Our Own Baby Badminton...

You want me to do what?

Wikipedia defines cross-training as "an athlete training in sports other than the one that athlete competes in with a goal of improving overall performance."  It's purported to be good for people and with all the reading I do on horses I'm coming to the conclusion it's good for them as well.  Supposedly it not only gets the horse more fit, it adds interest to their lives and thus creates a "happy athlete."

So, with this in mind, and with the memory of my recent attendance at the Rolex Kentucky Three Day event in mind, I decided to ask one of the eventer trainers at my barn how I might go about getting Sugar more fit for the summer show season.  She suggested I take the Sainted Mare out into a neighboring field and do some trot sets, starting with a couple of days of doing four 5 minute sets to see how we went and then progressing from there.

The field is set on a slight rolling hill, about a football field long and one and a half football fields wide, and surrounded on three sides by woods and one side by a paddock.  It even comes with a few jumps - logs, hay bales, a few old tires, and a small shed-roof.  I hadn't jumped any of them despite several previous trips to the field, but they've been tempting the heck out of me.  (Rational, sober, mature self-preservation instinct has prevented me from giving in.)

Sug LOVED being out in the field.  Her ears stayed pricked forward the whole time and I could swear she was smiling.  She bounded forward off my leg and moved out in a rolling, swinging trot, or at least she did until we got to the steep part of the hill.  Then the trot slowed, the head went down, and she grunted in time to her increased efforts.  She powered through, but I could tell she was happy when we hit the flat portion at the top. 

THEN there was the down part.  The sink-into-the-heels-and-try-to-remain-balanced-while-not-yanking-on-Sug's-mouth-or-slamming-down-on-her-back-as-we-try-not-to-fall-on-our-faces part.  This is waaaaayyyyy easier said than done, but by the fourth circuit I think I improved.  At least the mare had stopped grunting on the down portion of the posting.  I can see where this "riding out" stuff can be helpful.  If you can keep your balance in this terrain, perfectly manicured footing should present very little problem.

We did our four 5-minute sets, and she still felt pretty good.  By that time another boarder had joined us in the field, and we (two adult women and our 17-year-old horses) accessed our inner children and cantered around, giggling, whooping, and jumping some of the small obstacles.  (I may have indulged the fantasy that I was powering 'round the course at Badminton or Rolex.) Sug jumped brilliantly, really powerfully and round, and was clearly having a ball.  We goofed around for a few minutes, then stopped before we over-did ourselves. Together with our friends we ambled back to the barn and Sug recieved a well-deserved rubdown.

Dang, we had fun! I was grinning ear-to-ear the rest of the day. I'm looking forward to more of this cross-training stuff, and I think Sug is, too. 

Maybe.

A tired Sainted Mare.

Finally!! Somebody Believes Riding Is Exercise!

At least I think that's what I'm getting from the video below.  Sadly, I'm not fluent in Korean.  Doesn't matter.  I laughed so hard when I watched this video my drink came out my nose.

Gasp...Wheeze...OXYGEN!

If you've been following AWIP, you might recall from a couple recent posts (this one and this one)  that Sug, the kids, and I are all currently getting physical therapy for various ailments.  Sug's recovering from some inflammation in the branches of her suspensory ligament, I'm dealing with herniated disks and sciatica, the kids both have knee issues and Soph has added upped the ante with an inflamed growth plate in her heel (or Calcaneal Apophysitis, for those of you who like tongue twisters.)


A family that therapizes together...uh, spends a fortune??

Things are slowly progressing.  Soph is not icing as much, Noah has finally been pain free and played in his first rugby tourney (hooray!) and Sug and I are up to 15 minutes of trotting, short and long sides!  Her recovery has been due to the excellent care of our barn owner and vet, and the no doubt (in my mind) to the laser therapy she's been getting from her Aunt Carolyn, my friend and owner of Peak Performance Therapy.  This laser stuff is amazing -- Carolyn's done my back several times and it really helped (although God knows what the neighbors thought, seeing me bent over her ottoman with my pants unbuckled! LOL!)

