myparellijourney

'Saddle Burn'

I thought I was being clever.

It's been so darn hot and humid here in Texas, that I've had to come up with
new strategies to play with my horses. Wearing pants is just brutal. The
pants stick to me because I'm sweating so much, but I have to wear pants to
ride in the saddle.

So I figured I'd wear shorts and ride with my Parelli bareback pad - cooler
for me, cooler for the horse. Yesterday, during our ride, we ventured
outside the arena and were riding point-to-point going from shade to shade.
At one point, we're standing under a tree, dwelling, when something startled
Destin, and he quickly moved sideways one step. No problem in that I moved
with him. What was a problem - my leg, being hot, instead of moving on the
bareback pad, STUCK, to the leather part of the pad. OUCH! Nice 'burn'.

So, I have to wear pants or at least knee-length shorts to ride with my
bareback pad. Might as well ride with the saddle then.

I could ride bareback, no pad. Then I know I'd move with all that horse
sweat for lubrication :D

Keep it Natural -

Lauren

Back in the Saddle

Sunday was the first day I had enough energy to do groundwork AND ride. First ride in 23 days! How humbling -how long the body can need to heal.

You would never have guessed it had been so long since we played together.
Destin and I had really nice communication, connection and ride. Nice and
light phase required for ground communication. My leadership was fair,
non-emotional and I set him up for success (I *am* learning). During riding,
our steering at a walk was light and responsive; AND I even got a relaxed,
comfortable trot! WOW!

You would never know it had been so long... nice surprise actually. And no
surprise how much I love my horse(s) and how much of a passion it is - and
has always been - to be with them...

I AM BLESSED!

Best Laid Plans...

I "planned" to come back from my Destin, Florida beach vacation recharged, refreshed and ready to jump back into playing with my equine partner, Destin. Was excited to get us ready for our upcoming, July 8th Play Day. Best laid plans...

Day after I returned from vacation (which was fabulous! tell you more later), I got sick. REALLY sick. As in, stuck in bed for 3 days, unable to do any thing SICK. I haven't been sick like that in years! Monday was the first day to make any progress towards wellness, and each day brings a little more progress.

My mind came back on-line Monday night and wasted no time making up for 3 days of no thinking. Came up with a long to-do list. Also remembered my upcoming Play Day and realized it would take a healing miracle to be well enough to participate. Big Bummer!

While mind may be back to normal, my physical energy is still very low. I get about 15 minutes of energy at a time, use it and it's gone. It's humbling when my body needs 11 hours of sleep.

Bless my husband, he's been feeding and caring for the animals. Finally got to visit my horse yesterday and re-introduce myself.

I'll be going to the play day tomorrow, sans horse, just to say hi to my friends. I'd be worn out just loading up for the trip...

Oh well... it is what it is...

Best Laid Plans... Plan B?