Life

The Student Games

A thought popped into my head today while I was trying to decide between the $1.89/lb apples that I wanted, and the $.99/lb ones on sale that looked half as good (I picked the cheap, bruised ones), and again when I was watering down my cranberry juice (that I got on sale)) as to make it last longer, that students lead quite interesting lives. And as my roommate just pointed out, in between mouthfuls of carrot, that her supper is just that. A carrot. “With dirt on it”.

“University doesn’t test your knowledge and the amount you have learned, it tests your stamina, study skills and sanity. What will you give up to keep up?”

That quote makes it sound like we live in the Hunger Games trilogy.

It’s not all that bad. Usually. Most of the time.. Actually, we do tend to be hungry a lot… But it definitely is an acquired lifestyle, between study sessions turned into tv show marathons, screaming “I don’t waaaaannnt to studddddyyyy”, flash cards, notes, bus passes, cramming information into your head (even if you don’t understand any of it), debating which subject needs your attention most based on the due date and complexity of the assignment, writing blog posts, yelling at printers, and Facebook.

“I’m going to get a cupcake, and then I’m going to study….. I’m probably not going to study…. yes I am…maybe…” – Christine

Every year we enter into our respective schools, quickly spend all our funds on books, of which 50% of which are actually used in classwatch our care for personal appearance dissapate, wish we were at Hogwarts, procrastinate, somehow get through midterm season- relax, panic, write finals and finish final projects, anxiously await marks, and repeat. Public naps happen often. There are rooms at our school where every person inside them is napping. It’s like that scene from Inception where all you can hear are people sleep breathing.

I’ve had friends who aren’t in school ask me what movie I want to go see, and I’ll have absolutely no idea what is playing, or what has played for the past few months. The outside world doesn’t exist to a University student, especially from 2nd year onwards, and for those having more then 4 classes. We get our news from Facebook, our ideas from Pinterest, and as a result lose a lot of sleep on news and ideas.

Grocery shopping is put off too long, at the same time as cleaning the fridge is put off. I think there is still left overs in our fridge from the first week of school- which I am now afraid to touch. There a numerous empty granola bar boxes in the cupboard, which I still reach into every morning hoping that there is one in there. We learned quickly that IF we buy fresh vegetables, putting them in the crisper drawer is NOT the best idea. Because they get forgotten about. Then, 4 weeks later, we are left with a very unspeakable things that are not crisp, or fresh. Whether or not you are a vegetarian, sometimes that is what you’re diet turns into. Let’s face it. Meat is expensive, not always on sale, and time consuming to cook. Sidekicks are a fancy meal, because they are the closet thing to a complete meal you’ll be eating all week. Whenever I do find myself relaxing into thinking I have free time, it is quickly overcome by a fear that I’ve forgotten something. In lieu of having a can opener, I’ve been know to try desperately to open a can of soup with a screw driver (it doesn’t work, by the way). I’ve also been known to bribe myself through papers by making the deal of one paragraph, 5 minutes of nap time. Sometimes that same bribe gets me through 3 hr lectures. Listen for 5 minutes, sleep for 5.

If you want me to go somewhere, mention free food, and I’ll fit it into my schedule.

We live in a world where skipping class is reasonable for two reasons- being extremely sleep deprived, or staying home to do homework for said class. No matter how excited you get over a great midterm mark, beware, because the higher the class average, the harder the final will be. Do not try and communicate with a student who is pre, mid, or post- midterm or any other exam. Never underestimate our ability to write a 15 page research paper the night before it’s due, and still somehow get a decent mark. It IS possible.

I’ve found that school and travelling (my kind of travelling anyway) have a lot in common. The views are certainly less spectacular, depending on how you define spectacular, but there is a the similar money and food scarceness, and a equal amount of dirty laundry.

I start somewhere around the 3rd phase..

However, there is not as much panic, while travelling, as there is as a student when you forget your pencil case at home and you have 3 lectures and a lab to get through on no writing utensils, protractors, calculators, or rulers. There is, though, a great deal of wondering what you’re doing, where you’re going, and various other universal questions, in both areas of life.

I can go from feeling like I’ll never be out of school, ever ever ever, to holy sh** I’m already half done a degree in 2 seconds flat. Same amount of time about that it takes me to open and close the fridge in the morning and see that I have no juice to water down, therefore I’m stuck with just tap water.