Sug getting laser therapy from Aunt Carolyn
(Peak Performance Therapy)

The thing is, we're SUPPOSED to be trotting 15 minutes consecutively.  Well, we do try, but the Sainted Mare and I find that a wee bit ambitious.  By the 4th minute we're both sucking for air, dripping with sweat, begging for mercy and ready to call "Uncle."

Speak for yourself.  I could go at least 8 minutes.  Maybe 10 if you'd let me do a slow trot.

OK, Sug. The point is, this getting back in shape thing ain't easy.  We're doing our best, and we do the 15 minutes.  Yes, it's more like 3 sets of 5 minutes, but that does add up to 15 minutes TOTAL.  Then we cool out, she gets her bath and her ice, and I get my BENGAY and my wine.

Here's to baby steps!  Cheers!

Tonight's vino therapy - a lovely New Zealand sauvignon blanc.

And Now, A Fitness Message From Bob Goddard...

I'm in a cheeky mood today, flushed with success as this morning was the first morning in eons that I've been able to do a REAL workout (cardio, weights, and core.)  Between the back issues and bronchitis, working out and fitness have hit the back burner. In a word -- OUCH!  But in a good way. I say that now. No doubt tomorrow I'll be singing a different tune.

You can imagine how nice it was to find a post from one of my favorite blogging buddies that shows many of us are in the same boat, especially with respect to that annoying body part commonly called "the core."  Bob Goddard, author of Horse Crazy and blogger-in-residence on Bob the Equestrian, has graciously allowed me to re-post his recent reflections on the ever-import core and its importance to equestrians here on AWIP. 

Enjoy!  Thanks, Bob!

The Belly Wars
by Bob Goddard



Over the last ten months, I’ve discovered that an equestrian career involves much more than just showing up for lessons. Once you get on the main path, you begin to discover that the path is actually a complex network of trails involving your mind, body, checkbook and – if you will – soul.


Well, at least your “core”.

I’ve heard a lot about this “core”. How important it is. How a rider should use it. Why it should be strong.

I’m just not exactly sure what it is. I figure it’s gotta be something in the middle, right? Probably centering on your belly region and extending to the neighboring body parts.


I’m worried that I don’t have a core. That my core has been devoured by a Greedy Gut, having its own way and dominating the region like an overconfident hegemon. Years of bad habits and a reduced metabolic rate have created this Body Part Bully who blocks my progress down the Golden Path of Equestrian Glory. It mocks me. It dares me. When I stand up, it looks like it my toes grow out of it. There will be no photos in today’s post.


Well, if Greedy Gut wants a fight, its got one: Jenny signed us up for a class on Core Strengthening.

Actually, the Belly Wars have been going on for some time now. I dropped 20 pounds in the months prior to the start of my equestrian career last year. Then, in a powerful winter offensive, Greedy Gut regained half of its lost territory. And the jods sit folded in the front closet.

This is our counter-offensive. The class begins in June. That gives me two months to lose the 10 pounds I gained during the hibernation months. Then let the strengthening begin.


This is war.

WOW! Just WOW! Monday Morning PSA...



NOT the enemy, although it bloody well feels that way some days.

 Ugh, I still have a bit of a travel hangover brought on by my business trip from last week and the whirlwind weekend of riding, soccer, and lacrosse combined with the lost hour of sleep didn't help. Damned Spring Ahead.  How 'bout we skip the springing ahead and just fall back in bed? Blech.

Anywho, had all kinds of things to share about the offspring, my first jumping lesson in over a month (Madame Mare was QUITE excited!) but have had very little time so that will have to wait.  Instead, I will share with you a very thought provoking post by my blogging buddy Emme, over at I Pick Crazy!

Many of us adult ammie riders struggle with our fitness, jiggly bits, and a habit of eating too much and exercising too little (who has the time and energy, what with careers, kids, and whatnot?)  We know too much weight and not enough fitness is bad for our health, and we know it affects our ability to be the effective partner we want to be for our horses.  It's the doing something with that knowledge that's the hard part.

