Brian's mustang mare, Zephyr, is cranky with other horses. She got put out with the outside group and had to find her place. The others also had to adjust to someone so cranky. :-)
Rico never learned horse manners, so he is always getting in her space.....here he is moving in for a quick sniff....
Then he dives in for the smooch!
She says that was embarrassing....time to move on. Epona, the other girl in the group, isn't sure what to think. Epona has been the lead mare in her group for a while.
Zephyr thinks Tripp is cute...okay, I WANT Zeph to think Tripp is cute because they are going to have to ride together someday. :-)
The 'inside group' enjoying the sunshine at the end of January...
Okay, finally to the GREAT stuff! Woo hoo!!!! Let me start by saying I did NOT have Brian's blessing at this point. I just got the hardware taken out a few days ago, I was wearing a splint most of the time to help stabilize everything, and he thought it was too soon. I had been telling Brian it was time for me to get on. He would say "I know." Well, I don't think he really knew....we had a couple nice days coming up so I told him I was riding, and if he would not help me I was going to my friend Sharon's, because I knew she would help me. All I knew is I HAD to get on...I needed to know what the arm would do and I needed to know where I was mentally after all this. Even if I just sat there...I needed to get on.
Who better to help me than good ol' Tripp! I told Brian that he could lead me around...I didn't care as long as I was on. And if he was not comfortable about me being up there I would get off. He agreed.
Obstacle #1 - getting on.
I didn't want to mess with a saddle so bareback it was. The left hand and forearm don't work, and when I put any pressure on it at all the pain was HUGE! As in sick knot want to throw up kinda hurt!
I figured out real quick that laying over him and swinging around was not going to work, so I got on the big log so I could almost slide my leg right over. I was nervous because Tripp was fidgeting by the log. I didn't want to fall off and hit my head on the log....the silly things we think about. I asked Brian to get us away from the log; he walked me around a bit and I got comfortable. Then he trusted me to hold the lead rope by myself for a picture.....
Obstacle #2 - am I able to hold reins?
I asked him if he was comfortable enough to tie the lead rope off like loop reins, that I wanted to see if I can hold it with the left hand. He was....so he did....and I could put it in my hand but there was no grip at all. You know the teaching aid about holding a baby bird? My baby bird is sitting on my lap wanting to know what the heck happened! Ha ha! I have NO strength at all, but Tripp is so sensitive it didn't take much to 'talk' to him.
Obstacle #3 - Am I able to actually ride??????
I casually wondered out loud if I could direct him....so I backed Tripp up a couple steps then asked him to move forward (that was the only way to get around Brian). Brian was awesome...he was there if something went south, but he just went with the flow. Of course I felt like I was getting away with something, and I kept going. In my mind we were fast and Brian couldn't catch me....but we were really walking. :-)
LOOKEE AT ME!!!!
LOOKEE AT ME AND TRIPP!!! :-)
I rode around the hay storage area for a while...and was so happy! I have no strength in the hand so that could be a potential problem if I was to sneak off to take a ride...oh, that and getting on. Hee hee!
Obstacle #4 - How am I going to be mentally? Afraid? Will I have anxiety again?
Mentally I was great! Nervous at first but after that I got balanced and I was good to go. There is that little nagging voice that is worried about falling again. Not because of falling but because of busting things up again.
This shadow picture is taken by me! :-)
HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY!!!! ME ME ME!!!
Wow...I can't describe how good it felt to get on. And Tripp acted just like I thought he would. He was there for me even though he thought he worked too hard...just ask him.
Obstacle #5 - Getting down.
I had a couple ideas for getting down so I asked Brian what would make him more comfortable. He started going all 'engineer' on me about practicing my emergency dismount if something should happen since I can't use the hand. I looked at him like he grew a horn out of his forehead. Ummmm, really? Sometimes he really cracks me up, and this is one of those times. He is trying to cover all the bases of mishaps. I love him! :-) I can practice that later...right now I want to know if he has a preference of how I should get down. He said whatever I was comfortable with. It was tricky but I made it down. Brian was behind me in case I stumbled.
Brian doesn't realize how much this day meant to me. I really needed this...the past several weeks have been good in some ways, and rough in others. The not getting outside was the rough part. The feeling like a burden was another rough part. He has been so great with all of this from the beginning to now. I am very blessed to have him in my life!
Until later....Karen and Tripp who says "Hey, I helped on this fine day too!" ;-)
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