I like that. May I please have it tattooed across my forehead, or dangled on a string in front of me like a carrot?
I am soooooo tired (wah wah wah). I am watching a maiden mare on a foalcam from my chairside/bedside, and setting my alarm so I roll over and take a look at it. Do you know what that does for the quality of rest? I'm sure all of you who have had foals know. And at least once a night she does something that requires me to get out of bed and trudge down to the barn to see what's going on. So far, nothing has been going on except the cramps and restlessness that indicate I have somewhere between 0-30 more days to wait. Argh.
In the midst of this we did have a birth, albeit an unexpected one. Here is the new daughter of Ima Llama. We had been told that Ima might be pregnant but if so she would be due in November. Guess what, it's not November!! Spent the day yesterday googling madly for baby llama (cria) facts and features. Ended up getting them into stalls after work yesterday with my friends' help, quite a feat because they are not halter broke or even particularly tame yet. We, um, thought we had time.
Anyway, yesterday escaped me with no riding or horse work. I have to work tomorrow night (Friday) so tonight ought to be a riding night. Did I mention how tired I am? Yes, I did. Oh and the farrier is coming out at 4 pm today. (I need a personal assistant, LOL.) I definitely need this mare to foal so I can get some more SLEEP. I'm dozing in my chair right now. I won't even mention work stress but suffice it to say that yes, there is plenty o' work stress. And oddly enough they don't think of unexpected newborn llamas or expected foals as valid excuses for not meeting deadlines. I shudder to think of what they'd say if I told them sorry, I want to ride more. But this is the lot we accepted when some dumb over-achiever said "I have an idea, let's work five days and have two off!" Why didn't someone tell him then what a dumb idea THAT was?
Besides the cria pic I wanted to share, I also wanted to mention that I have been in a good deal less pain than usual. Could it be that I stretched across Ginny's wideness more than once in the same week? Could that have been repetition enough to start a stretching/flexing TREND. Oh. my. god. I really was expecting more agony initially. And who knows I may still get it, but this is heartening.
Maybe I'll ride Ginny bareback tonight! That's always fun. And the fewer "clothes" she is wearing the narrower she is. Yeah, that sounds good! Memo to self, let the Pony Princess and SSG out for some R&R this afternoon!
11 comments:
I like that line. Good words to live by. Very cute new little baby!
Found your blog through the VLC blog - I LOVE YOUR PONY DITTO! He is adorable! Would love to see lots more photos of him. I have 2 pinto fuglies I am trying to work with (one is a 14.2hh, 8 yr old mare and the other is an 11.2hh, 12 yr old shetland), but like you, time and energy seem to work against me. I've bookmarked your site so I can keep up with your progress! You have many more to ride than I do...hats off to you for all of your hard work! I would blog about mine, but I just don't have time! :)
Hey - a side note - if he loves to jump...jumper ponies can be worth their weight in gold...Best of luck to you!!!
Nice to see your blog, found it via VLC and Fugly. We have something in common - I live in MA and am from WA. Hard getting used to the East coast, how do you like Washington? Anyway, I'll be checking in, and good luck!
Grrr, it ate my detailed comment - anyway, Hi, I'm in a similar situation - I want to ride more this summer. Let's encourage each other. I'm here via FHOTD, VLC, etc. Love the llama baby.
Now, I seem to be logged in. I have 2 horses for my daughter and me. I got them in October. I'm 47, single mom, no shared custody, long commute, injury/pain recovery, blah, blah blah. Like you, I want to ride more, especially during these daylight savings times hours. My horse is a PITA about saddling (was that way when I got him. I knew it needed to be worked on) so I use that as an excuse not to ride. I'll be checking in with support and hopefully reports of just doing it anyway. Good luck!!
Oh wow, so pleased that you picked up that line! (It's not stealing if you dangled my name after it!)
It is so hard to get motivated. Soooo hard.
Today I observed a lesson (hours needed to log for my instructor's exam) and decided that my queasy belly and dizzy head didn't need to ride today. Well didn't my coach get out her show saddle for a trial. And asked if I wanted to try it out on her lovely mare. So, yup, I rode today. Very short but sweet.
