So sorry about your well. Im glad to hear they came out quickly.
I hope you do get to ride the home horse tomorrow.
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Sorry about your well woes. Ours at the horse property went down twice. The first time, the well vault cap took a direct lightning strike. Amazingly, the only repair needed was a cheap fuse.
A few years later, our well was giving up quickly. We knew when we bought the place that it would become a problem because it was 40 years old and only 400 some feet deep, in a steadily decreasing aquifer. We had been saving for a new well since we moved there.
Our water wasnāt drinkable, and we got to where we didnāt want to wash with it either, as the well casing started crumbling. There was so much crap in the water.
We had a new well drilled. Unfortunately, after they got down about 600 feet, it collapsed. The driller was very nice and didnāt charge us labor on that one, just for parts (which was plenty, of course). He got the second one down to about 700, threw down casing very quickly as it was trying to collapse, and we had much better water from then on. We had to clean out the water heater as so much debris had accumulated. Somehow we didnāt have to replace the pressure tank, which saved some money.
I hope thatās the end of your well problems. Canāt live without water!
Rebecca
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I rode my Home Horse. I had a lot of trouble mounting I had advanced too getting on it like Shannon does, with my left foot on the platform near the center post. Not today, no way no how. Finally, when I planted my left heel on the floor, held the edge of the platform down with the ball of my left foot, leaning the HH back, then and only then was I able to get my right thigh over the cantle of my saddle, the sixth time I tried.
My balance was horrible. I had problems at first, I just could not reach or stay on center.I finally got my side-to-side balance, then I had to reach the front-to-back balance point. When I finally got balanced I did some two-point, āwalkedā, returned to center, āpostedā for three strides, then I spent the rest of the time walking and returning to center a few times.
I lasted 6 minutes in the saddle. Amazingly I had no problems at all dismounting, my right thigh cleared the cantle on first try.
At least I got into a saddle.
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Shannon came over yesterday.
On Saturday I had walked outside for 10 minutes, I was just trying to get my body used to the humidity and heat.
Yesterday I only made it 10 min. on My Home Horse. For once I had no difficulties mounting or dismounting. I just kept my feet on the platform since my balance felt sort of off. Most of the time I spent trying to keep those bubbles centered which was not as easy as usual. At the end I got balanced and Shannon said that I had all three bubbles on the bubble balance centered, the first time I had gotten the diagonal bubble centered too.
I balanced, walked, posted, and did 2-point, and I would always spend time to return to center and rest between my activities.
The rest of the day I was exhausted. I was so tired I could not eat my entire dinner (it takes me a lot of energy to chew my salad.) I had obviously done too much by walking outside for 10 minutes the day before.
I introduced Shannon to my 3-D Horse Anatomy program. She had a lot of fun going through it and said she would like to play with it whenever she comes by my place.
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The heat and humidity can really zap your energy. I hope you can recharge and get on a horse this week!
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Yeah, I got to ride a real live horse today!
I had my lesson with Debbie on MJ. It was hot and humid and the stable got rather crowded with people trying to get a ride in before it got too hot and humid.
I told Debbie I would not be able to do much and we just walked. MJ did not mind that at all. I worked on the 3 speeds of the walk, he did not want to extend his stride much today but we finally got a walk Debbie liked. After various turns using various aids I tied up the bridoon reins and rode on the curb, both on contact and sagging reins.
Then I used my legs to get him into a SLOW walk, with occasional little tweaks on the curb bit. He slowed down, I asked Debbie how he was doing and she told me that MJ was starting to go into collection (on a sagging rein) and nowadays she can always tell when I start using my leg aids for slowing down.
I donāt want collection, what I want is for MJ to be able to switch his weight from front to back easily. So long as he keeps good contact when I want contact I really do not care about what he does with his head and neck so long as he remains calm and reaching for the bit when I ask him to.
I made it 27 minutes. I had some minor problems dismounting (dragging my toe lightly across his croup) but MJ did not get upset with me about it.
I told Debbie about my new 3-D Horse Anatomy program, and some about the muscles and fascia the saddle sits upon. I try to keep my weight on the thoracic part of the trapezius instead of back on the latissimus dorsi where most people sit. When I sit FORWARD in the saddle my weight is on muscle, when I sit back in the saddle my weight is on fascia/connective tissue, the muscle part of the latissimus dorsi starts further down below the saddle panels. I also discussed how the trapezius muscle moves the scapula back and forth, while the latissimus dorsi connects to the inner part of the humerus. So now I am wondering if sitting back in the saddle limits the forward swing of the front legs, slowing the horse down for more collected work.
