You are an inspiration! You should submit these to a magazine for people with ms or similar conditions. I bet it would help so many!
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Itâs not in the least boring. Itâs very inspiring, especially for me due to also struggling with disability and trying to stay mobile.
Rebecca
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Today I gave Shannon my Anywhere Saddle Chair. I am still tired from just sitting on it for 5 min. on Friday, too tired to ride Cider today even though the weather is nice and sunny. It ended up interfering with riding horses so Shannon got it. Shannon really likes the ASC, she is very happy that I gave it to her, and promises me that she will use it (she has plans!)
I made it to 31 minutes total on my HH today, 20 min. the first session, then I rested, and then 11 more minutes. I balanced, âwalkedâ, posted, 2-pointed (at least I tried to get my seat bones out of the saddle), âcanteredâ and practiced âwalkingâ when up in 2-point (for MJ, most lessons he wants my butt OUT of the saddle for the first few minutes.)
I got so tired that I slept an hour this afternoon.
I just could not trust myself not to get into the ASC if I had it available, the fact that I didnât need anybodyâs help was so seductive. But I have been getting tireder every week and the tiredness is emanating from my core which the ASC is very good for exercising. I do not understand why dressage riders have not glommed onto the ASC to strengthen their core.
After a few weeks of just my lesson and either another ride on a horse or my Sunday session with Shannon on the HH I am sort of planning of starting slowly with using my HH more, like 5 minutes the first time, always keeping aware of my energy levels on the days I do not ride or use the HH. My long term goal is 3 rides a week, preferably with two of the rides on a horse and the third one on the HH.
Hopefully I will have more energy again instead of just collapsing in bed when I am not riding the other 5 days of the week.
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Too bad that the ASC didnât work out for you long-term. Very kind of you to pass it on to Shannon.
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I agree, that was a very nice gift to give a friend.
Thank you all. Shannon has been coming to my place just about every Sunday to help me with my Home Horse. I have offered to pay for her gas several times but she refused. I figure giving her the ASC that she WILL USE is better than having another dust collector in my house. She deserves an award for helping me so much with my riding.
I had my lesson on Wednesday. It went pretty well, I did two full ring posting trots and 3/4 of the ring 3rd posting trot. That got my lower back hurting during the third one. I obviously need to do more posting to get my lower back muscles stronger.
Near the end of the lesson while using just the curb rein I asked for a super-slow walk with my leg aids combined with really light well timed alternate tweakings of the sagging curb rein. MJ is getting somewhere with the super-slow walk, I ended up sitting up vertically while he was doing it, amazing Debbie because I usually lean forward. I did not really realize my torso was vertical, I just sat in the way that MJâs back âtoldâ me to sit on his back.
This walk felt completely smooth, and his back felt nice and relaxed and was swinging. All good, right?
That night I could not get to sleep because my upper back between my shoulder blades, more to the left, was hurting. I finally gave up and layered on the BOT, Fenwick and Incrediwear stuff on which helped enough so I could sleep. The next morning my upper back was in PAIN. I am still getting twinges in my upper back from this super slow walk.
My lower back that hurt on my last posting trot? It has not been hurting me at all, go figure.
On Sunday I might get to ride Shannonâs mare Cider. The weather looks good for once.
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I hope you have a good ride on Cider!
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I did not get to ride Cider, Shannon had to get ready for her momâs Motherâs Day party this afternoon. She came to my place early so we could get our sessions in on the Home Horse.
I asked how it was going with her with the Anywhere Saddle Chair. Last week she did two sessions sitting on it for 30 minutes each time while she did jigsaw puzzles.
When Shannon rode the HH I could SEE the difference in how she used her torso, just what I had hoped would happen with me but my exhaustion interfered. So the ASC does work like I thought it would for the fitness of the riderâs core. Shannon did misjudge a little bit (yawing severely to her left), I think her muscles were stronger than last week, but after several minutes she had adapted to the increased strength of her core muscles. Yeah the ASC works for someone even though I could not get the benefit from using it.
I am still able to return to center without many problems after I do something on the HH, like âwalkâ, 2-point, posting, and when I moved my pelvis like I was riding a canter while seated in the saddle. It was easier doing this when my feet were on the platform. Using my stirrups was a little bit more exciting (oops!) but I finally got back to center as far as side-to-side goes.
Then I asked Shannon to help me get centered front to back at the same time. When I sat down in the saddle I was overloading the HHâs âhind endâ, when I did two point I overloaded the HHâs âforehandâ, and I finally got balanced from front-to-back and side-to-side when I sat with my crotch barely touching the seat of my saddle with my weight in the stirrups/upper thighs.
I got up to 20 posts the first time I tried (feet on platform) and 12 posts with my feet in the stirrups.
My first session lasted 22 minutes 40 seconds-2 minutes 40 seconds more than last week, and I ended my second session after 10 minutes, keeping my feet flat on the platform.
