Move Over Edwina T-A
Move over Edwina T-A....
I feel as though I should be writing this weeks blog from a hospital bed...or at least in traction!
Reason...Moosie-Moo and I went showjumping!!!! Yep, I thought I’d have a bit of a play with the painted poles for a bit of a change.
Silly me also thought “won’t be that bad...haven’t done it in a while...the instructor will only want to see a little of what we can do”. How wrong I was!!! Two days later and I still can’t manage to walk up or down stairs, and putting on socks is not without its challenge.
Showjumping is definitely not my preferred discipline...I’m more of an “all four feet on the ground” sort of girl. But I do enjoy it, and Moo loves it, which is the most important part.
It has been a couple of years since we last went over a jump...in fact I think the last time was when I decided to see up close and personal what the surface of the arena was like, actually I remember thinking “never again”!
I feel we have a certain style...I call it style, others would call it...actually I have no idea what others would call it, but I am certain it would be described between fits of laughter...when I think of it, I just roll my eyes and shake my head.
Where I live, I’m really lucky to have plenty of great instructors close by, and some amazing facilities. The instructor I visited lives only 15 minutes up the road, so super convenient.
The day on Tuesday was stunning too...perfect weather for getting in the saddle and giving yourself a bit of a challenge.
As usual Moo was totally non-plussed...she didn’t care about the new venue we were at, what we were going to get up to, and that is another great thing about Moo, I can take her anywhere and know that she’ll be the same level-headed horse she is at home.
After a quick look around the new indoor arena, I hopped on, then thought “oh c#%p...what have I done??” I was there, in my dressage saddle, totally unprepared...that’s when I began to shake. All of a sudden my legs weren’t even there, it was very hot, my mouth was dry and I had no idea how to ride a horse!! Moo on the other hand had her ears pricked, a little bit of a spring in her step and mischief and fun on her mind. You need to remember it had been well over two years since we’d done anything like this!! The jumps were massive...at 45cms (yes, 45cm...even I can laugh at that height)...and the poles on the ground looked to me like they had the fabled horse and rider eating troll living under them.
We started off “slowly” with some trot poles...I began to relax and stupid me thought “if this is it for today, then I’m a happy camper”...but we must have done the poles really well, because all of a sudden we were cantering over these poles. Now Moo isn’t the easiest horse in the world to canter...it is all just too hard...but a switch was flicked and we had canter...and lots of it!!!!
The poles on the ground were more than enough for me, but my instructor (bless him), took an opportunity to just pop a little cross rail up, when I wasn’t looking...I’m pretty sure the colour drained from my face then, but over we went. At this point, one side of my brain was telling me this is enough...however the evil side of my brain was saying “oh yeah baby...let’s do it!!!!”...so we kept going (I’m not known for doing what the good side of my brain tells me!)
By the end of the lesson, we were going over a little combination of 3 jumps at 60cm...More than enough I thought (which is why we finished the lesson 15 minutes early...but we were pooped!!)
It was honestly the best fun I’ve had in a very long time.
If I were to sit here and list everything that is sore, the list would be long enough to go around the earth once or twice...everything hurts lol
Yes I was exhausted, yes I was sore, yes I needed a stiff drink and a lie down, but Moo and I overcame another “jump” on our way to getting back to where we once were as a team...a confident, happy team.