Trying to Get Riding Fit with MS at the Speed of a Snail

[NaturallyHappy]

Wonderful news!

[3PonyFarm]

Good job Jackie and Splash!

[Jackie_Cochran]

Shannon came by today. I rode my Home Horse for 25 minutes.

I was tired when I got on. I have been using the new stuff I got to work on my plantar fasciitis daily. The Shiatsu slippers–every few days or so for 25 to 30 minutes. The other three things I used every 3 days or so for less than 10 minutes, usually much less than 10 minutes. I have gotten really tired from all this extra “exercise”.

Today I got 2 posting trots in for 20 strides, one with my feet on the platform and one with my feet in the stirrups. I did 2-point at the walk, same (harder to do with my feet in the stirrups.) The rest of the time I was mainly balancing at the halt seated or in 2-point.

I got so tired I had to take a 3 hour nap this afternoon. I tried, and failed, to stay awake before I gave up with staying awake.

After my ride I just sat there with my body feeling leaden. I put my feet on the Shiatsu slippers for around half an hour, just shifting my feet on the slippers, and my body felt less leaden. This did not do much to stop me from feeling TIRED though.

So nowadays I am getting my plantar fasciitis dealt with at the speed of a snail as well as getting riding fit at the speed of a snail. At least the soles of my feet feel much better and I can walk without pain.

Thinking back I never really had any signs of plantar fasciitis except for being unable to ride with my stirrups “home” which really hurt. Maybe if I deal with the plantar fasciitis effectively I will finally be able to ride with my feet “home” in the stirrups again making my seat in the saddle much more secure.

[3PonyFarm]

i admire you for your ability to keep trying. Get some rest!

[NaturallyHappy]

Is it safe to have your feet “home” in the stirrups??

[Jackie_Cochran]

A. I use safety stirrups.

B. The US Cavalry had its riders ride with their stirrups home at the end of it being the horse cavalry.

C. The system I ride, Forward Seat, started off with the riders with their feet home in the stirrups. This was after many years that Federico Caprilli fell off around 400 times (according to one source) while Caprilli was developing the modern jumping seat over the fences in the late 1800s… Caprilli was an officer in the Italian cavalry and the Italian cavalry ended up adopting Caprilli’s Forward Seat completely, including riding with the rider’s feet home in the stirrups.

But as time passed fewer people rode with their feet home in the stirrups. I suspect that this was due to foot pain as English boots switched from the very stiff leather soles to the more flexible rubber-y soles.

This was in the days before the widespread adoption of the heavier Fillis stirrups.

[Jackie_Cochran]

I have been mostly useless lately because I am SO TIRED all of the time.

I had been hoping to sneak in another 30 minutes of exercise a week by using my plantar fasciitis stuff for around 5 minutes 4-5 times a week. This did not work out.

Shannon could not come out today so DH helped me on my Home Horse. I lasted 8 minutes 30 seconds, just balancing, 10 strides of the walk, 10 posts, a little time keeping balance in 2-point, some with my feet on the platform and the rest with my feet in the stirrups.

I am now thinking that I should try multiple plantar fasciitis exercises with various pieces of my new gear all in one session aiming for 30 minutes. That way I would have 3 thirty minute exercise sessions a week, hopefully.

But I do not know if my body will ever be able to do this.

At least the plantar fasciitis stuff has helped the horrible pain in the soles of my feet except for occasional brief twinges.

[NaturallyHappy]

You truly are inspirational. Thank you.

[RMJacobs]

I have to break up most types of physical effort into smaller chunks of time. I realize my challenges are different from yours, but I wonder if you’d be better off with doing shorter sessions more often. I find the recovery is much faster if I don’t overdo by too much.

[3PonyFarm]

I hope you can improve your energy levels. I hate how tiredness zaps your strength. I admire how you keep working toward your goals!

[Jackie_Cochran]

I am trying a two tiered reduction in using my new plantar fasciitis stuff.

First, I figured (as in I hope) that if I just rest my feet on my plantar fasciitis sandals for a while it won’t tire me too much. So right now I am using my Shiatsu slippers and my fancier slippers with “buttons” by just resting mainly my right foot, which has problems besides the fasciitis, in one while I sit on my bed. I just ordered another pair that has actual stones/pebbles, which is harsher on the soles of the feet, for variety.

I remember reading in “Alone With Your Horse” by Mary Jean Vasiloff that she thinks that riding the horse on different textures of ground helps the horse relieve its feelings of boredom. Well I get bored sitting in bed so maybe resting my feet on different textures of soles might help with MY boredom when I am sitting in my bed.

Then, if I have the energy, I can use the other plantar fasciitis tools one after another one day a week for 30 minutes or so, at least that is my goal.

It may take me a while to get there.

[Jackie_Cochran]

It rained last night, and it rained and it rained some more.

I knew that there would be only a faint hope that I would get my lesson.

Debbie called, the riding ring was SOAKED. No lesson for me this week.

So I rode my super trusty Home Horse on my nice and dry living room floor.

