Beyond a walk

July 6th was another steamy day and after 5 days of longing D I decided it was time to get back on. I couldn't believe the amount of butterflies in my stomach. I have been riding for 16 years and D and I have been together for a year and I've fallen off of him countless times. I don't bounce so well anymore :) but the tension in my stomach was still there. I'd like to say it stayed there but I'm not certain he is quite perceptive.

Our first ride after 3 months of just walking if riding at all was... painful, for both of us. Despite getting out and walking around a bit and night turn out Demetrias' hocks were unbelievably stiff and my pain of course would come later- I have never been so aware of my seat bones before in my life!

Anyways, despite the massive bumpy and jerkiness of his gate we persevered in the 90 plus degree weather and worked at the walk and trot. He eventually started to feel a bit smoother but it was still quite bumpy.

D is a thoroughbred so I've never had the flowy gaited feeling but, he usually is quite smooth so this was a new experience.

Eventually his neck started to relax and I felt the tension start to leave. He did a pretty great job of focusing on me and my directions even with the activity in the ring- he's always been rather social. :) I was glad that Kim and Erika were both in the ring so they could reassure me that even though he felt awful all was well and to keep working him at the trot.

We have a few new challenges now- when riding on the right rein D cannot see to the outside since his left eye is the one essentially gone. This means that he drifts, a lot, so my legs were working extra hard to keep him bent around my inside leg and on the bit, as well as creating the outside line barrier. In theory, we do this anyways, but when your horse is second guessing you on what edge he should follow it gets a little tricky.

I have mostly been out of the saddle since April too so along with the extreme heat I was getting tired, quickly. However, I was thrilled to be on my horse working and in many ways, this was when my heart finally started to calm. We have a ton of challenges but I really needed to be on him to start "seeing" that he was still capable, for now. I don't have a picture of us riding but I do have this one, its one of my favorites and I took it shortly after buying him over a year ago.