That is excellent news!
Rebecca
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Since it seems that my hip joints are basically fine once my muscles settle down today I ordered what I need if I end up using up all my MS medicine reserves.
2 Light Rider bitless bridles, the leather English Euro style, cob and full size.
2 bradoon hangers, cob and full size.
2 sets of web reins with color stops.
A Sure win bit holder (for one of Shannon’s mares who always puts her tongue over the bit (for use with the Fager Adam leather bit.)
Even if by some miracle my medicine becomes available again before my reserves run out, I will probably face this problem again. I need to be prepared.
So I will be making a sort of “double bridle” with the Light Rider bitless bridle and the Fager Adam leather snaffle bit.
This ends up being sort of expensive for me but totally worth it if I can ride the horses when my nervous system starts to change on me. If this does not happen now it will probably happen later and I want to have the stuff I need available since I won’t be in any shape to order stuff on-line.
Not much change today, but I am managing to cope today while my husband deals with his business. DH got stuff ready for me to eat.
2 canes, and when I have to carry something around I use my wheeled walker.
I found it MUCH EASIER to get off the commode if I shift my butt so I can press down on one side, hold onto my footed cane, AND if I go into 2-point and put my weight in my heels. If I do not have my weight in my heels I cannot get up without a lot of painful contorting and heaving myself upward. Putting my weight in my heels makes it so much easier to get up without anybody helping me.
I am surviving fine even though I still hurt.
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How have you been? Have you had any improvement?
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There has been some improvement with my left hip. Taking the Aleve against inflammation worked pretty well.
But yesterday I did a little bit of sweeping and now my right buttock muscles are screaming at me. I am back to using 2 canes to walk, hopefully for a short while. It is obvious that lying around in bed for three weeks has made all my muscles less strong and fit.
Depending on how much I hurt I may try to get up on my Home Horse for a few minutes when Shannon comes by on Sunday. I NEED to work on my balance because my body is back to not really knowing where it is in space.
Debbie has been checking in with me to see how I am doing. I love having her as my riding teacher.
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Well, today improved greatly.
My Light Rider Bitless bridles came from Australia. I got the “Euro Style” bridles, the only one that can take a bridoon hangar properly.
I conditioned the one I will be using on Shannon’s horses. Hers is cob sized, black (mainly so I can tell the different sized bridles apart), I put on black web reins with rainbow stops, and Shannon already has the bridoon strap, the Fager Alexander leather snaffle and reins for the snaffle (soft leather notched reins from SA?) I will be using the leather snaffle as the “curb” and the bitless noseband as the snaffle. This is probably a unique “international” bridle, at least around here it is unique, when we finally put it all together with an Australian bitless, Swedish bit, reins from SA and wherever the bradoon strap and web reins are made.
I sure hope I can ride the horses mostly painlessly when my MS gets worse, and I am pretty confident that I will be able to control the horse and influence how it moves.
I still have a long way to go both physically and in affording the next few pieces of tack so I can ride the horses more or less safely.
I was so nervous thinking about riding the horses with just a bit, because of my hand tremors, and being strong enough to steer a resistant horse with the bitless bridle. I just hope the horses like these bridles!
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Today I woke up with PAIN over my sacrum.
40 some years ago when a passed out drunk driver in a big American car plowed into me head on THIS type of pain is what kept me from riding for 3+ years, however I could still walk without any canes.
This time my legs are threatening to buckle when I put weight on them since the muscles over my sacrum hurt so darn much. I HAVE to use to canes to prevent this. Also, when I get up or down, my legs start this very obvious big motion “tremor”. Sitting down or getting up from sitting is an exercise in pain. Leaning forward is quite painful too.
The Aleve helps a tiny bit with the pain, better than aspirin but nowhere near the pain relief I need to mount a horse, ride a horse, or dismount from the horse. I am especially wary about dismounting, my leg moves so much and so rapidly how in the world is the horse supposed to ignore it?
I have my BOT back brace with a Fenwick horse leg wrap folded up in the pocket and an Incrediwear body sleeve down over my sacrum. However I cannot wear them sleeping since I am often flooding both the beltless undergarment and my diaper at night. Also I find that the plastic cover on the diaper blocks the far infra-red radiation so this gear would have no protection from my nighttime incontinence.
Thank you all for listening to me. At this moment I am feeling pretty hopeless about ever riding a horse again if this pain continues.
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I’m really sorry this is happening to you.
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I completely understand your frustration, but I think you need to give yourself more time to heal from your fall before you start thinking you won’t be able to ride again. It really hasn’t been that long, although I know it feel like forever already. And that was a hard fall.
Always jingling for improvement for your situation!
