I hate how expensive medical care is even with insurance. I’m glad you got to ride today. Rest up!
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I had bad astigmatism, but went with the basic lens when I had my cataract surgery. The surgeon did an older method of dealing with astigmatism (something about making small cuts, maybe?). I now have very good vision, no astigmatim, with the basic lenses. I can even read most things without reading glasses.
YMMV, of course. But I wanted to mention this before you spend a bunch of money on surgery.
Rebecca
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I did not ride my Home Horse on Sunday because I had an appointment with the eye doctor on Monday. Last week taught me that I need at least a full day of rest between big physical efforts (hey, they are big efforts for me!)
I did get my lesson on Wednesday. Both MJ and I had various assorted aches and pains, we go around the ring creaking in harmony (we may hurt but we don’t get into fights about it.) He was stiff at the walk, he did not want to extend his stride and he did not want to do sharp turns, but he was not an a**hole about it. He even kept contact with just the curb bit fine, turns and all (I’m starting to us a sort of neck rein in combination with my leg aids and teeny, tiny, bitsy tweak of the curb rein at the right moment.) I did discover a neck rein signal already installed on him, at least I think it is a neck rein signal even though it is all the way down his neck in that little dip before the withers start, several weeks ago. I am trying to move the signal up his neck somewhat.
We trotted, short trots, 3 times. Debbie was trying to decide how to use MJ for some walk, trot classes. Content that MJ would probably behave well under a rider instead of making him to an additional lesson yesterday she decided to school the walk/trot riders on two other horses, horses not as forgiving and amenable to their rider’s faults as MJ is. She does not want to waste MJ’s sort of limited energy.
All the appointments with the eye doctor and both surgeries are going to mostly destroy the little bit of fitness that I have through exhaustion and not being able to ride an actual horse (all that dust!). Luckily for me the eye doctor has no problems with me “riding” my Home Horse during recovery so I will be able to keep some of my riding muscles from disappearing altogether.
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Sorry to hear that you’ll be laid up for a while. Hope that the downtime passes as quickly as possible.
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There is no shame in becoming exhausted from things other people take in stride. Every medical appointment I have is exhausting, even if it’s just spent talking as was the case for the appointment I had yesterday. You and I have major medical conditions going on–we’re not going to just bounce back from everything.
I feel your frustration at the prospect of losing condition due to your eye surgery. I felt the same way, but the benefit of having it done was huge. After a lifetime of wearing glasses, I see well with no help at all. If it starts raining when I’m outside, it’s no big deal. If I am wearing a mask, there is nothing to fog up. And I could drive at night after not being able to for three or more years. So keep telling yourself what a good cause it is.
I’m a bit surprised that the eye doctor will let you ride the home horse during recovery. I was told to do nothing that would raise my blood pressure. Does he or she understand how much effort you put into riding it? Sorry, don’t want to be Debby Downer. I just want the best outcome for you.
Rebecca
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Thank you Rebecca!
I just told my husband that when I use the Home Horse to remind me not to get too active on it. After all I can just sit on it and balance without too much effort. It is with MOVING the HH under me that I can see how it could increase my blood pressure.
So I can keep my core muscles fit enough to do really subtle movements instead of spending a lot of energy (which I won’t have) on stuff like posting or even “walking.”
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Great! I should know that you take good care of yourself, as much is possible with MS.
I wonder what it would be like to just live life without all this medical crap. The last time I could, I was 37, and that seems like centuries ago. I’ve forgotten what it felt like.
Rebecca
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Shannon came by today to help me on my HH.
I made it to 10 minutes, then it took me three attempts to get my right leg over the cantle when I dismounted.
I posted 20x the first time and 10x the second time. I balanced, I “walked” and I also 2-pointed some, adding “walking” while in 2-point which is very tiring for me. I did not even try to use my stirrups today.
Today it occurred to me that having a riding lesson the day before my first cataract operation might not be the best idea since I get so darn TIRED from riding a horse, from riding in the car, just sitting around waiting for the doctor, EVERYTHING makes me so darn tired!
The doctor is operating on my “good” eye first. Then I will have to adapt to reading etc. using my worst eye for a while. My husband found me a decent magnifying glass and now I have many books full of equine anatomical drawings so I should be able to keep myself somewhat amused. At least there are several public radio stations I can pick up too. It could be a lot worse.
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When is your first operation?
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October 12 this year.
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I agree that it is probably best that you didn’t tire yourself out right before the surgery. You should be rested as much as possible.
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I got my lesson today. I won’t be riding a horse for 6 weeks from now unless I am cleared for ONE lesson two weeks after my first operation. Bummer.
At least I have my Home Horse so I will be able to sit in a saddle at least.
I had gotten the “Posture Prep” cross-fiber “grooming” tool for Debbie’s stable. They had not used it yet. The last two lessons I used the Posture Prep on MJ’s back, from his tail head up to the front of his withers and some on his neck. Last week Debbie did not notice any difference, but then MJ had not been used for anything the previous week.
This week she noticed. MJ had been used in show classes. Debbie had been expecting MJ to move a lot worse for my lesson this week. After this lesson I asked her if she had seen any difference and she said YES!
The differences I noted riding–MJ did not DEMAND that I spend the first 5 to 10 minutes of the lesson in 2-point. He was sort of stiff but he has been a lot stiffer before, especially if someone else rode him the week before. He did not want to extend his stride much and it look leg, leg, leg to get him into the first trot but after that we had no discussions about getting into a trot.
He reached for the bits. When I tied up the bridoon rein he still reached for contact with the curb bit, politely slipping the curb reins through my fingers when he wanted to lower his head and stick out his nose.
