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Reso...meh.
Jan. 3rd, 2007 01:54 pm2 Saturdays ago, I was in the hospital after puking my guts out at home for several hours. I had my hubby drive me to the ER for the first time in our 8 year marriage (with the exception of going into labor). I don't like hospitals, especially when I am the patient. My bed was an uncomfortable gurney-type thing that had me kind of sitting up, which was good for the nausea, but bad for sleeping. I couldn't sleep the night before because of my stomach- the routine went something like this- 1. lay down. 2. moan a bit. 3. move leg an inch. 4. lose lunch. 5. feel better-- for about 5 minutes. Repeat steps 1-4. They gave me 3 liters of IV, some pain meds and some anti nausea meds, then more anti nausea meds, then some more when I kept begging. I HATE IVs. I don't mind having blood drawn too much, or shots most of the time, but I hate IVs. Still, the needle took my mind off my stomach a bit, and I wonder if that's the real secret to acupuncture- that it takes your mind off whatever other bodily problems you had "Gosh, I was thinking that body part X hurt, but now that I've got needles elsewhere, X isn't bothering me so much...".
Anyway, I was exhausted but couldn't sleep, and with the help of the meds I began hallucinating a bit. I commented on my "visions" to the nurse. "What??" he asked, giving me an odd look. I realized he didn't see what I saw and mumbled "Nothing." This happened several times. Eventually I would simply trail off in the middle of a sentence when I figured out I was talking about something imaginary.
So I didn't get much riding in during my two week vacation. We got a ton of snow dumped on us (21 inches) and CDOT didn't plow worth a crap. Then I got sick. So when last Saturday came I decided not to be so hard on myself and instead just be thankful that I wasn't in the hospital anymore. My parents were visiting and had a good time watching my lesson. Fontana started out cranky. I commented on it and Peggy pointed out that it was cold and I hadn't ridden her in a while, and also told me that I was trying too hard. She told me to get Fontana more through and to get her back up. I tried to relax and focus on allowing her back to come up, and things got better quickly. We did a lot of lateral work- shoulder in and leg yield. Beginning in the corner, we would start across the diagonal and then proceed in shoulder in, get a few good steps, then continue going straight. It helped a lot to actually start across the diagonal rather than just go straight into the movement, because I was able to keep her more forward and more straight. It was hard work for her but I felt the benefits immediately- her shoulders seemed to grow several inches up in front of me. I could easily feel when she was stepping under correctly versus bending her body and falling to the side. Sitting better helped her move better- always a difficult practice but a simple and elementary way to improve the way your horse goes. I think the work made her a bit sore as I went out to ride Monday and she seemed a bit off when trotting to the right- Peggy checked her and said she seemed ok the next day, so it was probably just sore muscles. I'm back at work and my sinus problems and low grade fever persist, which sucks but at least I think I'm getting a little better. A friend has a Hannoverian mare she has offered to sell me, so I hope I like the horse and it works out. We'll see. I feel less rushed now that the holidays (and my vacation) are over, so I probably won't feel so gung ho again till the weather gets better.
My husband surprised me with a couple of horse books for Christmas- Horse Crazy- a collection of short stories, most of which are pretty good, and Charles de Kunffy's Illustrated Dressage Principles, which I haven't read yet but I do like the pictures. He had seen me reading Podhajsky's "My Horses, My Teachers" (hubby's title: "Our Horses, Ourselves") which I simply read because I was dorking around on amazon.com and started reading it, and really liked it. Obviously there was good information in there too, but I mainly read it because it was a good read. So 2 books, a saddle, and a saddle cover- a plenty horsey Christmas.
Anyway, I was exhausted but couldn't sleep, and with the help of the meds I began hallucinating a bit. I commented on my "visions" to the nurse. "What??" he asked, giving me an odd look. I realized he didn't see what I saw and mumbled "Nothing." This happened several times. Eventually I would simply trail off in the middle of a sentence when I figured out I was talking about something imaginary.
So I didn't get much riding in during my two week vacation. We got a ton of snow dumped on us (21 inches) and CDOT didn't plow worth a crap. Then I got sick. So when last Saturday came I decided not to be so hard on myself and instead just be thankful that I wasn't in the hospital anymore. My parents were visiting and had a good time watching my lesson. Fontana started out cranky. I commented on it and Peggy pointed out that it was cold and I hadn't ridden her in a while, and also told me that I was trying too hard. She told me to get Fontana more through and to get her back up. I tried to relax and focus on allowing her back to come up, and things got better quickly. We did a lot of lateral work- shoulder in and leg yield. Beginning in the corner, we would start across the diagonal and then proceed in shoulder in, get a few good steps, then continue going straight. It helped a lot to actually start across the diagonal rather than just go straight into the movement, because I was able to keep her more forward and more straight. It was hard work for her but I felt the benefits immediately- her shoulders seemed to grow several inches up in front of me. I could easily feel when she was stepping under correctly versus bending her body and falling to the side. Sitting better helped her move better- always a difficult practice but a simple and elementary way to improve the way your horse goes. I think the work made her a bit sore as I went out to ride Monday and she seemed a bit off when trotting to the right- Peggy checked her and said she seemed ok the next day, so it was probably just sore muscles. I'm back at work and my sinus problems and low grade fever persist, which sucks but at least I think I'm getting a little better. A friend has a Hannoverian mare she has offered to sell me, so I hope I like the horse and it works out. We'll see. I feel less rushed now that the holidays (and my vacation) are over, so I probably won't feel so gung ho again till the weather gets better.
My husband surprised me with a couple of horse books for Christmas- Horse Crazy- a collection of short stories, most of which are pretty good, and Charles de Kunffy's Illustrated Dressage Principles, which I haven't read yet but I do like the pictures. He had seen me reading Podhajsky's "My Horses, My Teachers" (hubby's title: "Our Horses, Ourselves") which I simply read because I was dorking around on amazon.com and started reading it, and really liked it. Obviously there was good information in there too, but I mainly read it because it was a good read. So 2 books, a saddle, and a saddle cover- a plenty horsey Christmas.
