Beautiful Morning for Riding

 Beautiful Morning for Riding

There is Always Hope

 

There is Always Hope

Since I broke my wrist, Ellen has been forced to do things that she might not have otherwise done.  The other day, she had an extraordinary ride--and the most extraordinary thing about it was its complete ordinariness.

She took Dante in the park by herself.  Kevin couldn't make it out to ride with her.  If she wanted to go on the trail, she had to do it by herself, and she did.

I walked with her to the river's edge and sent her on her way while I waited for her; reading a book.

She rode out to the second river, turned around and came back.  The ride consisted of a lot of trotting and very little anxiety.  At the end of it, she confessed that she has more anxiety taking Cole out by herself, (something she has done quite a few times in the last few weeks,) than she did on her solo ride with Dante.

That doesn't give me much to write about.

And it doesn't surprise me.

Dante is a great horse.  He is very quiet, spooks at very little and isn't likely to go dashing off.  He takes care of his rider.

Ellen's anxieties got in the way of truly believing it.

Ellen is also a very skilled rider who rode a far more challenging horse on the trail for many years before she got Dante.  Ranger was a lot of fun, but he wasn't always an easy horse to ride.  He was spirited, spooked at many things and really liked to go fast.  He trained Ellen into the talented rider she is today.

Ellen's anxieties got in the way of believing that, too.

She rode Dante a few times by herself the first summer she had him, but her anxieties got the better of her.  The following spring, she could no longer do it.  It didn't matter at the time.  She still had Ranger to ride in the park by herself.

Each year, she seemed to get a little worse.  Eventually, it was hard for her to stand outside with Dante all by herself--let alone ride him alone.  Just riding him on the driveway was really tough--but she kept pushing herself to do what she could.

She never gave up.  A lot of people would have, but Ellen loves riding and loves riding Dante.  In the last few years, she has gotten better, little by little.  Moving to our new barn seemed to help her a lot because it gave her a new start.  It wasn't long before she was able to ride Dante outside at the barn with no one--not even on foot--to help her.

She became braver on the trail rides--even to the point where she could ride Dante without other horses on the hill if I was walking with her.  This may not seem like much, but it was a really big deal for her.

When Cole cut his foot at the same time that Starry was dealing with a lameness issue, I was able to walk with her on the trail rides.  (It was warm enough for me to walk across the river.)  Once Starry got better, she went out riding with Kevin all the time.  It had been years since she had ridden without me, her security sister.

Then, when I broke my wrist, she was the one who had to ease Cole back into riding.  That was not an easy thing to do!  He had a lot of pent up energy, and it literally took weeks for him to settle down.  She rode him with Kevin and Starry a lot, but quite a few times she had to ride him by herself.  I don't know many people who could have done a better job getting Cole back into work--and I don't know many people who would have been brave enough to do it.  He is a lot of horse.

It only seemed natural for her to eventually get up the nerve to ride Dante alone.  Surely he would be easier than Cole--and he was.  He was a dream horse.

There is always hope if you lose your riding confidence.  It may take a long time, but never give up.  Keep doing what you are able to do, and don't beat yourself up about it.  It happens to people all the time.  Keep moving forward--there is always hope.

Just ask Ellen.

Back in the Saddle

Back in the Saddle

Four days after I broke my wrist, I was scheduled for surgery.  They tried to set it when I went to the emergency room, but they couldn't get it close enough so it would heal well.

When I met the surgeon, I asked her how long it would be before I could ride, and she told me 3 months.  It would take that long to get my strength and flexibility back.

Tears just started falling when I heard that.  When the surgeon left the room, Kevin told me not to worry.  He would get me in the saddle sooner than that.

The surgery went excellently.  At that point, I had a smaller, more comfortable splint.  I was soon back to the barn, walking with Ellen while she rode on the trail and telling her what to do with Cole.  I counted the days until the stitches would be removed.

The day the stitches were removed, they sent me right to physical therapy.  I asked her about riding, and she said that the big fear was that I would fall.  Of course, that is the big fear we all have whenever we ride our horses.  That is nothing new.  Still, I sure didn't want to mess my wrist up--and I had very little mobility at all in that hand.  My fingers were only able to hold the smallest things--and not very tightly.  I saw the logic of avoiding riding.

A few days later, I decided to ride.  Well, not real riding.  Due to the risks involved, we decided I could sit in the saddle and someone could lead Cole from the ground.  I would ride one handed--with the reins in my good hand.

Kevin had the privilege of doing the first ride.

My left wrist is broken, which is good for a right-handed person--except for mounting.  We really need to left hand to mount.  Of course, I wouldn't even consider trying from the ground, as it would have been impossible.  We led Cole to the mounting block.  I had to figure out how to do it without putting any weight on my left wrist.  