Give yourself a break and have a fun ride tomorrow. ANd do some stretches. It'll be okay!
Don't give up! Riding is great exercise and much to under-rated by doctors. Even though I call myself the "old fat broad", I still ride every week on my own aged gelding, and one VLC I just backed about a month ago. His 1/2 brother is next, I'm planning on backing him tomorrow.
A few weeks back when I seen my new respiratory doctor I'd brought up my weight and asked how it effected the asthma he had just confirmed I have.
During that conversation he asked me what I felt my physical condition was, and I said that I thought it wasn't too bad considering I ride at least three times a week. He solemnly told me that sitting on a horse while it did all the work wasn't much exercise, and that my level was probably much less then I thought. What is it with doctor's and riding? He decided a physical fitness test would set me straight.
I was nervous the morning when I went to the hospital to comply. The same friendly lady doctor that had done my previous tests was hooking me up to the bike, when she mentioned my doctor would be joining us for the test. He showed up and we had two false starts with equipment failure, but after calls to the manufacturer and recalibration of the system I was off.
I started off briskly and was peddling away for a while when I noticed the two have the first glance at each other with raised eyebrows. After about the fifth time she had taken my blood pressure and I was still boogying on, the glances became more frequent and the eyebrows higher.
With my heart rate and breathing still not stressed, I peddled on threw the increasing tension put on the bike to work against me. Finally the doctor sat back no longer watching the monitors with an incredulous look on his face told me to stop when I felt I need to. I peddled on for a while more with the machine increasing tension until finally my breathing became heavy and my legs started to burn. Then I stopped.
He stared at the monitors some more and they shared another glance, so I piped up and said, "So"?
"Well", he said, "for a woman your age and weight you are really, very, physically fit"!
I cracked a big smile and said,"So I guess I'm not just sitting there doing nothing on those horses, eh"!?
He blushed purple, leaned back and folded his hands thoughtfully behind his head, and said,"No, I admit I was wrong, I won't be saying that ever again".
Here's a web site about riding for fitness.
http://www.fitnesshigh.com/topics.php?topic_id=40&idea=Horse%20Riding%20For%20Fitness
Good luck and keep at it! K
Well, here it is Saturday and where am I?? Sitting at home trying to feel better, as I've been struck with some kind of spring flu that's been going around. Sick tummy, the whole nine yards.
So much for backing VLC #2 today. Worst then that, VLC #1 and my own gelding Pirate, are both going to be wondering "where the hell is that woman"!
I guess there's nothing to do but sulk.
I didn't ride VLC#1 last Sunday and worked his brother instead. When I was coming back through his field after letting Pirate out, he stomped up to me and threw his big head in my chest. His liquid brown eyes said, "don't you love me anymore"? I didn't get to ride Thursday because of a friends B-day. I'm quite sure he's feeling very abandoned by now.
So I'm sick and feeling real guilty! K
The desire to reach the goal has to be stronger than all the excuses.....
I'm going to use this as my mantra to stop smoking. That's the personal battle I've got on the go at the moment.
Ok, ok, I'm bored. I hate being stuck home sick.
Anyhow I'm new to this blogging stuff, but now that I opened an account I added a picture of me and my old man. See, I'm a fat middle aged woman too. Not that I'm proud of it, it's been a lifetime weight battle for me.
I've been addicted to Fug's site now for months. I was checking on how she was making out with VLC when I saw your link.
Hope you're both in the saddle and enjoying the day. With any luck I'll feel better tomorrow. K
There was a nice little article in "Shape" magazines May 2008 issue that acknowledges riding is a physical activity. Soooo many people, especially health & fitness professionals deny that it is. Made the article a refreshing change!
Love the blog. I am aso 50 ish rider who is way overweight. I have a full time job (a stressful one) and two children, one nine, one eleven. I also have three horses in my backyard - only one of which I can ride. The one I can ride is fully broke and actually pretty well trained - he's a little hot, though,and scares me a little. Like you, it is a real challenge to ride, and my goal is to ride twice a week, and if I can do more,then that's gravy. I have a trainer ride him one a week, and someone else who cleans in exchange for riding. Still, it's tough to keep up the riding in the face of real life.
I'll keep reading - you keep riding.
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