My horses are all three of them 16'2 hands. Not intentionally, just how it worked out. I am 5'3. Standing next to them holding the saddle ready to toss it up there felt like I was trying to saddle the Empire State Building. I realized that I was feeling older, stiffer, and a lot less energy. What I thought nothing of 15 years ago, seemed like climbing Mt. Everest now. I started asking why I was feeling this way and also asking was it affecting what I enjoyed in life. Like many of you, we start making adjustments, not doing this or that, not wanting to "rock the boat" with our body.
I started to think about the ways pain was affecting my riding fear specifically. Here are three ways it affected me and what I did about it.
The first was grooming, trimming feet, tacking up, cleaning tack, all the strength things that go along with getting ready to ride. I started making excuses not to do as much or not as much at one time. This happened over time, so it wasn't noticeable until the day I stood there looking up at the horse. This led me to the conclusion I needed more strength. Surprisingly, this was not as hard as I thought. I talked to some body builder friends of mine, and I added in more protein. I stopped eating a lot of carbs like pasta and started eating egg salads and such.
The second way this showed up was in excuses not to ride. Instead of looking for a way to ride, I was looking for ways not to ride. When I peeled this onion, it was because being stiff made it harder to get on, harder to react to my horse and the worst part was harder to get off, especially in an emergency. I started doing a lot more movement and the big thing was getting rid of inflammation. I was surprised how much this improved my flexibility! It is really easy. I joined a great coaching program. (More details here for the one I joined).
My conclusion was that pain robs our joy. The good news is that we can do things to feel better and get our joy back!
I also shared my thoughts about this in my latest podcast: Episode 35: Painful Joints Can Increase Fear
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