and basically rebuild my body- because I’m tired of being frustrated and hurting myself. Although I did do a lot of working out before, I accomplish more when I have someone there to push me and challenge me- at the same time keep me from hurting myself and over doing it. I plan on posting our work out records on here eventually, so anybody who is interested can follow my progress! If this is 2 weeks, I can’t wait for 4 weeks! If it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you- right?

As I said earlier, I start classes this week! Monday, Wednesday, Friday 9am-12 I’ll be in the city for Anatomy, and then back in Carman to work until 6. I’m so excited!! Which I know I probably will regret saying later on, when I’m studying all the time. But still, so pumped! To make it all better, my favourite AT is my teacher! Can’t wait!

First lesson, after many learned.

Mom, Willard, Felix, and I made the trek to Mike and Charlene’s this morning so I could have a lesson with Charlene. Felix came along just so he could see what the outside world is like. He was a champ, loaded with absolutely no problem and didn’t even look twice at the new sights once he came off the trailer. Willard had numerous jokes at his expense about his furriness, and roundness- compliments of Mike. All in good fun. Charlene even said after our lesson that he looked better with more weight on, and it’d be awesome if we could keep him a little bulky- with more muscle and conditioning of course. Don’t think he’d make it around a 3ft course at the moment.

As to be expected, Charlene took us right down to the basics. My equitation was picked apart and right away we were on to fixing some habits I’d developed while overseas. I have to say, my equitation has definitely improved over the past 6 months. I’m much more solid in the saddle, and my lower leg doesn’t move much- where as last year I was working hard on fixing that. Something about riding young expensive horses in front of the trainer and owners at a barn across the planet fixed that. Perfection is everything in that situation.  That being said, because I rode so many young horses, I got used to riding with my hands in a wider position- which is a common practice when riding some horses, especially younger inexperienced ones. But on a horse like Will, or one who is farther along in training, you don’t need wide hands. So right away Charlene picked at my hands. Another hand issue I have is I tend to pull too much on the inside rein, and we worked on fixing this by doing large circles with me focusing either on my hands, or the centre. Just so I could get the feel back of riding a trained horse, and not having to correct his every move. Because with him I don’t, anymore, he’s falling back into his old regular self again. Slowly but surely. The first half hour of the morning was spent with me just warming up and getting Will used to that arena again. He knew where he was as soon as we walked in the ring. He’s always loved that ring. Then Charlene spent a bit with me working on the flat, nit picking at my equitation. Another habit we’re working on killing is letting my hips slide to the back of the saddle. A minor problem that many riders have. Charlene always emphasizes the importance of keeping your hips close to the front of the saddle, so your legs remain under you- keeping the angle open. This is one of those habits that it’s hard to tell when you’re doing it, because it is such a minor position change- but a important one. And as Kyle Timm once told me in NZ, “The difference between the great riders and good riders, are the ones who have the ability to fix habits on their own without having a coach tell them every five seconds to fix it”. It’s always up to you to better yourself. A coach is there for guidance and support- but if you’re going to progress it really comes down to how focused you are on your riding. Something that’s stuck with me.

After flatting, we began some jumping work. Pretty low key stuff- seeing as I haven’t jumped anything more than thistles in a pasture for 8 months, and neither has my horse. First up was a cross-rail with a pole placed one stride in front. The first time or so we did this exercise it was pretty.. dodgy. We got over it, but our timing was different. We were both arriving at the jump at different times and expecting different things to happen. But after a couple iffy goes, we synced up our timing and did it quite nicely. I’d forgotten how round Willard jumps- and how much this tends to throw me forward more. Now that I am remembering all this, I can focus again on keeping my shoulders up over  jumps, and not letting myself fall too close into his neck. Especially over baby jumps. After this exercise we moved to a vertical set in the centre of the ring. Trotting over it and stopping. Simple enough. Again though, the timing thing just wasn’t there. I ended up on his neck a couple of times. At least I’m good at catching myself? Haha. So, we went again, this time with me transitioning from posting to sitting trot a few strides before the jump, so I didn’t get caught mid ride when he hesitated. This helped immensely, and built both our confidence in each other. The next step in the exercise was trotting the centre jump, coming back on an angle one way, then the other, and then back through the centre to a halt at the end of the ring. Coming into this lesson I expected him to be quite strong and pully once we started jumping- because he’s always been pretty excitable when it comes to jumping. I think this is what Charlene expected too. But he surprised us both. Cantering away from the jumps he maintained a light, balanced feel and didn’t try and run into any jumps. He was very responsive to my aides pretty much the whole time. A welcome surprise!

The last exercise of the day really proved he remembered was a light, balanced canter was. We trotted into a wall jump on the diagonal off the wall in a corner, with an awkward line away from the jump. I was to keep him balanced around the corner and then transition to a walk after cantering through the awkward corner. He did it perfectly. I hardly had to correct him. That was encouraging. Even though the whole lesson was focused on the basics, and we were only jumping little stuff meant to build our confidence and get us used to each other again- I was so happy that he was listening so well. It means that once we get into more complex work again we won’t have as far to go. I knew that when I stopped training for 8 months I ran the risk of having to start over completely again, so I’m happy that we aren’t getting thrown right back to the start-again. We’re on our way back! Small victories!