Suck it up Sally
Posted on February 5th, 2006 By ljrobinson at 9:07 pm (All)
When I was a kid I took riding lessons. There were times when I was pretty good at it in an amateurish sort of way, but frequently I was terrified of the things I was being instructed to do (make the horse jump over that really big fence then turn quickly and make the horse jump over that other really big fence). Often I did these things only because I was more afraid of the man who was telling me to do these things than I was of the actual things. I didn’t stick with it past that great teenage rite of passage, the driver’s license.
My daughter has the horse bug now. She loves it and I have been taking her to her lessons for about three years now. The funny thing about riding is that I don’t think that a person who has the bug ever really gets it out of their system. So, if you hang around a barn long enough (say, three years) eventually you are going to have an overwhelming desire to get back in the saddle. I had been having stretches of time where I would dream of riding every night for weeks. In my dreams I picked up where I left off, feeling light and in control in the saddle. The strength in my legs and back hadn’t left me from lack of use and I was graceful and lovely. So, I gave into that desire that never quite leaves the horsestruck girl last Monday.
While I had been thinking about taking up riding for months, my return was a spur of the moment decision (no pun intended). My son had also been taking lessons and has decided that it’s not really his thing, at least for right now, so I took his place. I carefully brushed and tacked up that old lesson horse and as I led him to the mounting block, trying to calculate the number of years it had been since I had last ridden with any regularity I thought, “WHAT are you thinking????” But, it was too late to back out, so I got up in that saddle, took the reins in hand and tried desperately to make my body do what I was sure it should remember, you know, like riding a bike. I kept up as best I could and as I circled the arena I felt neither light nor in control. “Graceful” and “lovely” were not words that came to mind when trying to describe how I was feeling. Unfortunately, no matter how I begged, my legs could not summon the strength to keep my seat bones from banging into that broken down saddle and it’s tree left it’s mark.
Today, after a week of stretching and whining, I can finally walk without pain. Tomorrow I will get back up in that saddle and do it again because… It’s too late to back out now.
Rebecca (Pakish) Crum said,
February 6, 2006 at 4:39 pm
Ahhhh, yes…the feeling of invicibility that comes with participating in childhood activities. It’s so disappointing!
Kevin and I have started playing volleyball in an all adult league on Wednesday nights. Now back in the day? I was pretty good. Consistent serves, consistent passer. “Use the legs, use your LEGS…” got it Mrs. Dick. (that really was our coach’s name) So out I went to play volleyball, 15 years almost to the day after the corrective surgery I had for this very sport.
Laura - it took me 4 or more days to walk without pain after that. Every other girl was complaining about the pain in her forearms. Well, that’s because you’re hitting wrong, my dears. For me, it was all in my quads. I felt like I’d just done 2 hours worth of tae bo. Going to the bathroom was the worst. When did the toilet seats get so low?
I feel your pain, Sally.
Kathy said,
February 7, 2006 at 9:22 am
I must disagree with Rebecca on one point…horseback riding is not a childhood activity…it just feels that way when you haven’t done it for awhile.
My mom went through a similar thing when I started riding 20 years ago (gasp!). Being horse crazy herself and 40 years old, she watched from the sidelines for awhile, but eventually started riding herself. She’s been riding ever since, and has had her own horse for the past 9 years.
I have much more sympathy for your pain than “Suck it up Sally” conveys…my apologies.
Rebecca (Pakish) Crum said,
February 7, 2006 at 9:48 am
Wait, wait, wait…I didn’t mean that the way it sounded…I meant doing something again that you used to do in your childhood and haven’t done since, is all.
I think any physical activity you start in adulthood is going to be painful. Unless you’re in shape. Which implies that you are doing other physical activities. And who has time for that?
LJRphoto said,
February 7, 2006 at 9:50 am
Scott sent me something that pointed out that the majority of first time horse owners are now 40+ year old women. There is a woman at the barn who is 65. I don’t think that she even started riding until she was in her 40’s. I don’t think that she’s ever done much more than walk/trot, but she loves it and she sure loves that horse. She has been letting Madeleine ride him for “jump teams.”
As far as soreness and toilet seats and “suck it up sally…” This week isn’t nearly as bad as last week (I got “promoted” to a different horse who supposedly has more oomph than the last horse I rode but I didn’t notice it on the flat). When DID toilet seats get so low? And really, what else can one do but suck it up and get on with it?
LJRphoto said,
February 14, 2006 at 4:48 pm
Apparently the “spunkier” horse IS spunkier when he hasn’t already been ridden when I get on him. I’m still frustrated by my body’s inability to keep up with what I know I know how to do but I don’t feel like I’m going to die after yesterday’s lesson now.