My barn mate and lesson buddy Tamsin and I were joking about this very issue at our lesson this weekend, and then my buddy Libby and I were talking about it over lunch after we left the barn.  The irony here was that we were gorging on a Mexican orgy of burritos, Mexi-fries, and tacos while discussing the additional sub-cutaneous adipose tissue we'd accumulated and it's caseous appearance under our breeches.  Libby's a DVM/scientist/brilliant person, so if you'd like the layman's version, we were discussing our added winter layer of fat and the lovely cottage cheese-like ripples one sees under one's breeches.

Which is, of course, why I came home, got on the treadmill, and then made fried chicken, southern fried corn with bacon and cheesy mashed potatoes for dinner.  Followed it up with a sleeve of Do Si Dos and a sleeve of Thin Mints. Drat those Girl Scouts and my feeble willpower!  DUH!

So it was a VERY GOOD THING that I read Emme's post this morning, as I needed a bit of a shove back onto the path of healthy living.  I'll excerpt a bit here, and then you can link on over for the rest.  While we may not look like the one picture in the scan, it's not hard to connect the dots and deduce how the extra weight can affect our quality of life.  Again, there's no judgement here at AWIP.  I'm a product of Eastern European Sausage Snarfing genes, and have had eating issues my entire life.  Nobody is advocating thin = aesthetically pleasing, either for humans or horses.  My point, and I think Emme's as well, is that the best health you and your horse can achieve is good for both of you, and should be a goal for all of us.

Thanks, Emme, for the assist!

FATTY DEPOSIT SCAN BRINGS IT HOME

Recently an associate has had some unfortunate medical news, and the need for surgery has been proposed by doctors. Unfortunately this person is quite heavy, and with that comes several health factors. During a previous surgery complications arose, and so surgery at this point could be risky. Weight loss is imperative, might even effect the need for surgery in the first place, but will at minimum make surgery less dangerous.

This scan is of a 250lb female on the left, and a 120lb woman on the right.


Shocking right? Click here to read more.


Your's truly again.  Looks like I'll be having a salad for lunch.  Sigh.
Have a happy, healthy Monday.

My New Favorite Fitness Regime...

I injured myself 5 months ago and fell off the workout wagon for a good long time. Now I'm much better, albeit a bit "poofier," and should really be getting back on the dang wagon instead of watching it continue to roll on past me whilst I sip a class of Sauvignon Blanc. Problem is, when you fall off the wagon, you tend to lose motivation and get to a point where you think, "Wagon? What wagon? I don't need no stinking wagon. Pour another glass of that wine!"

Alright, I may be carrying that a bit too far, but you get my point. Once you stop, it's hard to get started again unless there's a significant motivator. (If memory serves, there's a law in there somewhere -- something about inertia? What is that one? An object at rest stays at rest, unless acted upon by an outside force.)

Anyway, this particular object has been at rest, but a desire to improve my riding and a fear of needing to purchase bigger breeches (or Spanx)has motivated me to get back into physical activity. Well, that and a few good friends, otherwise known as "outside forces" (Allison, you know I mean you!) who are very good evangelists for the healthy lifestyle.

Thus, I got back to work. Or working out. Whatever. So far it's been some yoga, a little bit of cardio, and light weights.

However, I've come across a workout program that I think will be a wildly successful one for me, as it combines a good core workout with one of my favorite things in life. Consider it the ultimate anti-inertia core workout! Thanks to my good friend Sarah for passing this along!!

SNAFU...

Sometimes things get a bit bassackwards around here...

I have control issues.  Lots of 'em.  If you've read this blog on a regular basis, or even once or twice, you're probably sitting in your chair thinking, "Uh, DUH, Amy. No earthshaking revelation there!" 

