Love those pictures, Pancakes! Love your attitude, too. Hang in there.
And about the vest, I am thinking about getting one of these for summer to wear under it:
http://www.smartipony.com/cool-medics-think-pink-cooling-vest
I already bought a cooling cap for my helmet. Can’t wait to try it!
Pancakes - glad you are hanging in there, I’m sorry you are still having pain. I understand. I’m ok during the day, but by the time I get home my mid-section hurts, especially when I’m wearing restricting clothing.
I am trying to wear stuff that is light and doesn’t rub, but I don’t have that many choices! I went to Old Navy yesterday and got some really cute stuff that is very soft, so I’m testing my theory today of whether the pain is from the clothes, or that I’m over-doing things.
I’m also teaching my dog to walk nicely on the leash and I think her pulling me is painful too.
On the horse front, I was considering a lease situation and was all set to go see the horse, but then my trainer told me just the other day that one of the boarders wants her horse ridden. He’s an older TB but no real soundness issues, and can do crossrails. I REALLY want something to call my own but considering all that’s happened this year, I might just resign myself to riding someone else’s horse. The woman is very nice and the horse seems that way too (I don’t know him too well) and he is out of shape like me. But not out of shape in the nutty way, which is nice. I might get out there on Friday and try him out.
Hope everyone is enjoying good weather and good rides! 
Hi fellow re-riders! Hope all is well with you all.
Thought some of you who are in the middle of your life and experiencing the twinges that go along with aging parts might appreciate this and get a good giggle (also posted on the off course as well, so you might have seen it there)
I recently tweaked my back and have been unable to really ride. Am doing everything I can to get better quickly (chronicled here) - laser, tens therapy, chiropractor, tiger balm/ben gay, heat and ice and heck, I’ll built a sweat lodge and burn sage if I need to.
Anywho, I thought my recent experiences might give my horsey friends over here at COTH some giggles and a much needed PSA:
#1 - Be careful when applying Tiger Balm/Ben Gay. If you wear contacts, put on mittens immediately after applying topical muscle relief and make no attempt to adjust, insert, or remove contact lenses. DUUUUUUUHHHHH! LOL No one ever said I was the sharpest knife in the drawer!
#2 - If you have a TENS unit, do not attempt to use it and multitask. This is a recipe for failure. Case in point: I called a client and attempted to adjust the level of the output from the machine while I was waiting for the client to answer her phone. Let’s just say I overestimated the level of stimulus I was capable of handling, and shocked the beejeebus out of myself. My poor client picked up the phone to something along the lines of “ARGH! #@!#^%$#@!” Thankfully she knows me well. Sigh.
Anyway, hope that gave you a few laughs. Carry on, and have a great week!
[QUOTE=spacytracy;6209292]
I REALLY want something to call my own but considering all that’s happened this year, I might just resign myself to riding someone else’s horse. [/QUOTE]
I completely understand. I’m … not necessarily having second thoughts about my lease guy, but I’m getting odd (sort of hesitant) vibes from the owner. And then after putting in a 15-day work week … He’s a fantastic horse, he’s even branded (My little Hunter Princess heart lept when I saw it) but – I don’t know. Maybe I’m just super tired this week, but things feel different.
Anyway … I’ll hopefully be popping by Trainer No. 1’s show this weekend, see some dressage and jumping and go to my lesson on Monday.
Hi everyone. Made it to the middle of the week unscathed!
Pancakes those pictures are AWESOME! You look fantastic. Dash looks nothing like my imagined image though, kind of like seeing the movie after you read the book.
Spacytracy take it easy, slow and steady and all that. It really hasn’t been that long since the surgery! Sounds like an interesting prospect for riding, give it a try and see how you feel. Is your pony still at your trainer’s? How is he doing?
Opus let us know how things go with the potental lease. Don’t be too hard on yourself, it sounds like work has been really stressful for you. When I am overtired or stressed I tend to over-analyze and put a negative slant on everything. See how you feel when you are more rested and have more energy.
Abv thanks for the stories they made me laugh out loud, especially the Tiger Balm one.
I had a really good lesson today. We’ve been having unseasonably warm temperatures up here, more like July weather, so we’re riding outside. One of my lesson-mates moved to another barn, and the other one had to work. I had to ride with the teenager jumper lesson. I was pretty anxious about it, I’m old enough to be their mother and they all ride pretty fancy horses and jump pretty high. We did gymnastics today, one of my favourite things. My horse ( who is completely “made” , and NOT by me I will fully admit but I am too old and anxious to ride anything else) was a TOTAL superstar. He went through that grid like we did it every day. By the end the jumps were about 3 feet and I kept up with the kids. I was so proud of my buddy, he takes such good care of his mama. My kids rode in their lesson tonight too and both did a great job. Hoping the weather stays like this (fat chance).
All right, Hazel! What fun that must have been! Thanks for upholding the honor of the re-riders by keeping up with the kids!
Dreamin - here is the scene: Windy. Path to trail goes past the metal storage shed (door flapping somewhat and making noise), then past the barn help house with flapping flag on the trail side. There is a small step down to the path to the trail. So, we get there, we are dead last, the door is creaking, the flag is flapping, I get tense and can feel the TB about to take flight under me. So I gave up. What I should have done, was probably bridge my reins, grab mane and let him catch up.
I am a chicken dork!
ST and Pancakes - glad to hear you are both getting better, heal quickly!
Dewey- vest sound really good. I have a used custom Tipperary that I wear when I’ve hunted.
