No Pain in the Saddle

Most of the time, I have little aches and pains.  Not much really, but the stiffness gets to me more than anything.  If I sit too long, I have to stand carefully and the first step is always iffy.  Forget squatting down or even kneeling on the floor.  I'll have to crawl over to a chair to get back on my feet.  Pretty sad, but I guess that's where I am.  The good side is that when I get up on my horse and my butt is firmly in the saddle, all of that goes away.  I have no pain, no stiffness, nothing but comfort and a hope that I don't hit the ground from Riley's great height of 16.2 hands.  Yep, he is a big boy.

This past weekend, I went to a gaited horse clinic conducted by Mary Rizo-Patron from Ohio.  She is a Paso Fino breeder, trainer, showman.  Her life has been led in the presence of horses and she is amazing. Out of all the things I learned, the most significant thing is that I have ridden four days in a row.  There is a back story to that, but for now, I am reveling in the four day stretch of being in the saddle.  Now that I have refound my blog, I am going to keep a record of the days that I ride, what happened, and why I DID NOT ride, if that is the case. 

I am off to an amazing part time job teaching basic composition to students who are entering college and need their writing skills improved.  It is a fantastic job.  After 39 years of teaching public school 7-12, college is my absolute dream career!