I just wanted to let you know that I read your post in the going back to riding/worth it thread. Your response came at a time I really needed to hear someone else’s experience with riding and MS. My diagnosis came over 20 yrs ago when kids came along and my horses passed away. Everything was great for 15 years but the last 5 have been a steady decline. I use a rollator around the house and short distances but use an ECV for longer days/going out. Last year I started riding again which has been the biggest blessing! It’s been a lot to get used to this new body in the saddle after being an able bodied rider. Anyhow, I’ve really enjoyed it and have set goals to compete, even just one time, in para dressage. Recently I’ve started trotting again but the sitting trot was never my strong suit to begin with and now the best I’ve been able to do is about 20 strides before I just fall forward from fatigue. So reading how you feel exhausted after about 6 strides at a canter (awesome btw) helped me feel a little better about my progress. It’s such a fine line between wanting something so badly and not giving up compared to understanding my limits and not beating myself up over it.
Sorry this is so long and probably more info than you needed. I was just so happy to read about someone else’s experiences riding.
One question if you don’t mind…have you ever thought about having your own horse again? I know even once I’m unable to ride that I’ll always want to have them in my life at some capacity.
Thanks again and take care!
I decided over twenty years ago never to own a horse again even if I could afford board at a good stable (decent horse care).
I have my own land. I used to have horses on it. By the time my last horse died I just.could.not. do the required work. Part of the reason I got my own land is that a few times I went through the stable I boarded at closing without warning, resulting in a mad scramble to find another stable.
At first it was marvelous (over 30 years ago.) I rode, I broke two horses to saddle. But then a drunk driver plowed into my car head on and I’ve never been the same since, it triggered an MS attack that lasted for almost 20 years before I got diagnosed, and every year I could do less and less with my horses.
When I found my present lesson stable I told the lady I had MS, that I just did not have the energy to go out and catch the horse, groom the horse decently and tack up. I am lucky, every other student she has does all this stuff, but she helps me or one of the other people at the stable helps me. I can only ride half an hour, and that is all she charges me for a lesson even though she does all the work getting the horse ready to ride.
So, for many years I have been too crippled to take care of a horse on my land and I would not be able to take very good care of a boarded horse. Once I gave up on riding my own horses everything opened up for me, and if the Universe cooperates I can ride 3 times a week, for 30 minutes at a time.
About the sitting trot–I have brain and spinal cord damage. I absolutely refuse to sit the trot on demand from a riding teacher. Sometimes I sit the trot for about three strides when I have to make a point to the horse, then it is back to posting. I can sit the trot very well with my seat bones “glued” to the saddle on non-warmblood horses, but to me it is NOT worth the risk to my brain and spinal cord to sit the trot for more that a few steps (6 strides is my maximum.)
I’ve ridden more the past decade than I had the previous 20 years. I could not do this if I still owned my own horses.
I gave up ALL of my riding ambitions beyond just riding a horse. I wanted, oh so badly, to jump again, but finally I realized that a particular muscle deep inside right beside my spine no longer works at all, the muscle that enable me to stay on the horse through bad jumps (lots of those!), bolts (now my cantle saves me) and any air born hi-jinks the horse may come up with.
Yes, I am bored since I no longer dare ride outside the ring, but I am having much more fun on horseback than I had for decades back when I was riding my own horses. I get to explain stuff to horses abandoned as hopeless, I am good at getting them to accept the bit and leg because I know what I am doing. It all works out.
At least I am still riding and walking on my own two feet 25 years after my diagnosis.
Take care!
I have been blogging on http://barnmice.com for the last 11 years about me riding with MS. The blogs are under my name, Jackie Cochran, and my avatar photo is the head of a bay Arabian mare.
They are probably boring since I don’t do much when riding, but I explain what I do, why I do it, and my results. I also have some blogs on riding theory on there, but most of them are about my rides, the gear I use, the horses I get to ride, and how my case of MS has affected my ability to ride.
