Back in the Saddle Again

 

It’s so easy to talk yourself out of riding. It’s too hot. Too humid. It’s too cold. Too windy. It’s raining. It’s snowing. I’m too tired. My horse might be too tired. I’ve got too much to do around the house. It’s dinnertime for my horse. It’s dinnertime for me. I don’t feel like getting dirty. My horse is too muddy. My knees hurt. My horse seems gimpy. My horse seems too spooky. My horse is too hyper. I’m too nervous. I’m scared. I just don’t feel like it today.

The conversation in your head goes on and on, until finally it’s too late and the opportunity to ride passes by.

That’s how it’s been for me the past 3 weeks. And after watching my twinling Jax getting bucked off last week, I’ve been throwing the excuses around like a tornado whips around debris.

Like my friend, Renee says, “Horses can mess with your head”.

Yet I still had a desperate desire to ride my horse again.

And like everyone has told me again and again, Apache is not Bella.

Speaking of Bella, check out Beth’s recent post over at Fearless Riding where she brings up some excellent points and shares her thoughts on Honest Horses vs Honorable Horses.

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Our weather this time of year is unpredictable and we can usually expect at least a little bit of rain every afternoon. I’m not typically an early morning rider. My mornings are usually busy helping my daughter and doing daily chores around the house.  It’s rare that I can get freed up until after lunch. And that’s when our monsoon weather begins. Sometimes it’s just some rumbling of thunder and maybe some far off lightning, and a spattering of raindrops. At other times, the sky can open up and dump several inches of hard falling rain faster than our earth can soak it up. You just never know.

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On Thursday after returning from the store, I took Jen up for a pony ride on Apache. The Quarter Horse machine at the grocery store is still broken and keeps trying to steal my quarters, so I promised Jen she could ride Apache when we got home.

Problem was that it was dinnertime for Apache and I had a feeling she might not be so thrilled about giving Jen a pony ride for too long. I was right, but at least Apache was patient and generous for about 15 minutes or so. But after I led Jen through several of the obstacles in the pasture and circled the entire pasture several times, Apache finally started to get grouchy, shaking her head, trying to give me little nips, and just being impatient. I didn’t want to correct her with Jen on her back, so I made my daughter dismount while I gave Apache a little reminder that I was still in control and she needed to be polite. After a few minutes of ground work, she seemed to remember her manners and I lifted Jen back up into the saddle again and we did another circle of the pasture and rode through the vine obstacle, and then we called it a day.

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My hips have been bothering me for over a week now. I’ve got hip dysplasia in both of my hips. Basically bone rubbing bone at times. I’ve discovered that it’s worse when I don’t ride often enough. Somehow the motion of the horse acts as physical therapy and helps my hips loosen up and releases the pain, so that after I’m finished riding, it’s as if I had a physical therapy session, took some ibuprofen and had a massage. I just feel so much better. Does anyone else experience this, too?

 

Last night I decided to get some equine physical therapy for me and refused to make any excuses, even though it was dinnertime again for Apache. I did try to be nice to her, though, by giving her a small pile of hay in her stall while I groomed her and tacked her up. She seemed very grateful and was well behaved while I got her saddle on, and then led her out to get her bridle on. I’ve been wanting to try my Dr. Cook’s Bitless Bridle on her and have even dusted it off and oiled it up in preparation, but it was already so late in the day and I wasn’t ready to surprise her with something new when we didn’t have that much time. I’d really like to use it for when I’m grazing her while on her back, so she can eat without having a bit in her mouth. I think she will appreciate that, too.

I don’t mind hand-grazing Apache, but I had hand-grazed my llama, Cataleya for about 45 minutes the evening before, and I find that my knees and hips start to ache after all that standing around.