As students we learn what each prof wants to see from us, and how to adapt to their varying personalities. Know which classes to come wide awake for, and well rested, and which ones are okay to maybe nod off for a few minutes in the middle (they do exist). Mix those two up though, and you won’t know what hit you come exam time. Some like to fool you into thinking they teach an easy class, and then test you on everything they said, posted, and thought.

**Holds up text book full of post it book marks* “Look at it, isn’t it pretty?? It’s like a rainbow”

“Christine, study.”

Somehow, no matter how hard we will ourselves, we cannot help procrastination. Sometimes we procrastinate in ways that indirectly could possible sort of maybe relate to our studies. Grey’s Anatomy episodes taught me some stuff about Anatomy.. It has anatomy in the title anyway. And I’ve also convinced myself that gym time is equal to study time. But by some miracle, we make it through. We don’t melt into the puddle we would rather be come exam time, usually, anyway, and our brains sometimes help us out with exams, but even when they leave us as blank as the answer sheet- we come up with something and live to write another paper. Then, by who knows what cause, we come back for another semester. The will to make something of our lives is greater then the will of Facebook. In the long run. Procrastination does eventually lead to getting things done. In the most stressful way possible, but they do get finished. Being a student would be just too easy otherwise. And, those hard earned marks wouldn’t feel as good if we did the work and had no stress going along with it. Right now I’m wondering how I managed to write 1300 words this quickly, when it takes me a week to do the same for something much more important.

It’s an vicious cycle.

A Flash In Time

I’ve always held the belief that we learn from every experience. From every person we meet; coaches, friends, family, teachers, to every sight we see; a busy cross walk, a sunrise, rush hour. Sometimes it takes some tough love from the universe for things to sink in. Sometimes it takes years to find what we didn’t know we needed.

For athletes, there is always one coach they will say taught them the most- or a fellow teammate or opponent. Something that stuck with them- good or bad, bad or worse- the experience leaves a mark that becomes a part of who we are. For equestrian athletes, there is lessons learnt from each horse we ride- and always the few extra special ones that stick with us.

I’ve personally had many different coaches, teachers, horses, and experiences-good and bad- that have left their mark on me. I can’t honestly say one has shown me more than another, or that one holds more value, because that would be going against what I stated earlier. But certainly there are more experiences that come to mind at different points in life.

The phrase “tough love” definitely comes to mind when I think of many experiences I had with one of my most memorable equine teachers, Flash. I can’t count the amount of tears this horse made me cry. She was frustrating, and heart breakingly stubborn, all while being talented, beautiful, and full of heart. From day one she made it clear that if things were going to go well, it was because she decided they would. She was a complete jigsaw, until you figured her out- cracked her hard exterior- and knew how to read her. If you were patient, she’d give you clues. Weeks of frustration, and then she’d give you an inch. Any of you who have rode or worked with a “chestnut mare”, you’ll know exactly the feeling I’m trying to get across. She taught me how to be a better loser, and as a result a better winner. She showed me that things are probably not always going to work out exactly to plan, and that that’s okay, because sometimes what you really need is a step in another direction anyway. She taught me how to laugh at myself; horses keep you humble- afterall. She gave me a determination that has gotten me through things that could have easily brought me down. It wasn’t always a case of getting off in a better mood with her, but, I always ended up with a different perspective. Because of her I ended up on the path that brought me my current mount, Willard, who has turned out to be a wonderful partnership as well. And the right one for where I’m at.

With the year I’ve had, it would be easy to look back on the years Flash and I were abusing trail class patterns and say that was nothing compared to this. But it’s really just a statement of how much I’ve grown from those experiences, and been able to handle the new ones. There were competitions with her where she would have me in tears from the halter classes until the last class of the day. And yet we kept going into the ring, both stubborn enough to keep pushing each other, and at the end of the day our bond was even stronger then before.

It was through her that I proved to myself that even when things don’t work out, even when nothing goes right- pushing through that brings you strength to deal with anything. Through this horse I began using the phrase “If I can do this, I can do anything” when things got rough, as they have and as they will. Nothing easy is worth having. Sometimes the best memories are made during the toughest times. It does nothing to compare yourself to others, because even the best have bad days. Be humble, be determined, and open your heart to everything you can. Everybody, everything, everyday has something to teach you.