I had followed my plan of just resting my foot on the sandals’ soles and I had much more energy when I started off, I lasted 15 minutes on my HH, 6 minutes with my feet on the platform and the rest with my feet in the stirrups. I worked longer and harder in the saddle today, a count of 20 while staying still just balancing, posting 20 times, and 20 strides of the walk both seated and in 2-point with my feet on the platform and with my feet in the stirrups. I am tired but today I earned feeling tired.

It was my usual routine mostly, I did not start off by walking I started off balancing seated then balancing in 2-point, then I started posting before I did a walk. I also pushed the saddle from side to side with my thighs for 20 “strides”. My DH said I was mostly balanced side-to-side but to get balanced front-to-back while seated I ended up perched in the saddle with my butt barely grazing the seat.

Today I started apologizing to my HH when I collapsed in the saddle sending the HH all the way back to resting on the rim. I just want to get into the habit of apologizing to the real horses when I collapse in the saddle, get out of the front-to-back balance and putting more weight on the weakest part of the horses’ backs
.

I now have 3 pairs of the plantar fasciitis acupressure sandals. The Shiatsu sandals from Medistellar feel irritating to my feet with all the upward short sharp projections. The Acupressure sandals with the “buttons” which rotate a tiny bit by Gcoujrl are irritating in a different way when I stand or walk in them. My-just-arrived-today pebble sandals by Byriver don’t feel to bad when I just rest my feet in them but when I stood up and tried walking they felt harsher on the soles of my feet.

The soles of my feet have stopped feeling numb, the sensory nerves are getting re-activated so I feel them more even without these sandals on.

Inspired by how these sandals “woke up” the nerves in the soles of my feet I decided to see how acupressure worked on my back and my neck. Most mornings I wake up with a very stiff and painful neck and my back also hurts. I bought the cheapest Acupressure mat and pillow on Amazon and tried them out. The acupressure points are on plastic circles around 1" wide spaced out on the mat and pillow, with 3 circles of upward projecting triangular thorns almost 1/4" high. I feel like I am lying on a bed of thorns when I use them.

The pad and pillow WORK. My insomnia is much, much better, I am sleeping much better, and I do not hurt as much when I wake up. If my neck or back get to hurting during the day just resting on them for a few minutes really helps the pain. The blurbs say that they get the production of the endorphins going, and that is what seems to be happening.

I’ve gone from despairing of ever getting my proprioceptive sense going again to having the skin on the soles of my feet and my back feeling ALIVE instead of dead. Maybe this will work well enough so that Debbie won’t have to constantly correct my position because my body can’t feel when it gets out of the proper Forward Seat position on horseback.

Even though they work my body is not too sure about lying on my bed and pillow of thorns.

[RMJacobs]

I didn’t know that acupressure pillows and pads were a thing. I need to look into that, as fibromyalgia is probably the source of my worst pain these days.

Since I started on Enbrel for my RA, I’ve gotten some of the feeling back in my hands and feet. My fingertips are still numb, which is very annoying. It’s very hard to pick up anything that is small.

By the way, I apologize to inanimate objects all the time. And of course I apologize to animals if needed. DH, not so much. Just kidding as I believe being polite in our closest relationships is important.

[Jackie_Cochran]

Yesterday I might of overdone the endorphin stuff. I started feeling ODD and sort of off balance from side-to-side, unusual after I have a session on the Home Horse.

I laid the right foot all three different types of acupressure/plantar fasciitis sandals beside my bed, I put my right foot in one for a while, and soon after I put my right foot in another type sandal, etc…

The GOOD result is that my right outside ankle, which has been bigger (waxing and waning) ever since I had Covid-19 alpha back in 2020, looked almost normal last night and right now it just looks a little swollen. My Covid toes have improved very gradually over the last 5 years, this morning the toes of my right foot “bruises” have almost faded completely, so much so that my DH has noticed when he just glances at them.

With any therapy there comes the decision of how often and how much to use it. Like I take my supplements every day because I feel worse when I skip them for a day or two. I follow prescription dosages carefully and when I use all the pills I stop. Sometimes I take an extra supplement pill (or an extra prescription pill with my PCP’s permission) when I get worse, then I go back to my normal dose. Some stuff like homeopathy I only take when needed, I take it ONCE and evaluate the results later, usually days later and I rarely repeat the dosage. If and when I improve I stop taking the homeopathic remedy and I do not take these remedies to try and prevent something.

The acupressure/shiatsu/reflexology stuff seems to be in its own category. Too much starts affecting me in undesirable ways, but just enough has transformed my daily status. My plantar fasciitis has gone down to occasional twinges. My neck and back pains are much improved as in while I may still hurt I hurt a good deal less than I did before.

I did not use my acupressure mat and neck pillow last night before bed and my insomnia came back. My neck bothered me more, and this morning my neck and back hurt more.

So in the near future my daily use of my new gear probably will be limited to using my acupressure mat and pillow before bed every night. I am toying with the idea of trying one pair of slippers walking for maybe a minute at first, and some days later using another sandal walking for a minute, and so on, building up gradually over time.

