Weebles Wobble But They Don't Fall Down

I have a confession to make:

Getting back into riding is absolutely one of the most exhausting and painful things I think I've ever put myself through.


 Currently, I am the Human Weeble. Flooping here, leaning there, clamping my thighs, sitting crooked, bouncing. I *know* how all my body parts should go, but my body parts aren't always in agreeance with me. 

Different Weebl, same concept.

I *know* where all of my body parts are supposed to be. I know how to feels when you are sitting just right and working in harmony with your horse. I have these things deeply ingrained in my mind.
But apparently, not in my muscle memory.

Thank you for not bucking me off when I floop around

It has been a solid year since I put my butt into any saddle of any sort, save for 10 minutes one time when a client told me to try out her TWH and see what the gaits felt like. And it has been five years since I really was in saddle shape. And it SHOWS.

I also have the problem of my non-bending ankle. In that picture above, you can see the amount that the leg flexes. That's it. That's all I get now. I don't know that I will ever gain full flexibility back in that leg. I have to ride with that stirrup 3 holes longer than the other one in order to feel like I am sitting up straight in the saddle. As my body progressively warms up over the course of a ride, my calf doesn't stretch - instead, my ankle rolls progressively outward.

This is all a side product from limping around from the pain in my bad hip for so long. The good news is, as long as I ride in a saddle with a very narrow twist, the hip doesn't hurt at all. K sent Dylan with his Schleese - a brand designed specifically for women - but even that is too much pressure on my hips. I put my Prestige on him two days ago and felt a WORLD better. It fits about as well as the Schleese, which was due for a fitting anwyay, so I think what I will end up doing is fitting the Prestige to him instead of the Schleese. My Prestige was custom molded for my butt by angels, I am completely convinced of this.

I've been able to go to WD three whole days in a row this week. Three days in a row!! That is a rare treat. Every day I feel a little better, every day I am not quite so awkward. I'm still stuck in a chair seat with rounded shoulders flooping around and it looks ridiculous. but I am sitting cleanly enough that Dylan mostly understands what the hell I am asking him to do. He tries very hard.

Overly enthusiastic changes... he gets really excited about what's happening up front and forgets about his back end a bit!

It's hard. Everything is hard. Everything hurts. 

But, I understand that this is how bodies work. When you're not in shape for something, it is really freaking hard. And it hurts. Everything is painful. And everything kind of flops around. Nothing goes quite where you expect it should. You stretch it out, put it there, and then find that it has gone off somewhere else in just a few minutes. So, you put it back again. And again. And again.

And I know that eventually my body will go where it is supposed to. I will feel better and sit nicer. I know that I will feel like less of a floopy fool and more like someone who is not only fit to ride, but can be an effective rider.

And the only place where I can get those things is in the saddle. Logging hours in the saddle is the only way.

Everything is hard and everything hurts, but I ride on.




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On a cuter note, here are two sassy babes running amok last night in the pasture. I actually got to see Pax trot yesterday - really trot - and I think there may be hope for her movement yet. It wasn't sustained or long but it was quite attractive! Alas, it was not caught on video.