Anyway...years of therapy, scads of self help books and hours of introspection later and I can occasionally surrender my need for control and attempt to roll with the punches of life.  As my father has said on more than one occasion, "The boat of life has a tendency to go tits up.  Better be ready to grab a life preserver and start swimming." Frank is a font of pithy idiomatic statements like that.  I shoulda saved all that money I spent on therapy and those silly books and just listened to Frank.

Anyway, on to today's topic....Nothing serious, just by this point in the year I'd hoped to be confirmed at 3'3" and winding down my show season with a few 1.0m classes.  I'd also hoped to have improved my riding by improving my general fitness level.  Instead, as a result of (thankfully minor) injuries sustained during a fall, work insanity, family commitments and other unforeseen incidents such as Dad's recent minor heart attack, I'm stuck at 3', saddle time has been limited at best and restricted to flatwork. Workout time hasn't fared much better.

Given what other people face in their lives, this is NOTHING.  I get that. About 5 minutes into my ridiculous pity-party I put a quick halt to the festivities with a very stern self-administered Come to Jesus session. Really, Amy?? You have a healthy family, a roof over your head, a job, and you're complaining about WHAT, exactly???  Really??  Silly cow, get over yourself. 

The thing is, the riding is what helps me deal with the fact that the rest of life is so out of my control.  So when the riding thing gets wonky, I get a little goofy.  Hence the self-talk, where I breathe in and out and tell myself, "Life can't be controlled.  The only thing that CAN be controlled is how I react to what happens."  You can make a plan to get to where you want to be, work the  plan as best as possible and, when things don't go according to plan, you need to be able to pull your big girl pants on, deal with the disappointment, and come up with Plan B.  Or, as my Dad says, grab one's life preserver and get swimming.

One sees that in horses as well as life.  How many times has your trainer given you a plan, and you enter the ring with every intention of riding that plan, but for whatever reason things go cattywumpus. You can either react positively and readjust to riding plan B, or you can go to Control Freak Default Setting and micromanage and nitpick the situation until either the horse stops in confusion or something worse happens.   Do you "just ride, dammit" or do you panic and go fetal because your need to control the situation has been surpassed by your ability to control it.  Again, you can't control the situation, only how you react to it.  (Can you tell I'm hoping that the more I write that, the better I'll get at it?)

So what do you do when your life has, for the moment, gone a bit sideways and your #1 stress reliever is no longer as much of an option?  What's your Plan B? (Hint: Imbibing copious amounts of your favorite adult beverage and freebasing Oreos may NOT be an advisable option. Just saying...)

What's wrong with this picture?

For me, at the moment Plan B looks like doing what I can for Dad and what I need to do for work (after all, the job is what pays for Princess Sugar Britches' Jimmy Choos). It looks like accepting that the horse thing will have to happen in a different way than I am used to for a while. When I can get to the barn, we'll work on our flatwork, which is always a good thing. When I'm unable to get out there, I'll need to rely on my trainer and friends to keep her in work.  In the meantime, I can use my new subscription to Equestriancoach.com to fill in some of the gaps in my learning.

As for the fitness thing?  Certainly Dad's recent heart attack demonstrates the importance of diet and exercise in overall health.  So what if I'll be doing more walking and yoga than running and weightlifting, and it'll take longer to reach the fitness goal I had for my riding.  I keep telling myself, it's all about the journey, right??

My Nana had a saying she'd trot out anytime life got crazy.  She'd say, "This, too, shall pass."  Back then I would ask, "When?? When will it pass?  How can I make it pass faster?"  Nowadays, my Inner Control Freak still wants to ask that, and to try to figure out 80 different ways to make it pass more quickly.  However, now I've gotten a little better at telling that Inner Control Freak to hush for a moment. Now I can sometimes tell it to just let me sit with the situation, figure out what I'm supposed to be learning from it, and then grab my life preserver and figure out where to swim to.

What can I say?  I'm a work in progress.  It's slow going, but it's progress none the less.

Little Hiccup in the Fitness Challenge...

Look, Ma! I'm On The Bit!