When I started riding seriously over 50 years ago the āwordā was to lean forward to go faster and to lean back to slow down, now I am starting to see the rationale for this in the way the muscles work instead of the usual explanation back then that it was just the riderās weight that made the difference.
Debbie is all for me studying horse anatomy because she knows that I will teach her what I learn if I think she can use the knowledge to teach her students to ride better. Debbie is also all in favor of me reading equitation books for the same reason. Sometimes I give her a pithy quote from an old riding master that makes everything clear in a way just about anybody can understand. Debbie is devoted to teaching her students to become the best riders that they can be and sometimes she uses these quotes to clarify matters for her students.
My son went on Amazon to order me 7 books on horse anatomy and movement. I will be learning a lot more about horse anatomy over the next year!
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That is so nice and generous of him! You raised a good kid.
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Glad you got on a horse today!
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Shannon came by today.
I made it 14 minutes . Shannon said that my balance, as proven by the bubble balance, was much better today. I āwalkedā, 2-pointed, posted, and the rest of the time was spent keeping the bubbles centered. That was easier today for me.
The rest of the time we spent looking at the 3-D Horse Anatomy program. Yesterday I was looking for which nerves my lower legs activated when I do my leg aids. It was very different than I had imagined before looking at the nerves.
There are the inter-coastal nerves that go down between the ribs down from the spinal cord. I then looked for any nerve that looked like I would press against it and found the Lateral Thoracic Nerve which branches and sends up a branch around where my lower leg rests against the horseās barrel, ending somewhere around the 12th rib half-way up the barrel. Just what I was looking for, this nerve is subcutaneous so it probably gets more sensation from my legs than the inter-coastal nerves. However this nerve comes NOWHERE near any nerve that connects to the hind legs. In front it goes to the brachial plexus which is inside, just in front of the horseās shoulder blade, and the brachial plexus nerves come down from the areas of the last three neck vertebra and the first two thoracic vertebrae, very far from the hind end.
So I am puzzled. All these decades Iāve been taught in riding lessons and read in equitation books that the rider uses the lower legs to activate the hind legs. I probably need a LOT more information, but to me right now it looks as far as direct nerve involvement is concerned using my lower leg at the girth and slightly behind the girth is activating nerves in the FRONT legs, shoulder and neck. There seems to be no direct nerve pathway from my lower leg to the hind legs, it all goes up to the spinal cord, either the brachial plexus with the Lateral Thoracic nerve, or further back along the spinal cord by way of the inter-coastal nerves.
Shannon spent a while looking at the nerves, rotating the image so she could see how the nerves related to each other, which nerves are nearer to the surface and which nerves are deeper. She spent around 20 minutes just looking at the nerves. Then she added the skin so she could see where on the horse the nerves are. Both of us can spend hours just looking at this program!
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I did not get my lesson today. Well I could have but my riding teacher called me this morning asking if I was coming out. It turns out that her back was giving her a fit. Since I had been worried about riding in this weather (heat is BAD for people with MS) I took this as a sign from the Universe that it would be better for me, my riding teacher and my lesson horse not to have my lesson this week.
My riding teacher sounded so relieved since she could get to the chiropractor early today. So I have a three week span on no lessons and not riding a horse.
At least I have my Home Horse. I got my husband to spot for me and I was having PROBLEMS with getting to center on the HH. At the beginning I really tried to get balanced, then I figured out that it would be better for me to first āwalkā and 2-point. That did work, but I was having to use so many muscles to keep to center that I did not last long.
I just made it to 7 minutes before I was too tired to continue.
Part of the reason that I am so tired is that I have been using my brain a lot with learning horse anatomy. The last decade or so I have found it very, very tiring to use my brain and learn new things. But at least I am learning some horse anatomy, just enough so far so that I can look at a sort of crude anatomical drawing in a book on riding horses and go āHmmm, that does not look rightā, and now I have barely enough horse anatomy books so I can go look at the anatomical drawings and photographs from a dissection of a horse to see that my initial reaction was correct (in defense of the author of the latest book that got that reaction from me admits that her anatomical drawings are not exact).
Many decades ago I learned that I could get a half-way decent ālookā at a field of study if I read at least 20 books on that subject by at least three different authors though, of course, reading more authors is best. This way I get to what I call a ānodding acquaintanceā with a subject, enough so I have some hope of evaluating newer information about the subject.
I am working on this with horse anatomy. I am also finding my ā3-D Horse Anatomyā computer program very useful since I can go down the layers and also rotate the horse so I can see something from different angles. No one book or computer program can teach everything about a subject.