I no longer feel STUCK as far as my body goes. Stuff that has persisted for years is improving.

I just hope all this new stuff improves my proprioception so I can become A BETTER RIDER!!!

[3PonyFarm]

I hope the new stuff helps!

[Jackie_Cochran]

I got my lesson today on Splash. I did an experiment changing the bridoon of my double bridle from the Fager Adam leather mullen mouth bit to the Fager Alice titanium 3-piece snaffle with a roller in the center.

Splash did NOT like this bit when I tried, tried, and then insisted she back up.

BUT it was much easier to get Splash to move out at the walk eventually, and then once we got a decent walk I was able to get other decent walks. These decent walks still took a lot of leg to get her going. Today I lasted 34 minutes even though it was hotter and I started to sweat.

I got to meet a possible future lesson horse for me, a 14 year old bay ARABIAN MARE!!! I really miss riding Arabians so I am hoping she works out. Her name is Stella and from a distance there is no doubt that she is an Arabian. She is gorgeous.

Debbie brought her up so I could meet her. I did my usual introduction–I think Arabian mares are the crown of creation, I have MS which causes me problems, and that I will do all I can to never hurt her. She did not look impressed. Then I got out my Posture Prep fascia tool, went down her neck, back, shoulders, haunches and girth area and she showed signs of great pleasure and she started to show some interest in me. I hung out with her for several minutes, giving her a good scratch down the front of her near shoulder which she LIKED, then I went to her other side and started with handling her head some. She did NOT want me to handle her ears though she was pretty polite about that, but when I started scratching her at the base of her ears–ooooooh, that felt GOOD!

Unfortunately she has many white hairs on her back, Debbie thinks that she was ridden for a while in an ill-fitting saddle.

Debbie is going to introduce her to the lesson horse life. After a while when Debbie gets an idea of what Stella is like under saddle and settles down at her new home I may get to ride her if Debbie thinks I can handle her (I am not too worried about that, I have successfully ridden several Arabians at Debbie’s stable.)

So hopefully withing the next few months I will end up riding an Arabian mare again!!! JOY!!!

[3PonyFarm]

I hope you can ride Stella soon!

[Jackie_Cochran]

I had my lesson today. I lasted 30 minutes.

It was not that hot, 75 F, but the humidity was 100% and there was not much of a breeze. Even with my technical fabric riding clothes, ventilated half chaps, my ice vest and my neck fan I was sweating in the barn helping to get Splash ready. I did not do that much, I did the Posture Prep, groomed her head, brushed her mane, put on her hats, I put fly spray on her, and sweat was running down my glasses.

I walked. When I asked Splash to extend her stride some all I got was her “muttering” that the weather was not good for man or beast so quit bugging her.

Then Debbie’s new Arab mare that has been lent to her (finding a good home for an idle horse), Stella, came into the ring for one of Debbie’s younger students to ride. Splash and Stella have become friends in the mare paddock so Splash was not displeased, and she even sped up around 1 foot an hour.

Stella has decent speed at the walk and kept on breaking into a trot. She was not mean about it, no hint of running away, she just wanted to trot, a rather nice slow quiet trot. Debbie told the younger rider that she had to learn to keep the mare listening to her.

Looking at Stella I wished I had run into a mare like her when I was looking for an Arabian mare for breeding many decades ago. She shows her Egyptian blood and has decent conformation, she seems pretty unfazed with odd happenings outside the ring, and while she was not listening too well to her young rider Stella was not mean about it and did nothing to freak her rider out.

Debbie got a copy of Stella’s pedigree and it has several good horses in it. Next week I will try to get her registered name so I can look her up on the pedigree sites. She is either pure Egyptian or has a LOT of pure Egyptian blood in her. Debbie told me that the saddle fitter who came out said that Stella’s white spots on her back probably came from a very badly fitting harness so she is probably trained to drive too.

Following Stella around Splash finally sped up her walk. Splash has told me my last two rides that she does NOT like the Fager Alice bridoon so I will probably switch back to the Fager Adam leather snaffle for the bridoon.

From observing Stella being ridden I told Debbie that it would probably take around 3 months before Stella got “into” the way Debbie wants her lesson horses to go, and then Debbie would probably feel safe putting me up on her. The mare is still settling into her new life and her job right now is to become usable as a lesson horse in Debbie’s program, and I don’t want to do anything to mess up that process.

I was very tired when my ride ended.

This summer could well end up being really miserable for all of us down here. I do not do well in the heat especially when it is really muggy.

[3PonyFarm]

Glad you got to ride and I hope you can get some cooler weather for them!

[RMJacobs]

I think 75 is more than hot enough, especially with the kind of humidity you have to deal with. As I get older and more disabled, I find my ability to tolerate heat has decreased substantially. Lately I try to get my bike rides done when it’s still in the 60s. And that’s in a dry climate.

I used to bike in the high 80s without even thinking about it. And I’d certainly drive my horses in those temperatures. They didn’t seem to have a problem with it; they didn’t get overly sweaty.