I figured out I could put my right hand on the far side and grasp the flap.  That way, it would help keep the saddle in place and also be out of the way when I swing my leg over.  I have to confess, I was a little intimidated, looking down at the saddle, getting ready to put my foot in the stirrup.

But, I was determined, and I did it.  It went smoother than I expected.  I settled into place and told Kevin I was ready to walk.

It felt like I never ridden a horse before.  Ellen said it was because I was nervous, and that heightens the senses.  Cole swayed back and forth, and I felt very disoriented.  He was a little hyper, and after 8 minutes, I decided it was time to call it a day--and then I realized that I never even thought about how to dismount.  Ooops.

Well, I knew I had to do it one-handed, so I threw my bad hand in the air and swung off.  It worked.  Since then, I modified it so I slide down and hook my elbow on the other side of his withers to stabilize my landing.

I was so happy that I rode!!!

Ellen helped me with many of the future rides.  She would get back from riding Cole, and let me ride immediately after.  That helped because he wasn't so fresh.  Cole seems to like the routine--because he has 2 of his people with him.  He likes having his people.  One day, I even rode Dante after his ride.  Dante was actually better than Cole.  Ellen let me trot him, and since he is pretty slow, she could trot right next to him.

We then decided to try that with Cole.  He was amazing.  Ellen couldn't go very fast, and Cole matched her stride for stride,  (I taught him to do that at a walk--and that morphed into his silly walk.)  We would just go short stretches, since I didn't want to tire Ellen out.

The next time we tried that, she hadn't ridden him first--and he was in too spunky of a mood for it.

Between Ellen and Kevin, I am doing a little riding, and I really enjoy it.  In the meantime, I am very serious about doing my physical therapy in hopes of being able to ride like a regular person.

A Broken Wrist

 A Broken Wrist

In early September, I slipped while hiking with Kevin and broke both bones in my wrist. They tried to reset it, but they couldn't get it quite where they wanted it, so I had to have surgery.  I now have 2 plates and 0 screws holding me together.

I'm doing well.  It is healing.  I am doing physical therapy to get my range of motion back.  Each day, I can use it a little more.  Best of all, I now have a removable splint.

The worst part of it, because this is me, is that it interferes in my riding.  Not just any riding, but the best time of the year riding.  Ellen has been very busy.

Cole can be an intimidating horse--particularly if he had 3 weeks off to recover from his hoof injury.  He is a lot of horse in a small package.  Was Ellen up to the challenge?

Ellen's first attempt was in the arena, where she learned that his "show trot" was not for her.  After a few attempts, she decided she would just walk.  He was a bundle of energy, and a walk-only ride didn't do much to change that.  A few days later, she tried it again.  Cole was a little better, but he wasn't getting much exercise.

I think the next ride was up and down the hill, and there Ellen was able to trot him.  That helped.  There is a flat part at the bottom, and they just went back and forth.  We were in a rainy spell, and he was refusing to do any self exercise when we turned him out.  He hates mud.  He really needed to trot, and the hill was a much better way to do it than the arena.

Ellen's next attempt was to take him across the river and go for a ride.  I met her on the other side and walked along.  When she got to the good part of the trail to trot--she was off.  Since I could only walk, I didn't get to see how it went.  She said he just kept trotting faster and faster and faster.  She said she just had to trust him.  When she got to the next river crossing, she turned him towards home and started walking back to me.  She didn't dare trot him towards home when he was in that kind of mood.

When I saw her, she did look a little pale.

Cole calmed down when he found me.  He loves walking with his people.

I asked her if she had fun, she paused and finally said, "I think I did."

Since then, Ellen has been riding Cole regularly on her days off.  She has been taking some vacation time each week to help.  If he gets too much time off, he goes really fast.  It helps when she can ride him with Starry.  (Kevin has been so wonderful, that sometimes, he rides Starry with Dante and Cole on the same day to help Ellen out.)  He seldom wants to pass another horse, so she can just follow Starry.  This weekend, he gave her a couple of marvelous rides.  They are getting used to each other, and I think that now she is having as much fun with him as he is having with her.

Of course, Dante isn't getting neglected.  She is riding him quite a bit, too.  They had a terrific ride in the arena the other day.  Everything is starting to fall into place with them in there.  Riding Cole has exposed a few weak spots in Ellen's riding.  In order to stay with him, she has to adjust her seat.  When she tried the same things on Dante--magic happened.  I might not be benefiting much from having a broken wrist, but Ellen sure is.

Of course, Dante is always good with Ellen on the trail.