So my attempt to drill for oil using my cranium as has put a big old monkey wrench in my fitness plans.  Previous to my prayer to the dirt gods I had embarked on a plan to get my ammy a$$ in shape.  A couple trainers I respect told me my riding would improve more quickly if my fitness/strength level improved.  I reasoned that since I spent what felt like a minor fortune on lessons, clinic, DVDs, and books devoted to improving my riding, it only made sense to take their advice.  Time to get thighs that could crack walnuts, or at least motivate a lazy mare, and a core capable of holding my position better over fences.

Things were going well at first.  On average, I ride 5 days a week when I am not traveling.  I began riding my mare without spurs, spent 5 minutes warming up trotting in two point, and incorporated lots of work without stirrups. In addition I added interval/hill work on the  treadmill or eliptical 5 days a week, and weights or Pilates 2-3 times a week.

That lasted all of 10 days, until I face planted at a horse show after jumping ahead of my mare (Literally.  A word to the wise -- do NOT do this!)  My little unintentional dismount resulted in a concussion, a sprained neck, and potentially some instability in the ligaments of the ondontoid process, which I'm told can be A VERY BAD THING if I fall off/get rear ended/do something else stupid involving trying to insert my melon into an unyielding surface. 

So, no rigorous exercise for the time being.  Not good, considering when I'm bored/sad/happy/confused or just breathing I eat.  A lot.  And I don't exactly go whole hog on the veggies, either?  I'm more of an Oreos/Pillsbury vanilla icing/Ice Cream/Cheese and Butter kind of gal.  Which ain't great if you're not moving much, you know what I mean?

So no running.  I've been traveling a lot for work, so I haven't  been riding much. When I have ridden, it's been more like really light hacking, which Sug is totally on board with.

So what's a creaky, achy, semi-breakable broad to do?  Lots of treadmill intervals on an incline, only at the walk.  I've also done what little light Yoga and Pilates I can without straining my neck.  I've gone back to doing a little light belly dancing.  Although I've pretty much lost what little improvement I'd made, one good thing is that the hill work has made my legs stronger.  Or at least they felt that way when I rode tonight. Just stronger and more secure, if that makes sense.

So I guess I'll keep up with the kinder, gentler fitness regime until I'm cleared for more intense stuff.  Backsliding is frustrating, but the fact that my legs felt a bit more secure tonight gives me some hope for eventual success.  Fingers crossed!

WAAAAAAAAHHHHHH! Or, Get Over It Already, For Heaven's Sake...

Hi. My name is Amy and I am a Chicken.

Today I had my first lesson since I attemtped to emulate a lawn dart at my last show.  My travel schedule for work as been crazy, so it's really only the fourth time I've ridden since I damn near found oil two weeks ago.  Certainly the first time I've jumped.

Well, as you probably picked up from the title, things did not go well.  Number one, due to the severe neck sprain I gave myself (the Doctor's terminolgy, not mine) anything more than light exercise has been VERBOTEN for the past two weeks..  Think "gentle stroll on treadmill." So, my fitness level, never great to start with, is close to non-existant.  (Can somebody PLEASE tell me why it takes a 40 year old woman MONTHS to gain any kind of muscle and a nanosecond to lose it???  PLEASE?  That my friends, is one of life's nasty little ironies.  The others involve childbirth, but that's another discussion and you'd need to buy me a drink before I get started on that one.)

Plus, I'm still sore, so some things, such as turning my head to look for the fence, were uncomfortable. Thus,  I didn't execute them well and we had missed distances, awkward jumps, and some "Oh Sweet Baby Jesus!" moments.  So why was I attempting to lesson under these circumstances?  Well, if you haven't realized I'm not exactly the brightest bulb in the string by now, you haven't been paying close attention to this blog.  I suggest you go back and read a few more posts.  You'll get what I mean soon enough.

Basically, I rode to each fence in a state of high alert, fearing the worst and rendering myself darn near incompetent.  My trainer said I was exaggerating ( this would not be unusual, I am known to amplify things a bit) and not riding badly at all, but you know how you it is when you feel like you're only moments away from a trainwreck.  At this point I was about one sniffle away from starting to bawl.  Not just tears, but a full-on, snot pouring from the nose, howling like a crazy person meltdown.  Luckily my mare turned to me and gave me one of her LOOKS.

