Saturday, June 20, 2009

On the otherside

I think most people would agree, that horses are a dominating force, if not the only force in their lives.

I know I've gone to the point where there would be mountains of my (and the boy's) laundry to do, but the horses would be done firstt. Where the horses' feed would come before the grocery shopping, they get farrier visits before I get a new pair of trainers or tall boots; and were instances where I would give up time, sleep and a comfortable, somewhat simplistic existence for what I do now.

Point is this: dedicated riders don't have much of a life outside of the ponies.

(and I wouldn't have it any other way)

So when I went from riding two or three horses just to riding one recently, I began gaining a bit more weight. Nothing huge, but something I don't like to have on me.

Riding two to three everyday, you burn serious calories, to the point where you don't really need to "work out", because your work out comes in the form of three stalls, three bodies to be groomed and three under saddle sessions.

But alas, there comes a time in every rider's life that working out means getting their tired butt out of the saddle to do something different.

And truth is: I hate working out.

I used to run marathons (boring), used to swim (don't have a decent body of water in a land locked state) and I do yoga/pilates occasionally, but honestly-- trying to stretch on cement seems redundant.

So bit the big one and got a bike.

The newest iron pony is an old Cannondale roadie. Complete with rams horns and gear shifts on the body. It's old school, retro cool but not incredibly fancy. However, it's light, handles well and very, very quick.

There are a few reasons why I decided to start biking again. The first being peer pressure. The boy and the boy's father both bike (the boy's father usually logs a few thousand miles a year). As does the boy's mother. My mother also bikes. I've always been invited, but never really joined because my first bike (hybrid from college years) is in no shape to join, plus I was always riding horse two or three.

So you can see the logic in joining in.

Secondly, it's low impact. Comparatively to running and swimming, it falls in between. I can't run seriously anymore after popping two splints and being hit by a car and I don't like conditioning in pools. So, biking, and biking in a pack, is good thing.

Plus I made it a goal this year to do a 70 mile bike since I didn't get to run my 1/2 marathon last year.

I'm supposed to go for a ride tomorrow.

Speaking of rides...

After three days off, I took Sinari back to the ground to resolve some neck and back issues. It could be a bunch of things over the past couple of weeks, but she was hiking and leaning like crazy. Having this discussion on the ground, in side reins for three days did the trick. She's coming back nicely, despite triple-digit weather.

We have a Poulin clinic scheduled for next week. Can't wait to see him and show the changes and what we've been working on.

Sincere has been getting the runs. The poor boy has been experimenting on fresh grass and his digestive tract is going ape. So his hiney gets scrubbed and plastered with diaper rash stuff. He's not a huge fan of the bathing, but he's tolerating the majority of it. If he doesn't stop getting out of his fly mask, I swear I'll duct tape it on his head.

Otherwise very quiet, very humid week. Still recovering from overtime at work. Need to get the cats to the vet, get my show entry in for the Cup and a bunch of different things.

If you guys get a chance check out Three Chimneys Facebook page, I had my photos featured for the Van Steenbergh article there as well.

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