Back in the Saddle Again

With a little help from my trainer, I was able to get on--and off--Ace again last night. He was a perfect gentleman. I was very concerned that something was going to hurt badly, but that wasn't the case. I had a little discomfort from my left rib-shoulder blade area and this morning it's a little tight, but that was the worst of it. There was a slight pinch where I still have bruises (some of which are just now reaching the surface) on my backside. Looking at where I sit, we think that some of the worst bruising is from where I hit the cantle on my way to the ground. I managed to slowly slip down Ace's side out of the saddle (he didn't move as I dragged my leg across his back) and nothing got jolted when I touched the ground. Good. Next time will be much easier, and this time was a lot easier than Gayle thought it would be.

After Gayle left, Zsuzsu had a discussion with me about the "story I'm telling myself" about what happened. I said it would be easier to know what story I'm telling myself if I could figure out what happened. The one thing she wanted me to focus on is that the horse did not "throw" me. I lost my seat and then lost everything else. The horse didn't do anything wrong and did not try to make me to come off his back (this part I do know, deep down inside.)

Well, it will be back to practice, practice, practice, but not quite yet. My ribs still hurt and I was pretty stiff from wearing my riding boots for three hours. They've got an inch of heel, and that shifted my pelvis enough for it to tighten up. Cleaning Ace's bedding did nothing good for me either. He needs to have clean shavings, but I'm not in any condition to unload them from my car right now. We've also lost the place we were storing that stuff because there is now a full house at the barn. Trixie, an adorable pony who is a few years older than Ace but who lacks a lot in formal training, is now in the shed row stall that used to house shavings and supplements.