What is going on?? Are you leaking up there?

No, Sug. (sniff)  I'm fine. (sniff)

You don't look or sound fine, and you're clenching. Stop that, please.  Do that breathing thing, would you?

Sorry, Sug. (Sounds of deep breathing ensue.)

So how do you take one ad incident and stop from making it into the 800 pound gorilla in the arena??  For some reason the Friends episode where Phoebe, Rachel and Monica do a cleansing ritual to rid themselves of bad boyfriend karma.  I thought briefly about a cleansing ritual, but I saved up a gazillion Dover's gift certificates to get that hunt coat, darnit, and knowing my luck I'd set the house on fire anyway. 

I asked my trainer to lower the fences and to let me work on easier groups of combinations of fences, rather than entire courses, which she did, and things still weren't going great.  I couldn't keep a consistent rythym, partly because my mare was feeling herself  and dragging me to the fences, and partly because I was picking at her till we went from a gallop to darn near going backwards.  You can imagine what kind of jumps these resulted in.  Let's just say I was inadvertently dropping some words that would have gotten my mouth washed out and my behind blessed with a wooden spoon about 30 years ago.  Thankfully my kids weren't in the arena.  Her Highness Princess Sugar Britches was not impressed either.

Hellooooo! Koninklijk Warmbloed Paardenstamboek Nederland!

Gesundheit, Sug.

Sigh.  Translation: Royal Warmblood Studbook of the Netherlands. Such language is inappropriate in front of an equine of my eminence.

You know, you may not want to take that tone with me today, Miss Thing.  Ain't no Royal Netherlanders standing in line to pay your massage bills.  Just saying...

So I told my trainer I thought it would be a good idea to go back to basics.  More longe lessons.  More gymnastics, more work on my form and the security of my position and leg, until I feel secure again.  I have the chance to show again this week, and quite frankly, I'm hesitant about doing it.

I like feeling fully prepped.  Knowing I CAN do something (usually by the skin of my teeth and feeling I've just received a miracle) and feeling like I can do something succesfully is a big difference.  I feel that when I ride with confidence, I can ride well.  When I don't ride with confidence, things get dicey and I'm worried one day I really will hurt myself and my horse.  To be fair, my trainer does prep me well, working on exercises that she knows will prepare us for the courses we'll face.

George Morris famously said that he "faught chicken" all the time. Sometimes that makes me think, "Wow, even George has moments. How liberating!" Other days I think, "What a load of crapola. If he were chicken why was he jumping 5 foot fences so well for so long? If George really wants to see chicken, he should come see me approaching a 3' oxer. You can see the "Oh sh#$! Oh sh#$!" cartoon thought bubbles over my head!"


So what's the deal?  Am I just a big whiny ninny who needs to pull on her Big Girl Pants, pull down her skirt, and suck it up?  Or, do I pat myself on the back for getting back on and giving it a go, and then realizing I'm still hurting and the more prudent decision is to retrench and go back to basics until confidence is restored?
 
Or, do I hire a Native American Shaman to burn sage and do a healing dance for me?

Official Horse Geek Status and the FEI European Championships...

As you may know, the FEI European Jumping Championships are currently being held at the Club de Campo in Madrid, Spain.  A total of 16 nations will be competing, with the Swiss hoping to defend last year's Team Championship title and Individual Champion Kevin Staut looking to add to a very good year by repeating as Individual Champion. Additionally, countries like Ireland, Spain, and the Netherlands still looking to qualify for the 2012 Olympics in London.

I do my best to watch as much of the big championships as I can when they are on, and  most of my access to them is via my laptop.  At this point you might be thinking, So What?  Where's the geek connection? 

