The Lagoon, Rocky River Reservation

 

Back in the Saddle

Back in the Saddle

Four days after I broke my wrist, I was scheduled for surgery.  They tried to set it when I went to the emergency room, but they couldn't get it close enough so it would heal well.

When I met the surgeon, I asked her how long it would be before I could ride, and she told me 3 months.  It would take that long to get my strength and flexibility back.

Tears just started falling when I heard that.  When the surgeon left the room, Kevin told me not to worry.  He would get me in the saddle sooner than that.

The surgery went excellently.  At that point, I had a smaller, more comfortable splint.  I was soon back to the barn, walking with Ellen while she rode on the trail and telling her what to do with Cole.  I counted the days until the stitches would be removed.

The day the stitches were removed, they sent me right to physical therapy.  I asked her about riding, and she said that the big fear was that I would fall.  Of course, that is the big fear we all have whenever we ride our horses.  That is nothing new.  Still, I sure didn't want to mess my wrist up--and I had very little mobility at all in that hand.  My fingers were only able to hold the smallest things--and not very tightly.  I saw the logic of avoiding riding.

A few days later, I decided to ride.  Well, not real riding.  Due to the risks involved, we decided I could sit in the saddle and someone could lead Cole from the ground.  I would ride one handed--with the reins in my good hand.

Kevin had the privilege of doing the first ride.

My left wrist is broken, which is good for a right-handed person--except for mounting.  We really need to left hand to mount.  Of course, I wouldn't even consider trying from the ground, as it would have been impossible.  We led Cole to the mounting block.  I had to figure out how to do it without putting any weight on my left wrist.  

I figured out I could put my right hand on the far side and grasp the flap.  That way, it would help keep the saddle in place and also be out of the way when I swing my leg over.  I have to confess, I was a little intimidated, looking down at the saddle, getting ready to put my foot in the stirrup.

But, I was determined, and I did it.  It went smoother than I expected.  I settled into place and told Kevin I was ready to walk.

It felt like I never ridden a horse before.  Ellen said it was because I was nervous, and that heightens the senses.  Cole swayed back and forth, and I felt very disoriented.  He was a little hyper, and after 8 minutes, I decided it was time to call it a day--and then I realized that I never even thought about how to dismount.  Ooops.

Well, I knew I had to do it one-handed, so I threw my bad hand in the air and swung off.  It worked.  Since then, I modified it so I slide down and hook my elbow on the other side of his withers to stabilize my landing.

I was so happy that I rode!!!

Ellen helped me with many of the future rides.  She would get back from riding Cole, and let me ride immediately after.  That helped because he wasn't so fresh.  Cole seems to like the routine--because he has 2 of his people with him.  He likes having his people.  One day, I even rode Dante after his ride.  Dante was actually better than Cole.  Ellen let me trot him, and since he is pretty slow, she could trot right next to him.

We then decided to try that with Cole.  He was amazing.  Ellen couldn't go very fast, and Cole matched her stride for stride,  (I taught him to do that at a walk--and that morphed into his silly walk.)  We would just go short stretches, since I didn't want to tire Ellen out.

The next time we tried that, she hadn't ridden him first--and he was in too spunky of a mood for it.

Between Ellen and Kevin, I am doing a little riding, and I really enjoy it.  In the meantime, I am very serious about doing my physical therapy in hopes of being able to ride like a regular person.

A Broken Wrist

A Broken Wrist

In early September, I slipped while hiking with Kevin and broke both bones in my wrist. They tried to reset it, but they couldn't get it quite where they wanted it, so I had to have surgery.  I now have 2 plates and 0 screws holding me together.

I'm doing well.  It is healing.  I am doing physical therapy to get my range of motion back.  Each day, I can use it a little more.  Best of all, I now have a removable splint.

The worst part of it, because this is me, is that it interferes in my riding.  Not just any riding, but the best time of the year riding.  Ellen has been very busy.

Cole can be an intimidating horse--particularly if he had 3 weeks off to recover from his hoof injury.  He is a lot of horse in a small package.  Was Ellen up to the challenge?

Ellen's first attempt was in the arena, where she learned that his "show trot" was not for her.  After a few attempts, she decided she would just walk.  He was a bundle of energy, and a walk-only ride didn't do much to change that.  A few days later, she tried it again.  Cole was a little better, but he wasn't getting much exercise.

I think the next ride was up and down the hill, and there Ellen was able to trot him.  That helped.  There is a flat part at the bottom, and they just went back and forth.  We were in a rainy spell, and he was refusing to do any self exercise when we turned him out.  He hates mud.  He really needed to trot, and the hill was a much better way to do it than the arena.

Ellen's next attempt was to take him across the river and go for a ride.  I met her on the other side and walked along.  When she got to the good part of the trail to trot--she was off.  Since I could only walk, I didn't get to see how it went.  She said he just kept trotting faster and faster and faster.  She said she just had to trust him.  When she got to the next river crossing, she turned him towards home and started walking back to me.  She didn't dare trot him towards home when he was in that kind of mood.