I am showing some progress with getting my riding muscles fitter! Riding the HH really helps me with that.
And I am pretty tired right now. My body definitely feels exercised!
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Rest up! So glad you had a good session!
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This week was not as good.
Somewhere, sometime this week I obviously picked up a âgermâ. No fever at all but I am TIRED and weaker. My lesson, well I did not make it the full 30 minutes, I tried but I was just too tired. I just had 2 short trots, a little bit of 2-point at the beginning, and otherwise MJ was graciously carting me around while I was more or less collapsed on his back.
I went to the doctor (my favorite PCP of the last several yearsâhe actually listens to me). Since I have lung congestion he listened to my lungs thoroughly. He checked out my shoulder that probably âneedsâ surgery but I am most definitely up to anything like that. He also checked out my right foot thoroughly since a âCovid toeâ mark appeared at a different place on my toe. He even remembers my Covid toes from 2 years ago!
He agreed with me I could have run into Covid AGAIN, fortunately the vaccines kept it from getting too serious. But I am tired, achy, and I feel like I am falling apart. He agreed that I am probably suffering from Long Covid, but of course there is nothing they can do about it. So my base line is my MS, then the Long Covid, then there is the recent exposure on top of that.
I look back with longing to those wonderful days when only my MS was crippling me and I had more energy.
Shannon could not make it out today so my DH helped me with the Home Horse. I found it harder to mount, then I had to spend several minutes before I got my side-to-side balance, then several more minutes before I got my front-to-back balance at the same time. That made me REALLY tired.
I posted some, I did some 2-point, I did more 3-point, and I even managed to post a little bit. Halfway through I picked up my stirrups and did it all over again.
At 9 minutes I was wrung out. I made it one more minute (I am stubborn) but since I was getting more tired every second I got off after 10 minutes and did not get back on.
And last week I had made it to 30 minutes in total.
Boo. Hiss. I HATE what Covid has done to me and my riding.
At least I got into a saddle today.
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I hope you feel better soon! MS is bad enough without throwing covid into it.
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So sorry you have a bug. I completely understand how devastating that can be in combination with chronic illness.
Rebecca
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Youâre an inspiration. You donât give up!
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Hope you are feeling a little better this week! I am inspired by your dogged determination to continue your riding journey in spite of your health issues.
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Last week was worse. Shannon did not come out again, which is fine since I could not do much at all.
Sunday my DH helped me. Since I had started staggering again I concentrated on my balance, side-to-side and front-to-back. I lasted 6 minutes and ALL I did was sit on the saddle (I did not use the stirrups) and try to get the bubble balance so it showed me in balance.
Since I had been reading âThe Rider Forms the Horseâ by Udo Burger I decided I really, really, really needed to work on getting my pubic bone as close to the pommel as I could.
Nothing I tried helped with my F to B balance until I moved my saddle as far forward as it would go on the HH (Crosby PDN Wide Front, 17"). That helped a little bit with moving the bubble more forward but I got nowhere near the center for the bubble. So I moved my seat in the saddle until my pubic bone was against the pommel, the bubble shifted forward a little bit but it was still not centered. I advanced my waist, which helped some but still not enough. I leaned forward, same results.
I finally got myself centered F to B when I got into a 3-point position with my weight on my pubic bone and no weight on my seat bones. FINALLY, I got centered F to B. It took me a lot of energy to get into this position and to keep myself in this position, which is why I only lasted 6 minutes.
Today I got my riding lesson on MJ. I told Debbie my results on the HH and showed her the seat I had to get into to keep the HH balanced. I use my Pegasus Butterfly Claudia 17" jumping saddle for my lessons, and since it does not have the pommel arch like other jumping saddles it was easier and more comfortable to get my seat really forward in the saddle with my weight on my crotch and my seat bones barely grazing the saddle.
MJ responded to this positively. VERY positively, I did not have to use as much leg to get him to move out at the walk. He was quicker off my leg aids to the posting trot too. So long as I kept this super forward 3-point/no weight on my seat bones seat MJ seemed quite happy to obey my aids.
I did not have to use as much leg to get him to extend his walk stride, and I did not have to repeat my driving aids as much. When I asked him to shorten his stride it took a while, but when he finally did (feathering the curb once or twice on very light contact with the curb rein) I could feel his back rising up under my seat. Since I was pretty tired by then I asked him to go back to his regular walk and for the first time it did not feel to me like a clutch on a straight drive car missing a gear, it was a smooth change of speed without any difficulties from super slow to his normal walk, just like I have wanted him to do since I introduced the super slow walk on him so many months ago.
Debbie has started using him as a WTC horse with little girls who weigh all of 40 pounds. He has done very well with this, letting the girls learn that they do not have to be afraid of the canter. Since the girls weight 1/3 of my weight he does not need the far infra-red stuff on his back and front legs to feel comfortable, with less weight on him his back and front legs felt fine. One of the girls now wants to start riding a more challenging lesson horse which is good since Debbie does not let anyone jump MJ because of his treated navicular disease (treated with good shoeing using X-rays for a guide.)