If you've been reading AWIP recently, you know I've been on a fitness kick in order to improve my riding.  Typically I get in a workout after my kids leave for school at 8 and before I need to start work at 9.  With the Europeans starting during that time frame the past two mornings, I needed to figure out a way to be able to workout and indulge my horse fix simultaneously.

My solution to my dilemma?  I decided to use my treadmill, and using some of my kid's toys and a couple pillows, I was able to prop my laptop in a (relatively) safe position where I'd be able to run and watch the rounds from Madrid.  WINNING!!!

I think this qualifies me for Horse Geek Club membership, don't you?  Just please, I beg you, don't tell my IT department what I did!

Results after Day One:
Individual:  Lord de Theize, Ridden by Olivier Guillon of France.
Team:  1. France  2. Germany  3. Sweden



Confession Time: Fell Off The Wagon Already...

I TOTALLY Want To Find This In A T-Shirt!

And by that I am referring to the fitness wagon.  Or, rather, treadmill.  I suppose that's a more accurate metaphor.  I'm not sure.  I'm not thinking too well at the moment.  Sigh....

I have a good excuse.  Don't we always have good excuses?  Rationales?  Reasons?  I have a doozy.  See, my Dad had himself a mild heart attack on Thursday and I've been spending most of the last several days at the hospital.  He's doing well now, thankfully. Doctors found a 99% blockage in one artery, an 80% blockage in another, and 50% blockage in a third, and decided to perform an angioplasty to insert a balloon tipped catheter into an artery in his groin.  They snaked the catheter up through the veins to his cardiac artery, used the balloon tip to widen the clogged artery and then inserted a stent (kind of a mesh frame that looks like the spring in a pen) to act as scaffolding to keep the vein open for blood flow.

Pretty cool stuff, huh?  Way more than I ever wanted to know about this kind of thing, really.  Anywhoooo,  with all the excitement, there wasn't a lot of time for serious exercise. I did manage to hop on the treadmill for a bit each day, but there was no time for riding, weights, or anything else.  I'm pretty sure trips to and from the last possible parking spot and up and down the cardiac wing's stairs don't count.

Not only did I NOT exercise like I wanted to, I ate darn near everything in sight.  Including most of my daughter's birthday cake.  At one point I made a family member hide it.  Really.  I'm a compulsive stress eater.  Thank God there were no Oreos in the house.  Add a couple glasses of wine (liguid de-stresser!) a night to the all the crap I was eating, and let's just say I'm gonna be climbing out of a big hole!

And believe me, even though this fitness thing started as a way to gain strength to ride better, after seeing what my Dad went through, and what others in the cardiac wing were going through, it's become much more.  Maybe I'm having a knee jerk reaction, but seeing how much a poor diet, lack of exercise, and excess weight has compromised my father's health, I'm a little scared of my own bad habits.  We have similar demons that way, Dad and I.

The good news is I did get some exercise in.  The "other" news (I'd rather not look at it as bad news) is that, like my Dad,  I need to get a more organized fitness plan in place, and coping mechanisms other than food for when things get rough.

Am not 100% sure what those will be, but I'll be thinking about it while I'm doing my 5 minutes of two point, up-up-down posting, and posting without stirrups tomorrow.

On Rider Fitness...Or Lack Thereof

My Rule of Thumb:
If My Tush is Smaller Than My Horse's Tush, Life Is Good!

Recently a couple of people I respect have told me that my riding would probably improve if my fitness improved. One of the more memorable moments came during a clinic I participated in. I'd been cantering my mare in circles for what seemed like forever, trying valiantly to get her to elevate more as well as engage her hind end enough to find that magical bouncy canter that would make one feel like one was capable of jumping a 5 foot vertical with no reservations.


Add strenuous work to the fact that I've been known to hold my breath when concentrating, and I was red-faced and blowing like a bellows when we were finally allowed to walk. The clinician, who happens to be someone I've worked in the past and whose dry sense of humor I greatly appreciate, mentioned that I'd do well with a little time spent on the treadmill. I burst out laughing, and told him I already spent 45 minutes at least five days a week on the treadmill. If memory serves, "Try 60, and go faster," was the response.