When I saw her, she did look a little pale.

Cole calmed down when he found me.  He loves walking with his people.

I asked her if she had fun, she paused and finally said, "I think I did."

Since then, Ellen has been riding Cole regularly on her days off.  She has been taking some vacation time each week to help.  If he gets too much time off, he goes really fast.  It helps when she can ride him with Starry.  (Kevin has been so wonderful, that sometimes, he rides Starry with Dante and Cole on the same day to help Ellen out.)  He seldom wants to pass another horse, so she can just follow Starry.  This weekend, he gave her a couple of marvelous rides.  They are getting used to each other, and I think that now she is having as much fun with him as he is having with her.

Of course, Dante isn't getting neglected.  She is riding him quite a bit, too.  They had a terrific ride in the arena the other day.  Everything is starting to fall into place with them in there.  Riding Cole has exposed a few weak spots in Ellen's riding.  In order to stay with him, she has to adjust her seat.  When she tried the same things on Dante--magic happened.  I might not be benefiting much from having a broken wrist, but Ellen sure is.

Of course, Dante is always good with Ellen on the trail.

Ellen and Cole

  

Ellen and Cole

Update

 Update

Well, Ellen had 2 more solo rides in the park, and one solo trip on the hill.  It all went terrific, too.  Then, much to her happiness, Starry recovered and they have been riding together ever since,

Cole had his stitches removed, and his foot is nearly healed.  The same day, I was hiking, slipped and broke my wrist.

Stall rest for Cole is over, and Ellen and Kevin have been leading him around.  I have been walking with him, and it's just nice spending time with him outside.  He has been an angel for them, and I am so proud of him.

Next weekend, when she doesn’t have to work, he will be rideable.

By then, I will know if I will need surgery on my wrist.  I am glad to say that the pain has greatly subsided, and I am working on how to do things one handed.

I have yet to figure out how to brush my cat, Thunder’s teeth.

Ellen and Dante--Solo

Ellen and Dante--Solo

Could it be true?  Did I really just type those words?

Ellen hasn't ridden Dante alone in the park beyond the first river crossing since the year she bought him.  That fall, she was leading him on the street, he spooked, knocked her down and she broke her ankle.  Ever since then, her riding anxieties took over.

Of course, if you have been following her adventures, you would know that she is getting braver all the time, and this summer, in particular, she has been outstanding.

Still, there really wasn't any reason for her to go riding on the trail by herself.  Since I retired, if I know she is planning to ride, I want to be there with her.  We have too much fun together to miss out on a ride.

So what happened? Bad luck.

First, Starry came up lame.  We were hoping it was an abscess, but instead of getting worse, it started getting better.  Abscesses don't do that.  Kevin called the vet out, and she diagnosed a sprain and/or arthritis.  She gave Kevin some anti-inflammatory pills and told him that if he improved, start light riding after the farrier came out.  It was on his club foot, of course.

The following week, Cole got cut crossing the river by some fishing line.  Though it wasn't a deep or long cut, it was in a terrible spot--the back of his leg--just above his hoof.  There was a flap, and as he stepped, the wound would gape.  I called the vet, and she gave him 4 stitches, wrapped his leg and told me that he needed stall rest for 2 weeks until the stitches came out.  Even with our precautions, she still couldn't guarantee that the stitches would hold.

That left Ellen without her riding buddies.  Shari has a different schedule than she used to, so we only get to ride with Bella on Sundays.

If Ellen wanted to ride on the trail, she had to go solo.

Well, not exactly.  Since I didn't have a horse to ride, I could go with her on foot.  The river isn't too high, and it doesn't bother me to get my feet wet.  This would be the first time that Dante would be crossing the river and riding on the other side without another horse in 8 years!  Plus, I certainly couldn't keep up with them when they trot and canter.

The day after Cole got his stitches was the first day of Dante's independent rides.  Cole was not happy with the situation, and the people at the barn had to give him extra hay to quiet him down.  Starry gave us a little neigh, too, when he saw us walking down the driveway without him.

The ride was such a non-event, that there really isn't much to write about.  Most of the time, Ellen wasn't even nervous.  She trotted off to the second river where she was going to turn around.  It was there when the only scary thing happened on the whole ride.

We always see a lot of high school boys that are on the track team running down the trail in late summer and early fall.  Our horses are very accustomed to them.  They must have been told by their teachers to always stop for horses, because they do--every time.  That is, if they actually see us.

When Ellen stopped at the river to turn around, a large group of them decided to run through the river!  They made a big ruckus, and they must have looked scary to a horse, but Dante didn't care!  I'm not sure how Cole would have been.  Even Starry might have been startled.  I'm sure Bella would have been halfway home before they even got across.  Dante is a superstar.

Ellen caught up with me, and we went home.

Day one was great!

Ellen and Dante

  Ellen and Dante