Painted- being run off with is my worst nightmare. Happened to me once on a trail ride.
Finally got to the barn yesterday after the “lost week” due to being completely doped on allergy meds. Still having to take a bunch but not 8 benedryl in one day. Trainer cancelled my lesson which was fine with me as I’m still having the little bit of asthma I seem to get for a few weeks in the spring. Seriously couldn’t canter around the arena without getting winded. Trotted over a bunch of little crossrails and cavalitti, then cantered one cavaletti. Finished up with a little jump set with canter poles, rode into and through it really well, was cantering away toward the end of the arena on the left lead and… WHAT direction do you turn when cantering left!!! Left, right, left, right…argh… pulled up. Total mental blank and I had just come IN to the jump on the left lead. Told my trainer that I was so glad that wasn’t in a lesson!
Hoping to ride more the rest of the week but now we might be getting rain.
With so much discussion lately about horses bolting, I’d like to share something I learned in Pony Club many, many years ago that has literally saved me on more than one occasion. Forgive me if you all already know this and I sound like a preachy know-it-all.
When your horse takes off and you feel that you are genuinely losing control, let go of one rein and use both hands on the other. Slide the hands up close to the bit and pull the rein hard to turn the horse in a tight circle.
If you pull back with both hands on both reins as your instinct tells you to do, you will lose the battle of strength every time with the panicky horse. He will grab the bit and (as you undoubtedly know), that is terrifying.
With the Pony Club method (as I call it), you have much more leverage. The horse cannot continue at a dead run when his neck is bent sharply to one side. This is guaranteed to work (unless–God forbid–your rein breaks).
That’s a kind of Pulley Rein, Dewey! One of the first things that my instructor taught me and something I’ll never forget. Something that EVERY rider needs to know. Shorten up reins, plant one hand on the neck FIRMLY, and pull back HARD with the other hand. The neck will curl around and your horse will stop.
In other news…despite feeling better, I did the right thing and went to the doctor today. My lungs look okay but I DID break ribs #7, 8, and 9… whee!
Yes, pulley rein! That is what my PC instructors taught me, and I had forgotten about planting one hand on the neck. Using both hands on one rein was my own innovation, I guess, and one that worked for me more than once when the horse was in a serious bolting mode.
The advantage of the classic pulley rein, I think, is that it would prevent the rider from pulling the bit through the horse’s mouth (which has never actually happened to me although it could).
So sorry to hear about your broken ribs, Pancakes. 
I understand that is extremely painful. What are you supposed to do to promote healing?
[QUOTE=Dewey;6211617]
So sorry to hear about your broken ribs, Pancakes. I understand that is extremely painful. What are you supposed to do to promote healing?[/QUOTE]
It is! However it’s better nearly 1 week later. Yay ibuprofen!
You can’t do anything for broken ribs, so you just wait. I’m going to go riding this afternoon though…probably not the smartest idea, but if I rode immediately after it happened, the day after, and then worked on my feet for 12+ hrs a day for the past 4 days, this should be a breeze. Working on my feet and lying on the couch is actually more painful than being in the saddle if you can believe it.
I’ll have to take your word for it…but please be careful! :eek:
Yes, the pulley rein. It is used lots at our barn and really does work. My son is the pulley rein king!! I think if you stop riding if they bolt or feel like they are going to they learn that its a good way to get out of work (that said from an adult re-rider with a perfectly made-by-someone-else horse who never bolts, so you can say what you want about me, but quietly).
Pancakes I think you can tape your ribs with that white medical tape to give them some support. Be careful, if they’re broken they can stick into things, like your lungs!
Thanks Dewey, it was really fun and I was really proud that I not only kept up with them, my horse was the star! I think he had fun too, its been a long winter going around in teeny circles in the indoor!
I see I’m not the only one who spends lunch hour on the computer reading COTH
:lol::lol::lol:
I am at home, grading papers. I read a few and then reward myself by reading COTH!! I’ve got to get back to the papers, though–I have a few left before I leave for the barn this afternoon!!
Glad to hear your horse was the star, Hazel!
Hazel, congrats on the great ride the other day. 3’! Wow! And sometimes there’s nothing wrong with a made horse…especially if you keep up! It’s not easy! I read COTH on my days off mostly, wishing I had a lunch break during the week!
I think I’ll vetwrap my chest instead of tape for ease of removal 
I would have tried that Dewey- was taught the same thing- but I really think this horse would have lost her balance and fallen over if I had done that! She has no coordination and nearly fell over when we tried to make her bend corners at a mere trot. Oy Vey.
So tonight will be my first ride on my boy since he had his hocks injected last Friday, since he’s been in rest and then limited turn out since then. I REALLY hope he’s good. i am cautiously optimistic, but I am not counting on him behaving. I think he will be the type to be protective and remember the pain and act accordingly, even if he’s no longer feeling it.
Am keeping my fingers crossed for you, PH!
I have been emailing back and forth with an agent about insuring my mare. It’s very interesting. This is an “agreed value” policy with Great American. I got a quote and then emailed with some questions about the value of my mare. The agent was very informative. She at first told me to start with the purchase price and then add 50% of the expenses of having her trained professionally. She also said show winnings would add to her value, even at a local, unrated circuit (since I specifically asked about that). When I pointed out that I was training the mare myself, she told me to document her progress. If (God forbid), the mare dies and I make a mortality claim, the underwriters have to decide if she is worth the value I’ve insured her for or not, and the more evidence I can provide, the better.
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