Rebecca
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Hoping that the pain goes way or at least is more managable. Let us know how you are doing!
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Shannon came by. I woke up in a lot of pain so we did not ride my Home Horse.
Since I got the Light Rider bitless bridle to use on cob sized horses and had conditioned it yesterday I put on the already conditioned bridoon strap on and the web reins with the rainbow stops on the bitless nose apparatus I could lend her a usable bitless bridle so that she can attach the Fager Alexander snaffle to, with the bridoon strap going over the outside of the bridle’s crownpiece. The bit will be the “curb” and the bitless noseband will be the “snaffle”, thus an unusual double bridle that uses components from several countries (Sweden, New Zealand, South Africa, France), truly an unique bridle.
Here are two pictures without the bit on it, Shannon will add that later on.
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I like how you think through the action of the bridle on the horse and what you want to achieve with it.
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I finished the bridle I am going to use at Debbie’s stable, this one has the bit attached. Once it is on MJ (or whoever I will ride) I am sure that we will be adjusting it to the horse’s head.
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This is an update 37 days after I fell off.
The pain is abating somewhat, with 3 pills of Aleve a day, a little bit of Voltaren each night on my sacrum when I hurt too much to sleep, and I started using the Vibe PEMF therapy hand held device.
I still NEED 2 canes to walk. I cannot go far at all. My pain as abated somewhat as in it does not hurt as much getting up off my bed or commode or my pain when I sit down. Whenever I get into an equivalent of a 2-point position my thighs have started shaking less, at least today. I use my wheeled walker when I need to carry something around. I have to sleep reclining against pillows otherwise my body hurts too much to get much sleep.
I had to tell Shannon I could not do my Home Horse today, so she stayed at home so she could help with fencing another grazing paddock for her horses.
I found a cob sized Micklem bridle clone on E-bay and I finally got it conditioned today, so now I have 2 horse sized Micklems and 2 cob sized Micklems, one of each size has the bridoon strap added so I can use it as a double bridle. The other two will be my snaffle bridles. I also have a pony sized Micklem hanging around here somewhere.
Right now I am saving up for horse stuff to make riding easier on me. I have this horrible feeling that if Trump wins the election that a LOT of horse tack and riding clothing will become unaffordable for a lot of people, especially since my husband told me that he had heard the figure of tariffs starting out at 110% of an item’s price. Since so much manufacturing has gone abroad for an enormous amount of manufactured goods I am trying to buy as much of what I need, or think I need, before the election.
I am hoping to get some stability leathers that have a loop the top, like the Wintec Webbers, so that my thighs have a more continuous frictional grip with the saddle. These are expensive, and I need four pairs to put on the saddles I could end up riding in. I need more safety stirrups too, hopefully the modern ones with the side branch that releases, or if I run out of money the S-shaped ones. I would also like to have something that helps me not slip around in the saddle. I should also get myself another pair or two of the silicon full seat breeches.
I am very glad that I went crazy buying all my Fager bits, all my girths, all my reins that help me locate my hands on the reins properly, my Micklem/Micklem type bridles, all my saddle pads that allow shimming and/or my Fenwick non-slip far infra-red radiation pads. Many years ago I realized that we would have bad inflation &/or huge tariffs on imported goods. I have a lot of tack now so that I have a hope of fitting most of the lesson horses I ride or will ride in the future.
This country does not seem any longer to have the manufacturing ability to produce the tack that hunter/jumper riders need. It will probably take YEARS to duplicate what little we had here back before free trade.
I FINALLY was able to get an appointment next week with my usual PCP. I FINALLY got an appointment with my neurologist three weeks later–he had a cancellation.
Maybe someday I will get back into the saddle again. At least now I have suitable bitless/bitted “double” bridles to ride the horses with as my MS gets a whole lot worse when my dronabinol runs out. Hopefully I will have the stirrups leathers I want then too.
It could be so much worse, I could be too poor to buy the horse gear that will help me ride better when I get back in the saddle again.
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Hugs to you!
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I hope you are back in the saddle soon!
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I’m counting on it!
You’re one of the best sources here on COTH for humane and thoughtful work with horses.
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I "rode"my Home Horse today!
I lasted 13 1/2 minutes. Shannon and my DH had to help me get my right leg over the cantle when I got on and off.
It was a rather sedate “ride”, my “walk” would have been less than 2 MPH. Shannon told me that my side-to-side balance was good when I stayed still and not too bad while “walking”.
She said I could probably handle riding a horse if I had help getting on and off and stayed at a walk.
I got into my saddle today! This was the first time in the saddle for over 6 weeks. I had to take a nap afterwards.
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Yay for progress!
Rebecca
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Good job!
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