Thursday, April 21, 2016

"How are you not sore?"

 
“How are you not sore after falling off??” MK asks me incredulously…

 

This was the actual question posed to me.

Yes, I fell off.  At the horse show.  In my class.  And I was disqualified.

Round 1 - Fence 3
 
My flippant answer to “How are you not sore?” was, “I work out.”
While it was initially spoken in jest, I think there’s some truth in there.
 
I put in a gajillion braids...
Because I’m following a complete workout program, my core is regularly and thoroughly worked and challenged.  Therefore, when the Fancy Pony slammed on the brakes, my core was available to hold me in the middle (for an extra second, anyway).  That extra second allowed me to slow my forward trajectory to better match my pony’s lack of trajectory so that I sort of fell onto her neck and just rolled on around until I landed in the dirt.  I wasn’t grabbing with out-of-shape muscles to stay on, so they were fully available to do the job.  It’s not like you use those muscles when riding is going well…  Thanks to my integrated cardio-weights workouts, they were available just how I needed them!

 
The story gets better though!

I like this one!
 
While I was eliminated from my first round, I still had a second round to ride.
We made it a little further this time…

I sat all my refusals without falling off.

I had a few nice jumping efforts.

I had a few not-so-pretty jumping efforts…

You would think we hadn't practiced at home...
 
I had this incredible save!!

Stay in the middle...
 
Just call me Karen?
Now, what you may find difficult so see here, is that I’m hanging off of the left side of my horse by my right knee and elbow…  Somehow, I was able to channel my inner Karen O’Connor and sit right back up!
…And re-approach the offending jump…
 
I’m pretty sure I just straight up choked in my first 3’ hunter class, but I learned.  I learned more than I imagined I could in those few short minutes.  And, now, I’m back home to implement the lessons learned while pushing just a little further out of my comfort zone.

after my second refusal...

Because if we don’t push something, we won’t grow.



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6 comments:

  1. sorry it was a bumpy ride but somehow i suspect you and Whisper will be right back out there nailing it in no time! (also, glad you weren't sore!!!)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If there are never any bumps in the road, I would be worried I'm doing something wrong! LOL
      You can bet we will be back out there. You know, after we up our jumping game a little higher at home...
      And, honestly, I don't think the fall would have been something to make me sore anyway... I would have expected it to be my save! I couldn't even believe myself that I was still on my horse (however barely). ;)

      Delete
  2. That was totally badass that you stayed on and finished the second class. I probably would have just given up in your place.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I admit that I was mortified to find myself on the ground during the first and knowing I had to wait to redeem myself...
      And, technically, I didn't finish the second round, since my third refusal came at fence 6... (Sorry, Pony, I didn't realize how little gas was left in the tank)
      However, I was feeling pretty good about not repeating my unscheduled dismount!

      My first thought after my monkey move was "How am I not on the ground?"
      My second thought was, "Please, did someone get that on video???" :D LOLOL

      Delete
  3. Sometimes you win, and sometimes you learn. We've all been there!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So true!! Thank goodness someone got pictures!!
      Hopefully I can get my hands on the video of my incredible save. I really think it was impressive! LOL

      Delete

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