So if Shannon comes out this weekend I will be working even harder at keeping that darn front-to-back bubble in the center, and I use a LOT more energy for this than I do when I am sitting with my weight on my seat bones. Littauer in one of his earlier books on the Forward Seat does discuss how it is harder for adult amateur riders to keep in a true Forward Seat at all times, and it DOES take a lot more energy for me than just sitting back in the saddle.
It will take me a long while to get my body fit enough to do this reliably for my 30 minute lessons, but now I have PROOF that at least one horse goes so, so, so much better under me when I get myself into a true balanced Forward Seat without too much weight on the forehand or too much weight on the hind quarters. Both on the HH and on MJ I finally got the feeling if the HH or horse disappeared under me I would land on my feet, in balance, and be able to keep my balance without any problems.
Finally I have achieved the first step to my ideal since I re-started riding over a decade ago. The Home Horse is GREAT at pointing out any balance problems a rider has. My body had believed it was forward enough, but my weight was too far back for balance.
The Home Horse is making me a better rider of real, live horses. MJ was so much happier carrying me around today, he did not act like it was onerous work.
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That is great progress! Thank you for sharing your insights.
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Shannon came out today. When I talked with her last night I started blathering about MJâs amazing transformation when I kept my pubic bone against the pommel with no weight on my seat bones, now to be called being âperchedâ in the saddle.
I went over it again this morning. This is IMPORTANT enough that 2 dressage based European horsemen had it in their books, especially for use on young horses or weak horses. The books are âThe Rider Forms the Horseâ by Udo Burger (page 26) and âThe Gymnasium of the Horseâ by Gustav Steinbrecht, when he discusses riding young horses or horses who are just green broke, mostly describing a âcrotch seatâ.
I got up on the Home Horse (HH) with my feet flat on the platform. Shannon watched the front-to-back bubble while I went through the various attempts I had made when my DH helped me find my front-to-back balance, moving my seat so my pubic bone touched the pommel of the saddle, leaning forward, and finally getting all the weight OFF my seat bones until the bubble stayed centered front-to-back so Shannon could SEE what I had to do with my seat in the saddle to get that darn front-to-back bubble centered.
Then I picked up my stirrups, when the HH swung forward and down in front. With my feet in the stirrups I could put a tiny bit of weight in the saddle, but if I put my weight on my seat bones the HH swung back. Even with my weight in the stirrups I only got to front-to-back balance when I got into the âcrotch seatâ with my weight off my seat bones.
I lasted 13 minutes on the HH before I got too tired to continue, at least it was over twice the time I made it last Sunday (6 minutes), so I made some progress as far as time went. I dismounted and collapsed on the couch while Shannon and I talked about how the neck muscles supported the riderâs weight and how the back muscles can get overwhelmed when asked to support the riderâs weight and how the horseâs neck muscles get stronger when the rider sits WAY forward in the saddle up against the pommel.
Shannon is trying to get her rather weak TWH mare stronger, and can see how the TWH mareâs weak and thin neck at the base just does not really support the riderâs weight, and that her mare works better with the riderâs weight forward in the saddle (my old Cloister Shchonberg (sp?) dressage saddle with the cut back pommel.) When Shannon gets her weight forward while riding this mare the mare will trot instead of doing her running walk.
Then Shannon got on the HH. Today she also concentrated on keeping the front-to-back bubble centered instead of just sitting back comfortably in the saddle. It was a revelation to Shannon to feel how much muscle work she had to do to get her weight centered and keep it centered. She said her thigh muscles were burning. During her past sessions on the HH Shannon had just been exercising her core muscles and ending up on the rear rim of the HH platform, today Shannon was MUCH more forward on the HH and sitting on my jumping saddle (ancient Crosby PDN âwide frontâ, I bought it over 45 years ago). Today more than just her core muscles got exercised.
Of course Shannon lasted a lot longer than I did on the HH, but in the new position she got tired too. We both felt quite exercised when we got off the HH. It took a lot of work to keep our front-to-back balance on it.
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You had quite a workout! What products do you like to use to keep from getting overheated in the summer months. Iâm finding that the heat bothers me more than it used to.
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Thank you for your continued encouragement!
For the heat:
Ice VestâKool Max brand. This one is OK, but the best one I found for riding was the Flexi-Freeze ice vest, unfortunately I am very allergic to the Flexi-Freezeâs Neoprene shell.
Neck Fan.
Columbia brand neck gaiter.
The lightest technical fabric summer shirts (FITS, Lettia) and technical fabric silicon full seat summer tights (Kerrits).
Mesh half-chaps.
The coolest socks I can find at the tack store.
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Thank you!