RIP Flash, and thanks for all the tough love you gave me.

Getting back into it

The past few weeks have been full of long days, and stress. Which must mean I’m starting to get back to normal! The start of this school year is marking a whole new path for me. I have to say, it’s quite difficult getting back into a regular schedule after A) spending half a year travelling, and B) having a year where it was hard to plan anything due to health issues. Not to mention the schedule I planned myself is insane by any normal standard. After a month of being in school, I’m starting to feel a little more comfortable with my classes, even the ones I was pretty nervous about to begin with. I shouldn’t speak too soon though, as midterms are fast approaching, and that is sure to change my attitude. The nice thing about my course load right now is that 4/5 of them all relate in some way to one another. Which means that if I’m studying biomechanics, I’m also in a way studying for Fitness and Conditioning, and if I study Nutrition, it relates to concepts we are also covering in FC, and Anatomy and Physiology comes into play in all those other courses as well. My Data Analysis is the odd one out, covering a lot of math. Yuck. It’s really been an adjustment for me going full steam into this year. Even without the added stress of the numerous health issues and whatever else, I came back from NZ a very different person- with some of the same old goals and some new ones.

I’ve come back to school this fall with a completely new mindset then I had my first year of uni. Being away from everything for a year kind of made me realize what I really want. I guess you could say it woke me up. I’m being challenged in all the right ways now, and even though something intimidates me almost everyday- I see that as a good thing, similar to how some horse trainers will say “give your horse at least one heart attack a day”. Or, as Lyle Myers would say (a select few have heard this line a few too many times from the man himself) “it’s character building”. I read a quote the other day that said, “if your dreams don’t scare you, they aren’t big enough”, and quite agree with it. Some of the best experiences I’ve had, once terrified me. All of the best lessons I’ve learned, were from something that was either nerve wracking, or unexpected- or both. The thing most intimidating me right now is my research project for biomechanics. This is 30% of my grade, and consists of videoing a specific movement and doing a comparative analysis (I’ve chosen between an “unskilled” subject and a “skilled” subject) on said movement, presenting the findings in class, and writing a 15 page research paper discussing those findings. I’m terrified, but kind of excited too. I’ve chosen to use posting trot as my movement, a little more complex then recommended but my prof has given me permission to go ahead with it if I can work out all the details. If anybody reading this has even done a movement analysis on the rider during posting trot and has ideas on how to set up a scale measurement system for the video and manage to stay at a right angle to the horse/rider combo during filming- please let me know! These are the details I need to iron out. Since my prof, and most other people, don’t have a background in the horse world- I’m kind of on my own with this stuff. But everybody seems to think it could be a really interesting project, myself included, if I can work it all out, and I have until November 19 to do so, but that really isn’t that far away! Again if anybody has suggestions for me, please let me know!

I believe my last post was right before I had my foot x-rayed for possible fractures. I did have the x-ray (after waiting at Pan-Am for 6 hours, I even got there at 7am!) , and it was clear, but was sent for a bone scan to test for stress fractures as weight bearing is still crappy. Pan Am also put me in a lovely, lovely boot/walking cast/thing. Which I’ve been wearing for the past two weeks. Definitely took some getting used to. But, at least I can walk mostly pain free- until I take the boot off anyway! I go back to Pan Am early next week to get the results of the scan, and find out how much longer I’m stuck in the boot. I’ve added yoga into my routine twice a week, and I’m loving it! I miss riding though. I’m only getting in about 1 ride a week, on weekends, with my schedule right now. Thankfully, the wonderful Laura Clark is still hacking Willard for me while the weather is still nice. He has been quite out of sorts, and jumpy, lately- not sure if it’s the weather changes, or because he’s being worked less- but he’s not the easiest ride right now. It’s at least nice to know he is in good hands while I can’t be there.

Well, my biomech lab is calling- time to go figure out how to measure joint movements so I can somehow make this project work, and then onto some probability and stats homework. Gross! Wish me luck!

Full speed ahead

Over and over again the past couple weeks I’m being reminded that I’m right where I’m supposed to be. Last year at this point in time I was getting off a plane across the world- starting one crazy adventure, and now another one is starting. Or maybe the first never ended.