Similar conversations have come up during my lessons. My trainer has mentioned how my normally lazy mare had been "almost wild" off her leg during a training ride, and she attributed it her stronger leg. She went on to say how you wanted a horse to be"electric" off your leg, even though some horses were more sensitive to leg aids and others (like my phlegmatic mare and my trainer's young jumper) needed much stronger leg aids. Fair enough, I thought, thinking that the only thing that would make Sug electric off my leg is if I attached cattle prods to my paddock boots. In any case, this has gone beyond "I need to keep fit enough to keep my back from going out" to "time for boot camp."

I'm going to take a brief moment to say that this is not a post about the need to be as thin as stick insect in order to ride, or a sizist indictment of anyone who happens to wear breeches above size 2. I'm 5'6", 41 years old, and wear a size that ranges between single and low double digits, depending on the day and the manufacturer. I'm a little below the "average" size for American women, and like to think I fall somewhere between "Step away from the Tastycakes, ma'am" and Demi Moore. Let's just say common adjectives (the printable ones) used to describe me are statuesque, curvy, or voluptuous. To paraphrase my favorite mule, Fenway Bartholomule, I try not to think of it as a hay belly, but rather as insurance against famine. (Thanks, Fen!)

Again, let me be clear: This is about my desire to be a better rider, not a commentary on the size/fitness/weight issues of the American riding public or a "I wanna look good in skinny jeans" rant. The former I'll leave to George Morris, the latter we'll just leave well enough alone.

The (admittedly somewhat vague) plan, which began tonight:

# 1. Ride without spurs. Sug's a lazy beast unless she's got a fence in front of her. No spurs means I don't have my pony prods to use as a crutch. I did cheat a bit and carry a dressage whip because who are we kidding? I'm no martyr! Anyway, the point is, I really had to WORK for any impulsion we had!

#2. Warm up trotting in two point. Start off with 5 minutes and increase. I had the barn to myself tonight, so thankfully no one was there to see the inauspicious start to Boot Camp. I made it through 5 minutes of two point at the trot, although I'll admit I was clock watching from the outset and praying to my Higher Power by Minute Two. (Let's face it, I was praying to all the deities I could think of by the third minute. Buddha, Krishna, Macha; I wasn't picky.)

#3. Five minutes Up-Up-Down posting. Not so bad. Was sweating like a pig, though.

#4. Five minute trot and canter sets incorporating basic suppling work, working on getting her in front of my leg (Leg? What leg?) and maintaining a consistent rhythm. Let's just say both of us were sucking air by the end of this exercise.

Note- both horse and rider benefited from generous walk breaks between sets.

I disagree. The walk breaks were not generous, they were egregiously short. I want to speak to my union representative.

Thanks, Sug. Your opinion is always appreciated.

#5. Just for kicks and grins, I decided to see how many laps I could do while posting without stirrups. I've always entertained the fantasy of doing a month of riding without stirrups. Kind of seems like one of those Holy Grail of riding things. Let's just say this is an ambitious goal, as the last time my trainer had me post without stirrups in a lesson she offered me this feedback, "Um, your ass actually has to leave the saddle." I'm not kidding. My butt certainly left the saddle after that comment, as I laughed so hard I almost came off.

I made it around. A couple of times. With breaks. It wasn't pretty.

I agree. It wasn't pretty. At all. I peeked in the mirrors a couple of times and had to avert my eyes.

Nobody likes a smart aleck, Sug. You might want to remember who buys the carrots around here.

Hummphhhh.

So, a decent enough start to the program, but I can honestly say I'm glad no one was around to see how jelly-like my legs were when I slid off. The good news is there's no where to go but up from here, and the bar is certainly set low. I won't be riding for a couple of days, so will have to do some cardio and weight work in the interim. I've been doing some, but clearly need a more ambitious program. Maybe leave the comfort of my basement and wander over to the gym to get reacquainted with the elliptical machine and the rower?

Dare I throw in some Pilates? More to come...