Should I go tomorrow?

[imabrit_us]

In my last group lesson (last week), I was riding the biggest horse in the yard (Stan is 18 hh) and we were doing turns up the center line and trotting over poles. Good old Stanley is remarkably bendy given his size but he still doesn't exactly turn on a dime . . . so I had to give him LOTS of outside leg to get him to turn smartly . . . and then the horse in front of me stumbled over the poles, Stan tripped and I almost came off over his head.

In either the fight to stay on (which I won . . . thanks to Stan's excellent manners) or the countless turns, I found I'd pulled something in my upper thigh. It was painful but not too bad last week . . . and then I rode again on Sunday morning and I think I made it worse. Simple things like getting out of the shower hurt . . . any motion where I rotate my right hip, in fact, hurts . . . but it doesn't hurt if I don't move it at all.

I'm supposed to ride tomorrow night . . . and I REALLY want to go b/c it's my first time w/ this group . . . but I'm worried I'll really do myself a mischief and wonder if I should rest it. Or . . . could I go, tell the instructor that I think I've pulled something and take it relatively easy in the class . . .

What do you think?

N

[Retty]

I would rest up, if you ride and gets worse then will take longer to heal which in turn will be longer before you can ride

[hackedoff]

Hiya,
From my training in fitness/pt I'd lay money on you having hurt your hip flexor, it is located where your hip meets your thigh, and every time you bring your knee up or move your leg, it will hurt. This muscle connects through the body to the lumbar spine so it is important that you do not damage it further. you can take anti-inflamatories(ask chemist) rest lying rather than sitting and walk to rehab it. I would personally avoid riding for a week or so- i once injured this area myself waterskiing and i know how much it hurts :(
Hope that is of some use.

[kedwards]

I agree that you should rest it. It will help you heal better and avoid further damage. Plus, you really won't get much out of the lesson if you can't physically do what's being asked.