Four days after I was released from my latest hospital visit (update on that: booked for surgery in December to have my appendix out..), I started back at school. I love love love it. As many of my friends will tell you, I am fully embracing my inner nerd. I don’t think I’ve ever been this focused on school, or enjoyed studying this much. There is only one courses I find utterly boring (stats, yuck), but it is mandatory for my degree so I’m stuck with it. Hopefully I can remember how to do math. My birthday was spent in class from 10am-9pm, but was ended with an awesome roommate who had homemade cupcakes, drinks, and candles lit for when I got home after that long day. The following few days were spent with some good friends who I hadn’t spent time with in forever, and the weekend ended with a great supper at my Grandparents, which was perfect.

As I start this new school year, I’m so far doing quite good at not looking at the assignments and studying looming ahead and absolutely losing it. To be honest, I’m terrified by all this. School, my goals, plans, etc. But from that I know that I’m in the right place. Without that terrified feeling, I wouldn’t have the motivation to work as hard as I’ll need to. And I’m lucky enough to be surrounded by people who will only help me stay on track. I’ve been shown too many times this year who is behind me when I’m thrown one of life’s great curveballs. Although baseball has never been my sport, I’ve also shown myself that I am capable of taking a lot and still coming out the other side stronger then before (maybe not always physically, though). Thankfully my batting skills are starting to improve, as I’ve been getting a lot of those curveballs lately- and they don’t seem to be slowing down.

As you can probably tell, my life revolves around school right now. But.. whats new besides school? Let’s see. I’m no longer a teenager, and I actually forgot about my own birthday until a couple days before. I’m living full time in the city now, and loving it. I’m back into a regular work out schedule, and can’t get enough of it. I’m blessed enough to have amazing employers who are giving me work that fits around my insane school schedule, oh, and I’m getting another dose of radiation tomorrow as my foot gets x-rayed for possible stress fractures (remember that fall I had at Fall Harvest? Yeah…). It never ends with me.. But it could be worse. I think I must be on my second set at least of “bad things come in 3’s” so maybe this will be it for a while!

Speaking of which, Monday morning is on its way and I am nowhere near ready yet. All the fun of this weekend is catching up on me, so it’s time for some shut eye so this week doesn’t completely wipe me. More later!

One view I’m sick of.

My body just can’t keep it together this year, it seems.

I’m back in a hospital- this is my third night here. This is, thankfully, completely unrelated to the surgery I had last month- but unfortunately may result in another surgery. Tuesday evening I started feeling pretty sick, and I thought I was food poisoning- as I had had the same symptoms twice earlier this year when I was overseas. Both previous times I was scary sick for 3-4 days, first 24 hours consist of getting absolutely everything possible out of my stomach- the next few days trying not to move. This was/is pretty much the same. The difference this time being I actually went to a hospital because I couldn’t handle the pain.

And I’ve been here since.

The doctors here don’t seem to think its food poisoning. Reoccurring appendicitis is their diagnosis, after my blood results Wednesday show a high white blood count and general palpations of my lower abdominals are not fun at all. I haven’t had any morphine since the first night- haven’t really needed it and my reaction to it Tuesday kinda scared me so I’m avoiding it if I can. Was similar to my reaction going under for surgery last time, and coming out of anesthetic. The sensation of suffocating and dizziness are just not what I like to feel. Ever.

They haven’t been definite on if they are doing sugary ASAP or if they are waiting. It tends to change based on who sees me. Dr Clayton, the surgeon in Carman, said today that he didn’t think he was going to “cut me up” right away, and maybe wait to see if we could do it sometime other then when I’m about to start school. But the night nurse just told me to hold off eating and drinking after midnight, “just in case”. But it sounds like, at some point, I will be having another surgery. Perfect.

My WBC was better today, but I still don’t feel near 100%, especially after eating. This hospital bed is managing to make every thing that had improved in my back and shoulder feel awful and basically my body feels bruised from the inside out (probably from all the dry heaving I did Tuesday). Also I’m realizing I am WAY too used to hospitals and everything that comes with it. I don’t even blink over needles, iVs, or drawing blood anymore. I can tell when a nurse is headed towards my room long before they get here, and I haven’t died of boredom yet. The only thing I can’t do is morphine, so hopefully I don’t need anymore of that for a while..

Anybody know where I can buy a bubble?

One day

Today was short and sweet, and a lovely way to end the season.

