So, Thursday was what I'd call a pretty bad ride. I started out on Red, a big chestnut gelding. I LOVED his saddle (It was like a dressage saddle; I might have to work out a trade with Hazelwild, haha.), and he was a comfy ride. Then, we had to switch horses, and I rode a little bay horse named Emmy. She was SO cute, but her gaits were atrocious. We had to ride a pattern (rising trot to the corner, halt, left lead canter, circle, sitting trot, two-point trot, halt), and her canter was the absolute worst part. I can sit almost any trot, but I had to ride in a half-seat when I cantered. I couldn't even keep the horse going. I couldn't stand it. I sat her trot with some difficulty, but I made it through the pattern without too much trouble. After the pattern, we worked on the rail some more. When we cantered, Emmy tripped once, almost went down, recovered herself, and almost went down again. I had an awful flashback to my last ride on Mac, and then a pain shot through my hip. We stopped, walked over to Teresa, and ended our lesson right there. I walked around without stirrups for a while, crossed either leg over Emmy's withers to stretch, and tried to fix myself. Teresa asked me how I hurt my hip. Honestly, I don't know what I did. I told her that it was a combination of a few nasty falls, weakness, and many other factors. I wish I knew, though.
The combination of the flashback and the pain made for a terrible day. I wasn't scared that she was going to fall, really. I mean, I didn't want her to fall. I was just really concerned that I might have to relive my final moments on Mac's back.
I worked at the barn and rode this weekend. The arena was a mess, but I had an excellent ride in there anyway. Stella was wonderful, and I was really using the "tree-grows-up-and-roots-grow-down" technique. I could just feel how strong, relaxed, and centered I was. Stella felt absolutely amazing. Then, we went out into the back field. As always, I rode over to Mac's grave to talk to him for a while. Then, Stella and I walked around. We trotted a little, too. She started to whinny at the horses in the pasture and get antsy, so we we didn't work too long.
Our costume for the show this weekend is going well. My mom was able to obtain a hospital gown that actually fits Stella. Yes, it was designed for a human being :D Stella isn't a really big horse, but she's not small... I've also painted a t-shirt with the House logo on it, and I think it looks really good. I'm so excited about this weekend. I've wanted to do the costume contest since before Mac died. I was going to do a whole skeleton horse thing.
I have to go do some Latin before tomorrow morning. Maybe I'll try to write an entry the day I ride for once.
No comments:
Post a Comment