I think MJ “fears” my gentle bridoon (Fager Alice 3-piece with a center roller titanium bridoon) more than he “fears” my Fager Victoria Mullen mouth titanium curb bit (no longer made, sniff.) He does not fear either bit in my hands, but he just seems to be more relaxed when I keep contact with just the curb bit. Horses do not read the books after all.
After seeing a much better ride from MJ than she had been expecting I reminded her I had given the stable two of the Posture Preps, one for horses and one for the dogs. I went into her office and found them behind the computer, brought out the horse one and handed it to Debbie. She immediately started using it as a curry comb, I told her no and showed her how to use it to just move the horse’s skin, very lightly.
MJ seems to be OK with us using it on him. He gradually relaxes some, lowering his head a little bit. I think he is still making up his mind about it since it do not use it like any other grooming tool we use on him. It is a whole new sensation and I think he wants to explore it thoroughly before he “tells us” yes.
MJ used his back just fine today, nicely “swinging” at the walk. His downward transition from the trot to the walk was a little bit smoother than usual (and it is usually pretty smooth.)
After my eyes recover from the surgeries I will be using it on him again. Maybe after several weeks of thinking about it all he will relax a bit more. I still have a hope of someday getting his back relaxed enough so that I can sit his trot without destroying my brain and spinal cord (he mimics a jackhammer.) I live in hope.
AND, after working on it for months, I finally got MJ to “two-track” at the walk while keeping his body straight in the direction we were headed. GOOD BOY!!! This movement is not easy for him (he moves more stiffly for a little bit afterwards) so I ask for a little bit once or twice a lesson then I stop asking. This week he finally gave me what I wanted with no fuss.
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Glad you got your lesson! I am going to check out the Posture Prep.
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Yay! I’m glad you like the posture prep. I found it makes a big difference in my horses when I use it regularly. They are easier to get loose in their back and just feel more relaxed.
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I have been TIRED all week. When Shannon told me she could not come out today (visiting grandson) I was not too upset.
I made it all of 5 minutes on my Home Horse today. I did it barefoot since I was too tired to even think about using the stirrups.
I worked on two things, balancing and keeping most of my muscles relaxed (somewhat) while I was balancing. Without boots on I could concentrate on relaxing my toes better. Otherwise my DH would tell me I was balanced and then I started relaxing muscles that felt tense to me while trying to stay in balance. After a minute or two I would rest some, sitting back (more upright) while the HH swung back too.
I did not do anything else on my HH. I got really tired anyway.
I think I am just going to rest until my cataract operation on Thursday.
I KNOW I am going to lose a lot of my riding fitness the next 6 weeks.
One of the beauties of having the HH in my house is that if I feel like I can only ride for 5 minutes it is fine. I foresee a lot of 5 minutes in the saddle HH rides in my near future.
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Rest up and I hope things go well for the operation. Everyone I know who has had the surgery has said what a difference it makes and they are happy they had it done.
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Good luck with the surgery tomorrow!
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My surgery went fine. My eye doctor made my right eye the one specializing in distance vision so I am having some difficulties adjusting to reading stuff, on paper and on the computer screen. My distance vision in my right eye now is MUCH BETTER even though my eye is still adjusting to everything. I can see pretty clearly further away without any glasses if I just use my right eye.
If I had not worked so hard on my riding position the last decade or so I would be much worse off now. The eye doctor does not want me leaning down, looking down, lift more than 5 lbs. and avoid getting anything splashed into my eye and avoiding dust really interferes with my daily life.
All that work doing the “rider’s push-ups” up to the “vertical far” position, plus all the 2-point I’ve been doing has really helped me follow his instructions. The fact that I have been working on my head position, keeping my face vertical, enables me to do some stuff while following the doctor’s instructions. Since I am not supposed to lean down I have been squatting a lot, and for the first time in around 40-50 years I have been doing some DEEP knee bends. Amazingly these deep knee bends are not as challenging as they were way back when. I know that deep knee bends are not good for the knee, so I have been using the Posture Prep Cross Fiber Groomer tool all around my knees while trying to limit these deep knee bends to just a few a day. At least I am keeping SOME riding muscles fit in my thighs, butt and back.
I have been having some difficulties in pursuing my new hobby of studying horse anatomy. A lot of the anatomy books use coated paper which makes the books heavier. A some of them are hardbacks which adds more weight. Considering some of these books are over 6 lbs. means I cannot really use them right now. Plus getting used to my new vision, which has been changing daily and through the day. I have settled on using my “3-D Horse Anatomy” computer program, 2 of the horse anatomy coloring books, and one of the regular horse anatomy books that is not printed on coated paper and has soft covers. At least the drawings have been easier to out than the text, and I have spent a lot of time relieving my boredom by just looking at some of the clearer pictures.
Since I am not supposed to lift more than 5 pounds my strength program of lifting several horse anatomy books up at the same time and carrying them from place to place has ended for now. 6 horse anatomy books with coated paper weigh a lot more than 5 pounds if I carry them at the same time. By the time I am recovered from both eye surgeries I figure that I will have less upper body strength.
I had my operation on Thursday. Friday I had to go see the eye doctor in his office. I have spent a LOT more time than usual riding around in a car and I am TIRED, very tired from that.
Maybe Shannon can make it by tomorrow so she can help me on my Home Horse. I doubt I will be able to manage much more than 5 minutes.
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I’m glad surgery went well!
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I hope your restrictions can be lifted soon. Take care and keep us posted on your progress! Hopefully soon you will be back in the saddle!
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