The only class we had today was the hunter derby. Now I realize I’ve been talking about the derby on here and really haven’t explained it. Really it’s just a big hunter course, this one had 15 jumps set between 2’6 and 2’9 ish, with options having more points. So there were often two jumps beside each other, one higher- equalling more points. Both the hunter and jumper rings at BHP were used and natural obstacles such as the bank and others were involved in the course- with easier options. There was a brief chance to school many of the options before the class started. There are two rounds, top 8 advancing.
Here is my best effort at describing the course: we started on a single diagonal vertical with a higher option (I took all the height options), bending line to the problem oxer from the previous days- it was no problem today thankfully! Then a bend and gallop to jump number 3, a single oxer, to a outside vertical, bending line to a oxer. This oxer was causing some problems today because you ride the bending line to it around the judges booth- which was set in the middle of the ring- so jump number 5 really comes out of nowhere. We got over it just fine and galloped down to 6, a vertical at the bottom of the ring- I made the mistake of letting him be a little too cautious to this jump and getting ahead- which resulted in a rail for us. 7 was an option of the ditch or a vertical on the outside rail of the jumper ring- we did the vertical (quite nicely too), then a turn to a bending line across the middle of the ring, tight handy turn to jump number 10, a vertical with bales underneath, then up the hill to a 5 stride, down the hill balancing to the castle jump (so much fun), and then a turn to the final combo, a two stride. That makes sense in my head because I walked it, visualize it, and rode it today- but I’m sure it makes no sense to you reading it unless you were there.
I was SO impressed with my horse. Many of the jumps in there he hadn’t seen- and he has never had to ride up and down hills in a course, and he even did the bank first time in schooling- no questions asked. He galloped around that course like a pro, brave as could be. I think he was having about as much fun as I was! Our score after the first round was 53- unfortunately the rail was what brought it down and we didn’t make the first cut. Without that rail we definitely would have been in the top 8.
Mike and Charlene were both very happy with us- Mike even said that “we might make a rider out of you one day”. One day… One day. I was all smiles for the rest of the day. The trick to courses like this is to gallop around and pull out all the bravery you have. Sit up and keep your leg on and equal pressure in the reins. Don’t abandon your horse. And your horse won’t abandon you.
So with that, my 2012 season is over! I had so much fun this weekend, and at every show I was able to go to. My horse is really giving his all for me- and I am becoming a much better rider then I was even a short time ago- and we are a much better team because of that. It’s funny how quickly progress can happen sometimes, I believe it was last year I wrote around this time about everything “clicking”, and here it’s happened again, even more so. I wonder where we’ll be this time next year..

Only time will tell.

First time for everything

Well today was interesting.

It started off with scrubbing stains out of my horses ear, and thoroughly upsetting him because clearly it was breakfast time- not face washing time. At least we know he slept well. After wandering the show grounds aimlessly for the better part of 7am- 11am trying to stay warm, we got on and had an awesome warm up for our 2’9 handy round. The course was simple enough, single vertical off the diagonal away, to a bending line coming home to an outside six, to a diagonal 5, finishing with a roll back from a outside single oxer to a vertical on the diagonal quarter line.

For any of you who read that and were lost.. Don’t worry- its something probably only other riders will be able to decipher as its what goes on in my head while learning and riding a course. Except this course apparently. I jumped into the first jump, got to the second (the in of the bending line) and had a great jump, galloped down to the out of that line, a perfect distance set up, legs on, eyes up- aannnnd he ran out the left side. This is the same jump that caused so many problems yesterday (myself included), and it did the same today. This time thankfully I stuck to the saddle and was able to get him over the second time. This is where my brain stopped using all reasonablelogic. From this jump I proceeded to head towards jump 8. The single oxer on the outside. Before I got there I heard someone yelling “other way! Other way!” and two strides out it clicked that I had absolutely no idea where I was going. None. Whatsoever. But taking the voice shouting in I decided to turn around and eventually figured out where to go. After this I had a great round. Even though I was disqualified for crossing my track and therefore going off course. This is, as far as I can recall, the first time I have ever gone off course. Ever. Silver lining, it was a great warm up round!

