{"id":1038,"date":"2021-12-23T09:41:40","date_gmt":"2021-12-23T15:41:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/elizabethmoon.com\/blog\/?p=1038"},"modified":"2021-12-23T20:37:00","modified_gmt":"2021-12-24T02:37:00","slug":"back-in-the-saddle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/elizabethmoon.com\/blog\/index.php\/2021\/12\/23\/back-in-the-saddle\/","title":{"rendered":"Back in the Saddle, Day Two"},"content":{"rendered":"

I managed to mount from the rock block yesterday, and though dismounting still required assistance (more practice on the western saddle on its sturdy rack should help!)\u00a0 and ride Rags for the very short amble around that is what he needs at this stage of coming back into work.\u00a0 He thought ten minutes was five minutes too long.\u00a0\u00a0 By the end of the first week, weather permitting daily rides, he’ll be doing fifteen…and each week will add fifteen minutes until he’s at an hour a day, all at a walk.\u00a0 Depending on how he looks and moves, the second four-week stretch will add trotting in the first week, very short stretches lengthening (along with the total), to 1 1\/2 hours and longer sustained trots.\u00a0 Third four week stretch (again, weather and ground permitting) will add canter.\u00a0\u00a0 Slow and safe progression.<\/p>\n

Today’s ride was in the Near Meadow, just north of the horse lots.\u00a0 Windy and bright and lovely.\u00a0\u00a0 We started with a surprise tumbleweed bounding past us: Rags stopped, stared, but was willing to go on when it was well past.\u00a0 We looped around some isolated trees, between other trees where there was enough clear space, and Rags (who’d been dubious about the whole grooming\/saddling thing today) seemed to enjoy it.\u00a0\u00a0 Mounting was slightly easier and dismounting with the aid of the top rail of the portable stall and R- putting some weight on the off stirrup, went a little better, too.\u00a0 The pictures he took show my still-existing riding faults (crooked back, collapsed hip, that kind of thing) but they’re fixable in time if I just keep at it.\u00a0 An instructor hollering at me several times a week would help, too.<\/p>\n

The bright side is that I find sitting well and balanced *much* easier without the 45+ pounds of extra weight I was carrying before.\u00a0\u00a0 It feels closer to “right” –the saddle fits me better, I can feel Rags’s movement under me better, and less weight above the waist means my balance doesn’t change when he trips or shies or does his sudden “That’s enough; get off now” stop.\u00a0 I enjoyed riding even when very heavy, but this is a lot more fun because I can control my own body more easily.\u00a0\u00a0 And feel the details of his movement more easily, too.<\/p>\n

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We started out riding north-ish across the Near Meadow; the undulations in the ground between the gate and the old ditch crossing are from cattle trails and the erosion of water that ran in them in heavy rains.\u00a0 So the grade changes back and forth as well as amount.\u00a0 The lusher green is where the water runs (or stays) after rains.\u00a0 We didn’t go across the ditch today; it’s got rocks in it and I want Rags to have hoof boots when he walks on rocks.<\/p>\n

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By the time we were finishing up, I’d ridden back and forth on both sides of this trail, winding around isolated trees, going between trees where there was enough room, etc.\u00a0 Rags seemed to find it interesting and even fun.\u00a0\u00a0 Tigger always worried when I take Rags away from him, and wants to sniff him all over when I bring him back.\u00a0 They both got cookies when I was done untacking Rags, grooming him again, etc.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I managed to mount from the rock block yesterday, and though dismounting still required assistance (more practice on the western saddle on its sturdy rack should help!)\u00a0 and ride Rags for the very short amble around that is what he needs at this stage of coming back into work.\u00a0 He thought ten minutes was five Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[49],"class_list":["post-1038","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-horses","tag-horses"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/elizabethmoon.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1038"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/elizabethmoon.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/elizabethmoon.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/elizabethmoon.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/elizabethmoon.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1038"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/elizabethmoon.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1038\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1053,"href":"http:\/\/elizabethmoon.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1038\/revisions\/1053"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/elizabethmoon.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1038"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/elizabethmoon.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1038"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/elizabethmoon.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1038"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}