I am currently spending a good deal of time looking intently at multiple equine anatomy pictures and drawings. Today I am concentrating on the top of the horseās neck from the occiput through the 2nd cervical vertebrae, the axis. Tomorrow I will probably be going back to the multiple anatomical picture of the horseās back.
Because of studying horse anatomy I am now questioning some things I have been taught or read over the last 50 years. I am also realizing that I NEED to learn more about the fascia if I am going to truly understand how the horse reacts to my aids.
I might make some people mad by writing this, but the more I learn about horse anatomy the more I feel sorry for modern dressage competition horses, just like I have always felt sorry for the higher end saddle seat show horses and nowadays for the modern Western Pleasure show horses. Every day I study anatomy I have been super, super grateful that I started out riding Forward Seat and I have no plans to alter my riding style beyond some refinements.
At least I can count on the horses I ride to cuss me out if they do not approve of my experiments. Yes, I listen to my riding teacher but to me the horse I ride has the deciding vote, if the horse does not like what I do either I am doing it WRONG or the horseās muscles are not strong enough to do what I ask.
Horses KNOW when they are hurting after all.
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I have a question about the Home Horse, after reviewing video on the HH website. I noticed that, during the demos showing riders riding it, some persons could put their feet flat on the base, some could only reach the base with tippy toes.
I didnāt notice any way to adjust the distant from the seat to the base ā is there one? Iām not very big, and often have trouble having my feet on the ground when seated (in a chair, for example). It can be very tiring for me to sit where my feet feel as though theyāre dangling. Of course, I used to ride bareback quite a bit back in the day, so maybe this would feel like that, and not be as uncomfortable as when Iām in a chair too large for me.
How about you? Is that an issue? Our anniversary is coming up, and Iāve been thinking that this would be a good gift to receive, but only if Iām going to really get some use out of it. Iāll need to be self-sufficient almost all the time, getting on and off by myself.
Do you wear your helmet when riding it?
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I have one. The seat height is adjustable. Iām 5ā2ā and have no trouble putting my feet on the base. Itās very pretty.
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I donāt wear a helmet. I can get on by myself (I live alone).
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There is some adjustment for the how high the seat is. The adjustment holes are 1" apart.
I am 5ā4" or so, probably a little bit shorter. I have mine set up for my legs while I use my Crosby jumping saddle on it, and I could make it 2-3" shorter if I wanted to. Shannon is a little bit taller than I am but she ideally needs me to make the seat lower, but has never taken me up on my offer to make the seat lower. If I took the saddle off of the HH I would have to make the seat higher but it probably would be perfect for Shannon.
No one will let me get on and off by myself because of my horrible balance, but Shannon gets on and off of my Home Horse without any assistance every week. One lady on another Home Horse thread on this site wrote that she manages getting on and off by herself by putting the HH between her sturdy dining room table and a wall Because of the cantle and the fact that there is nothing like a girth holding the saddle on the HH besides a rubber āRider Gripā as a non-slip surface (I am allergic to neoprene and could not use the pad that comes with the HH), it is harder to get on and off the HH when using a saddle on it.
I love my HH, having one means I can get in a saddle and ārideā on the days that the Universe just does not cooperate with me going out to ride a real horse. My balance has improved some since I started using it.
You will get a lot more out of using the HH if you get a bubble balance that has front to back and side to side bubbles on it. I do not know if there is a bubble balance that can fit on the āpommelā of the HH, if I was riding it alone I would really try to find one and try to figure out how to get it on the pommel. Warning, the HH is sensitive, if I look down at the bubble balance on the platform the HH immediately leans forward, but Shannon, who has much better balance than I do, manages to do it pretty well.
Since I have someone there I do not use my helmet. If I was doing it alone I most definitely would wear my helmet at least for mounting or dismounting, just in case. I have never felt in danger of tipping the HH over though at times I have felt like I am on a moored ocean liner anchored where there are big waves as it lurches back and forth while I try to find my balance.
My biggest issue with the HH is that I do not have a horseās barrel to grip with my legs. Using the stirrups can be challenging since they are literally dangling in thin air.
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Thanks for putting my mind at ease!
Is the bit option worth it? Is it truly realistic (as described on the website) Or is it more just something to do with oneās hands while using the Home Horse? Iām leaning towards not ordering it, unless I learn that it makes a noticeable difference.
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I didnāt order it. And, I may be the person @Jackie_Cochran referenced earlier. Initially, I did need the wall or the table. Now Iām pretty good without themš.
