I have three disclaimers before we get started. The first one is that I did not groom my horse before riding because I'm a bad person lol. The second is that I realized after the ride that his blue halter is a bit too small! I didn't realize he'd grown since the last time he wore it. For those who might not know, he broke his other halter, so I'm having to use this one again. I adjusted it looser after the ride. You'll notice in the video of him backing up that he makes a face because the metal on the halter was hurting his face. I feel so awful that I didn't notice that!! :( Third is that there aren't many pictures... sorry! There are videos though!
First an update on why I haven't ridden in almost a week. I have a pinched nerve in my neck.......... it is an absolute nightmare!!! Now I have a better understanding of what my poor husband went through with his back. I never realized how excruciatingly painful a pinched nerve is. I'm not exaggerating when I say every day after work I'd get in my car and just cry for ten minutes while I waited for the pain to pass just so I could use my right arm to drive home (yes it's the right shoulder/arm being affected and I'm right handed... it's been a nightmare).
I'm seeing a chiropractor and although it is providing some relief, it's not helping at all when I'm at work. I have to wear my arm in a sling at work and do everything left handed.
The bizarre thing is that at home, when I'm relaxed and not doing anything strenuous (like moving hay) it doesn't hurt. The muscles are sore like you get after a charlie horse, but the nerve isn't pinched. It also doesn't hurt when I ride (but I didn't know that until today because today is the first time I've ridden since it started). I'm doing some exercises to help improve my posture (I'm bad about slouching, rounding my shoulders and staring at the ground) because that can cause or exacerbate the issue. The scary thing is I could have a bulging or herniated disc, but I can't afford an MRI to make sure... :(
So anyway, that's why I haven't been around. I didn't work today so I had a visit with the chiro. This was only my second visit (in my whole life lol). I was feeling pretty good after the visit so I decided to ride before I started hurting again. I only rode twenty minutes, bareback with just his halter, around the yard.
Someone asked me if I can mount from the ground... no! I suck at mounting bareback. I was barely able to do it on my 14hh Appy, but I've never been able to get on Chrome bareback since he's 15.2hh lol. I use the bumper of the car (see above picture). I also get on from both sides. He's normally closer than that (so close I can barely squeeze between him and the car actually), but he wanted to graze and was refusing to stand still again. I scolded him and then lined him back up and he stood still for me to get on. I just did a poor job of lining him up lol. It's not often I share a pissy faced Chrome, so enjoy it haha. I actually really love the lighting in that picture.
As soon as I was on he forgot about being upset about being scolded and his ears were forward again lol.
It was a walk only ride around the yard, so not much to write about. I had fun though. There are a couple of cool videos to share though...
Oh and this is what our orange cat does the entire time hubby takes pictures... rubs against his legs.
The first video is of Chrome backing up. I haven't worked on it much because backing up causes his stifles to lock for some reason. I usually only ask for one, sometimes two steps. Today he was doing several steps!!! I was so excited!
Here's the video.
We obviously need a lot more practice for him to learn to yield to the pressure, lower his head and use his back properly. It will come in time as he gets more relaxed about going backward. He gets very tense because he's expecting his leg to lock up. It upsets him when he can't back up if I'm asking. That's why I normally only ask on the ground when I can see if he's about to lock and can walk him forward out of it. This video is also where you can see him making the face because the halter is too tight. It's right before he yawns at the end of the video. I wasn't putting a lot of pressure on the halter, but those metal pieces were digging into a very sensitive, bony part of his face. I'm horrible!! :(
The second video is a lot funnier. My hubby was doing yardwork and he set up his work laptop to listen to music. When we went over to see hubby, Chrome was staring warily at the laptop. I asked hubby to get a video of him approaching it. It's so cute!
He's so handsome even when he's dirty and hairy lol. Well I guess that's all for today!
He's backing really nicely. He takes real steps back, as opposed to Rock, who drags one hoof an inch and says, "Is that good enough?" I've gone through that before where I had to wear an arm sling because of a pinched nerve in my neck. I once had an EEG done on my neck, and there was so much noise coming from my nerves that the doctor and I couldn't hear each other talk. He said I have chronic neck pain. I actually don't feel it unless a nerve is specifically pinched. That's why I'm not wild about riding horses who spook sideways anymore. I'm the one who asked about how you mount for bareback. Thanks for showing me.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was you, but I couldn't remember for sure. I'm kind of out of it from the pain and exhaustion that goes with it. Do you just ice your neck when it's pinched? That's what he has me doing. I decided to do the work on my posture on my own after doing some research... I read somewhere that if I just treat the nerve, without fixing the cause it could keep coming back. I don't want that to happen!! I'm sorry to hear you have the same thing going on. It's awful and if I had enemies I wouldn't wish it on them.
DeleteChrome used to do the drag a foot backward thing too. That's why I'm so excited with how well he did today. Even though he's out of shape from not doing anything all winter that is still a huge improvement to what he was doing before. I think the dragging his legs back is one reason he would lock up when asked to go backward. Or maybe he was dragging them because he was locking. Kind of the whole egg or chicken first kind of deal lol. Regardless, when he actually picks his legs up and steps back with good diagonals he doesn't lock. I'm confusing myself!
I think I'm going to try to ride again tomorrow before I go to my friend's baby shower, because the weather is supposed to get bad again. I forgot to mention that besides work and the pinched nerve, another reason I haven't ridden is because of rain and LOTS of cold wind... spring... lol. :D
I don't remember what I've done to treat pinched nerves. I think I just took Ibuprofen and waited for them to go away. I had that PT a long time ago, and she gave me both hot and cold compresses, and massages.
DeleteWell so far, so good. I haven't had any nerve pain even though I was out all day and did a lot of driving. I think the doctor was right that it was a repetitive stress injury from my job. I'm just glad I'm not in pain!
DeleteWearing a sweater during shedding season!?
ReplyDeleteUmm... yeah probably not a good idea huh? It actually stuck to my pants worse than my sweater hehe.
DeleteUgh pinched nerves are THE WORST. I've had one in my neck and one in my back. I hope you get to feeling better soon!!
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry you've had to deal with multiple pinched nerves. It is awful!! I never understood how bad it was until I experienced it for myself...
DeleteI rarely groom my two 100% on days I'm not going to see anyone else. They just roll again immediately after; the more I groom the harder the rolling effort! At least Chrome isn't stained as brown and yellow as Griffin lol
ReplyDeleteHehe yeah it won't be long before he's just as yellow as Griffin. ;)
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