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Anyway, I set up the mounting block and led her over to it. She was a perfect lady and stood still as a statue while I mounted. But when I leaned over to check the cinch I discovered that it was very loose. She must have let out all her air after the initial tightening. So I dismounted and tightened the cinch and was very happy with how Apache never moved an inch while I did all the last minute fussing around and got back up in the saddle again from the mounting block. Apache also stood still while I got everything adjusted and gathered up my reins. And she didn’t move until I asked her. I love that about her. I really do.

Then I moved her forward and down the hill, riding through the vine obstacle, and opening and closing the mailbox obstacle. Apache’s so cute. She knows that Jen and I think it’s fun to ride through the vine obstacle and sometimes she will ride through it, stop in the middle, continue through, and then turn around and go right back through from the other side.

We rode in the pasture for about 15 minutes, using the yuccas, and baby pine trees as obstacles to circle and maneuver around, and then we headed out to the rest of our property. I called my twinling Jem, on my cell phone to come open the gate and hang out with me. And I was glad to have his company. He always likes to take photos and do video when we’re doing stuff outside. So I gave him full freedom of my camera and he seemed to have a great time taking pictures in between jumping on the trampoline.

I didn’t really have an agenda except to let Apache graze while I loosened up my hips with the motion of her walking.

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It started to sprinkle rain while we were out there, but it never really rained. The coolness of the grey skies and spattering of rain actually felt good on my skin. And Apache didn’t seem to mind either. She was just glad to be able to munch grass as an appetizer before her hay and grain dinner.

(Yeah, I know my heels aren’t down. My left knee is still gimpy and the muscles in that leg just don’t stretch as long as they should. Also my stirrups could be adjusted because they’re probably a little long)

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I decided to ask her to walk down the stairs in our backyard so she could enjoy some of the thicker, regularly watered grass down there. And she balked a few times, but I kept asking and she finally agreed.

I think I made it well worth her effort as she seemed quite happy to have that moist, green grass to eat.

Jem thought it would be fun to capture Apache on video tape, going up and down the stairs.

So she and I both cooperated, though we had to do it several times because we’d go up and down faster than he could press the video button and focus. lol!

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While we were down in the grassy back yard, several military helicopters flew directly overhead. Jem shot this funny photo of me looking up while Apache listened to the helicopters not far overhead. It looks like I’m stretching out my back, doesn’t it. lol!

Jem didn’t think I’d post that photo because it looked so silly, so this photo is for him. Surprise!!! hehe!

And in this picture, my twinling Jax was inside the bathroom and talking to me from that horizontal open window. I wonder what Apache thinks of those mysterious voices that seem to lack a body?

 

Oh yeah, and I just noticed there’s a chicken on our back porch. lol! 

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It was getting dark and we humans were all hungry for dinner and we’d planned on watching the video Spiderwick Chronicles together (by the way…awesome movie!), so I asked Apache to head back to the barn and was pleasantly surprised to find that she wasn’t eager to head back and was enjoying carrying me around while being allowed to munch grass. In comparison, Baby Doll was so barn sour, that leaving the barn for any reason resulted in at least a few head tosses and a crow hop or two. Apache, on the other hand seems to be happier when she is allowed to leave her pasture and see new places.

But after a few failed attempts at snatching some last bites of grass, she reluctantly agreed to head back to the barn. She walked slowly, though, and patiently stood for me to dismount. I am so appreciative for how forgiving and patient she always is with my clumsy dismounting, too. With my wonky knees and hips I just don’t have much finesse with swinging my legs up and over and jumping down. And this all has to happen on Apache’s off-side, too. Quite honestly, I think she prefers me mounting and dismounting on her right side. I think most horses’ backs and shoulder muscles get way over-used on their left side because they don’t get any opportunities for their riders to mount and dismount from both sides.

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Anyway, Apache did a wonderful job trying to remove the awful image I’ve kept replaying in my mind, of Jax being bucked off by Bella. And she certainly worked her magic on my hips as I had no pain or stiffness after riding her. She got lots of hugs from me and my kidlets and I was touched to overhear my twinling son, Jem whisper to Apache as he hugged her, “Thanks for taking such good care of my Mama”.