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Thanks. I have plenty of real bridles, so buying one just to hang on the home horse for $135 isnāt that appealing to me, unless it it really helpful. Figure I could always either order one later, if need be, or rig something up with one of my backup bridles.
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I got myself the double bridle bit option, and reins to put on it.
It tilts the HH forward big time. I do not know if the single rein option does that as much (probably not) but I ended up removing it so I could work on my balance better. Using the bit option I would have to sit really far back to get the front-to-back balance bubble centered.
It did not feel that bad holding the reins. The jutting out pole for it has some flexibility so I could pretend somewhat for single direct rein aids. However right now I am concentrating on keeping the horseās tongue happy when I keep contact (the horses told me to in no uncertain terms), and in no way does this extension mimic the actions of the horses tongues. The movement of the HH forced me to move my hands back and forward like I am riding a horse at the walk.
The HH bit extension does not feel ādeadā in my hands, it is just that I so depend on the horseās reactions to my contact and rein aids to help me ride better, and I really miss it when I donāt have the horseās response ( which is also why I no longer use a bitless bridle when I ride the lesson horses).
Without the reins I mostly rest my hands lightly on my thighs.
My biggest problem with the HH right now is that my toes want to curl down and I have to concentrate on keeping my toes straight and relaxed.
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I remembered that you had previously posted about the HH tilting forward with the bridle. Think Iām going to pass on adding that option.
My use of my hands is one of my better points when Iām riding, and I donāt want to practice anything on the HH that might adversely affect that.
Thanks for your input!
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Iām not getting a lesson this week since Debbie is off o,midity and this year MJ has been telling me that I am worse this summer, plus he does not feel up to doing much in the heat, humidity and air pollution either.
Shannon could not come out on Sunday so my DH helped me on the Home Horse , helping me get on and off and watching the bubbles on the bubble balance. On Sunday I made it for 10 minutes (the last two minutes were sort of hard) keeping my feet flat on the platform. It was hard to get to center balance, after a minute or two of not making it there I āwalkedā a bit and did a little two-point and that got my body oriented enough to get balanced.
EVERY single time I work on my balance, trying to keep the side-to-side and front-to-back bubbles centered I work my core muscles hard, and I get tired quickly. When I get my front-to-back bubble centered I feel like I am going to fall forward and face plant. I can keep them centered for just a minute or two before I have to slouch to rest my muscles.
I managed to post two sessions of 12 posts. I āwalkedā and two-pointed too.
Today I rode my HH again since I wonāt get a lesson tomorrow. I had problems getting balanced again. Today I added another session of 12 posts, and I ācanteredā 5 āstridesā for each lead so I managed to do more today. Balancing is hard whether sitting or in 2-point. I am sure that I am swaying this way and that way when I post. I had difficulties getting off the HH, getting my right leg high enough to clear the cantle of my saddle is hard for me when I am tired, but by tilting the HH to the left and back my right leg finally cleared the cantle.
Otherwise Iāve been looking at my horse anatomy books and I am spending a good bit of time each day on the 3-D Horse Anatomy computer program. Right now I am fixated on the nervous system, trying to determine which nerves get the signals from my legs and how they link up to the horseās hind end. It is not simple and straightforward at all. Plus there is the extra level of the fascia which I need to work on some more to even begin to figure it all out.
So far, the intercostal nerves, of course they come down from the spinal cord, make a subcutaneous appearance around half-way down the barrel, then make another somewhat bigger appearance in the area of the costal cartilages where the riderās lower leg/heel can reach them, then they go down to innervate sections of the rectus abdominus muscle which does join the rear of the sternum to the prepubic tendon and flexes the back. The riderās heels do not reach the rectur abdominus muscle itself.
Then there are two nerves that go from the brachial plexus in front/inside the front middle of the scapula, with two nerves going back one under the thigh area of the rider and one that goes down low then curves up around where the riderās calf down to our ankles give their aids. These two nerves affect the forehand, not the hindquarters.
It is definitely not what my brain was imagining when I read the books on equitation or listened to my riding teachers starting over 50 years ago. Now I have to communicate all of this to Debbie when we get back to my riding lessons.
āUnfortunatelyā for me most of the anatomy books do not get much into one or these two nerves, the lateral thoracic nerve, except for its beginnings in the brachial plexus. I go from my anatomy program, look at my anatomy books, look at even more anatomy books, trying to build a model of horse anatomy in my brain. One book may have a detail that the other books donāt have. I gather the knowledge clue by clue.
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