Mission Accomplished

 Mission Accomplished

As you all know, I was riding with a broken wrist for a long time.  Finally. the doctor said it was healed enough that I no longer had any restrictions.  That meant I could lift, carry, lean on and pull any weight I liked.

The very same day, I saddled Cole on my own.  Over the months, the saddle got much heavier.  Thank goodness I ride English.  After a couple weeks, it no longer seemed heavy, so either I am getting stronger or I am just getting used to a heavier saddle.  It doesn't matter.  Now, I can ride even if there isn't anyone out there to help me tack Cole up.

That still left one thing that I needed to do--mount from the ground.  I have been using a 3-step mounting block.  Mounting was very easy from the top step, since Cole is only 14.2.  There are a lot of advantages to having a small horse.

I started mounting from the second step, and did it by grabbing his mane and withers and holding it as I stepped up.  That wasn't as easy as one would think, because when you have wrist surgery, it really messes up your hand.  My hand was swollen like a balloon for weeks, and I was only able to move my fingers a little bit.  Even when the swelling went down, it had lost most of its strength.  I couldn't even squeeze a tube of toothpaste with it without a lot of pain.

I worked for many weeks on strengthening my grip and flexibility. (And I am still working on it.)  My hand gave me more trouble than my wrist.  

Once I was able to take a solid grip in his mane and withers, mounting from the second step became very easy. so I moved down to the bottom step.  On that step, I had to add a little hop and pull.  My hand was doing what it was supposed to, now I had to remind my foot to hop.  The hop is the most important part of mounting from the ground because if you have a good hop, you barely pull at the saddle.  

I mounted from the bottom step for a few weeks before I even considered doing it from the ground.

Finally, the moment of truth had arrived.  I didn't tell anyone what I was going to do.  Ellen was still saddling up Dante when I took Cole into the indoor arena.  I set him up.  He had to bow a couple times, because that is just what he does.  At last I gave him the cue.  I said, "I'm going to mount."  (I have never been very creative with my cues).  He stopped his bowing routine and stood quietly.  

I added one more very essential thing to my mounting procedure--I had to do a loud groan when I was doing it.  Everyone knows that you are stronger if you groan.  

I did a bunch of practice bounces, gave my loud groan and hoisted myself up.  I was in the saddle!  I won't say it was easy, but it wasn't so hard, either.  I knew I was in a good place to improve my mount, and I no longer worry that I might drop something.  

Ellen brought Dante in the arena and saw that I didn't bring the mounting block out.  I hope she noticed that I was grinning from ear to ear, too.

Since then, I have been able to reduce the volume of my groan, because the mounting keeps getting easier the more I do it.  I haven't used the mounting block, since.

It takes a year to fully heal broken bones, but to me, I am already there.  I can do whatever I want without worrying about my wrist anymore!