After that fiasco I had my 2’9 under saddle which we placed third in. And I had some time to catch my breath before I warmed up for my 3fts (again super warm up). My first 3ft course today was pretty simple. Diagonal coming home, outside 6, diagonal 5, outside oxer, to inside bending line. This course went much smoother, mostly because it didn’t have the apparently super scary oxer in it. We added in our outside 6, but everything else was grand. He was jumping so well! We placed 4th in this round. Our 3ft handy was the same course as the earlier handy. And I went in prepared for war. Crop in my left hand, good pace, leg on, supporting him with all I had, lots of left aides coming up to jump number 3, straight line to the jump, no surprises (and really- he has to know its there by now), aaaaand he ran out the right side. Thankfully this time I kept my conscious mind in place and he got a good thwack and off we went over the jump the second time and proceeded to have a fantastic ride rest of the course. Mike said he easily would have won if we had gotten that jump the first time. Seeing as almost everybody had problems with that line. Apparently it’s a scary jump. As it was we placed 5th in that class, and pinned third in our under saddle again. Not bad for what it was! Still pretty shocked at getting lost in the first course, but as they say there is a first time for everything. And based on how much everybody was struggling with that fence- I am really not too worried about it. Yes, its frustrating. Horribly frustrating. But looking at the bigger picture, he’s had a spectacular season. Even comparing this season with 2011’s season I see huge improvements in both me and my horse. I am stronger, and we are both more confident.
Tomorrow we are doing the hunter derby- which I am so excited for! Hopefully they choose to not include that one oxer though.. That would make a lot of lives easier, I think- based on the past two days! Either way it should be a fun class and a great way to end the season!

Stay Positive

Day 1 at Fall Harvest went about as well as I could have hoped! And we survived the extreme humidity. Thank you Gatorade!

The reason I have the title as “stay positive” is because it was a phrase tossed around a lot today by Mike and Charlene. When they say it, they mean it in a physical, biomechanical sense. As in, when you are riding on course- keep your body upright and your leg on with a feel on the horse’s mouth. Supporting your horse to every fence and waiting for the distance. Not letting yourself jump ahead or fall forward or get weak with your leg. It’s also a phrase I use a lot with myself when I get frustrated over insignificant things that shouldn’t bother me.

All my rounds today went very, very well. My 2’9 was smooth and put together, although I added on the seven stride- which was the right decision for what it was. I generally use this class as a warm up for my 3fts so adding is not a bad thing because it sets us up nicely for the bigger jumps later on. I had my Sr Low 3ft division today- and I honestly couldn’t be happier with my horse. He was a little picky in the warm up ring but once we got into the class he tried his heart out for me. And I felt so strong in the tack today. Our first round in 3ft included the 2 stride, which was so much fun! I jumped in a little tight, so initially I was worried about ending up with an add, but almost immediately I heard Mike’s voice in my ear saying “sit up, leg on, feel the reigns and trust him”. Guess what. It worked. He jumped out of there like he could do 2 strides all day every day, giving me a huge effort over the out oxer. We placed 5th in this round. Next was the handy round, the handy part being a tricky bending line from jumps 6-7- and -8. Six and seven were easy as they had been included in the previous courses. Eight was the tricky jump. A oxer facing the out gate off a bending turn. A lot of people had problems at this jump- including me. I’d had a great round up until this point. Perfect distances in both lines and he was jumping so nice. Up and over six and seven in good distance and as I made the turn for 8, we drifted slightly to the outside- as he thought we were done and I wasn’t quite “positive” enough. Now this drift wouldn’t have been a big problem if I had caught it in time- unfortunately I had been lulled into a trance by our great round so far and let down my guard a bit too much. Of course we didn’t find a great distance to eight and of course I didn’t support him through it which resulted in him skidding to a stop and me jumping out of the tack. I landed on my feet thankfully, and have a very sore foot as a result. He wasn’t being dirty, he was just a little unsure of the distance and didn’t have much support from me. Many other people on this course had the exact same issue- which means the course designer set a fair challenge. It was very frustrating to end up DQ’d after such a great round otherwise, but in all reality I have to “stay positive” and recognize exactly that. It was a great round otherwise and I have so much to take from the experience. It was a reminder to me why I have to be there for my horse- no matter how well he is going. It’s a team effort. As Charlene likes to say, “horses keep us humble”, and this was a perfect example of that. Mike and Charlene were both very happy with my riding today, especially since I’ve been on for only a week in prep for this show. So that’s encouraging, maybe some of their lessons are finally starting to sink in!

Tomorrow is a new day, and I hope we can recreate some of the rounds we had today! Such a good feeling!

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!