How unfit must I be..??

[Faerie Rider]

Didn't post last week as I was feeling a bit twitchy after lesson number 6...it took me a while to get my boy up to canter and I just felt that I was slapping all over the place in the saddle..and tipping forward as he came to a stop..he was definately being lazy and I wasn't being firm enough I asked the RI if I could go the other way round the menage and ..I'll be damned he did it beautifully all the way round I was still slapping around I couldn't seem to get myself to stay still in the saddle and my bits took a bit of a beating:o my apologies to any male readers..I was so exhausted by the time I had been round a couple of times. I had helped with mucking out for a couple of hours before but I felt so winded and that I hadn't really achieved anything in the lesson. Then helped out the next day too as they were stuck for help.

Then today was supposed to be number 7 but lesson was cancelled as RI had to be somewhere but could I still help out..ok no worries..I know I'm not very quick at the whole mucking out thingy - but is 5 stables and 2 little paddocks in 2 and a half hours too slow..???I got back after getting my son from school had a bath and fell asleep on the sofa whilst he watched TV..bad mother!!:eek: I just felt so unfit...but running round after 2 children seems like a piece of cake after chasing after a pony that only came up to my thigh who decided every time I opened his stable that he was going to make a run for it !!:D My Ri said she could squeeze my lesson in tomorrow afternoon but to be honest at least 2 little girls from my sons class will be there and I can't bear to make an a*** of myself in front of them..so I have to wait til next week.:rolleyes:

Ok just realised that this has turned into long wingey thread..apologies to all..children to bed..a cuppa and a big packet of choccie biscuits I think

lol
FR
P.S Thanks to whoever posted the Monty Python thread..very funny!!

[sophie33]

Hi FR,

Don't think it makes you unfit at all! Sharing Ben is knackering me and I don't even have kids!
And don't worry about the bouncy canter. It was only your sixth lesson wasn't it? I've been riding for over a year and I still bounce in canter in the school. It took me a good chunk of the year to get canter at all in the school - instead of just a superspeedy trot. Out hacking I can relax enough to sit properly but I get in such a knot getting the transition in the school that I tense up and mega bouncing ensues!! So maybe I am particularly slow but I think you are doing very well...
Oh and on the sore bits... that used to be a mega problem of mine. My RI would shout 'sit on your seat bones not your fork' ten times a lesson! It was work without stirrups that sorted it out eventually - but I did invest in a pair of padded dressage knickers as an interim measure. Possibly the least sexy garments in the universe - but they do provide some protection! :p

[coss]

2 and a half hours does sound quite slow but not terribly. i can muck out my two horses in about 15mins when they are in their small paddock but they don't produce much and it is pretty easy to find as they have toilet areas. i don't tend to muck out stables (don't have any so only do them if i'm helping a friend) so don't know how long i take on them varies. some horses are more "mucky" than others. If you ride once a week you'll soon get fit, if you feel really bad, run up the stairs instead of walking. choccie biscuits are brilliant :)

If you've only just started cantering then don't worry about bouncing, it happens. just try and relax but keep a good posture. don't rock your upper body and as sophie33 said, work without stirrups if possible. good luck :)

[Imp]

Perfectly normal horsey fatigue! Known to horse/pony owners/loaners/sharers/helpers all around the world :p

Early night and choccy biccies are the actual known remedy for these situations (as is letting the kids watch telly whilst you cat nap ;) )

Bless your heart hun :p

[Tangle]

The time it takes to muck out is VERY dependent on the state of the stable when you get there. I used to help out at the weekends at our old yard. Saturdays it would take me up to an hour per stable (week day staff tended to take the worst out of the middle, chuck the rest on the banks and top up - by the weekend the banks were literaly piles of rotting straw :eek: ), but Sundays were much quicker as long as I got the same stables :p. At the other end of the scale, new YO uses shavings, always mucks out properly, and skips out whenever shes there so it takes about 3 hours to do 11 stables (and she's on a mission throughout ;)) In general, 5 stables + 2 paddocks in 2.5 hours sounds pretty good to me :).

PEarly night and choccy biccies are the actual known remedy for these situations (as is letting the kids watch telly whilst you cat nap ;) )
Now THAT sounds good :). Bet your happy, even if you're knackered :D

[teabiscuit]

can be very very tireing, looking after horses.
5 stables and 2 paddocks :eek:that's no walk in the park!

[Faerie Rider]

Cheers to all your replies am feeling alot better after a packet of plain choccie digestives..they are particularily good for dipping!..Early night helped as well!!

The stables were cleaner than they were last week but they still took the same time..it's that rubber matting stuff unless it's totally flat (which it wasn't in the ones I was doing) your pitchfork gets stuck in it!. plus when I was doing the the little paddock 2 of the ponies kept coming inside to check I was doing a satisfactory job!!:D Honestly it was chucking down last week and they couldn't wait to be outside- glorious sunshine yesterday and they are indoors nudging my bum with their nose:rolleyes:

I'm just waiting for the your overdoing it comments from my Mum (who thinks I am still 12 not 37:rolleyes: ) as I have arthritis and have done for 16yrs now but I have a great rheumatologist who believes you should give stuff a go. But damn the mucking out is tiring!

I get no aches or stiffness from the riding..my hands do get a little sore..I have to get myself some riding gloves as I am an artist so I need them.
So really thats very lucky and since having my children I only have the occassional problem and have to take painkillers only very rarely as opposed to the 12 tablets a day I used to be on..

I have learnt being at the stables that it's one hell of a commitment owning a horse and that however much I would love one I am not ready yet..what with running back and forth to schools, clubs, work etc..still will make me appreciate it even more when that day comes..:o

Anyway love to all have fabulous horsey weekends..I am off to start the housework:eek: it's not pretty!!!
lol
FR

[teabiscuit]

Cheers to all your replies am feeling alot better after a packet of plain choccie digestives..they are particularily good for dipping!..

FR
oh boy you've gone and done it now, i'll have to pop to the supermarket right now for choccy digestives of dipping quality :D

[Faerie Rider]

oh boy you've gone and done it now, i'll have to pop to the supermarket right now for choccy digestives of dipping quality :D

has to be Mcvities!!!
:D

[teabiscuit]

has to be Mcvities!!!
:D

yes, the dark ones, dipped in coffee :D
just to keep it on topic, now (one packet later) i feel to sick to ride :o :D

[Faerie Rider]

Best enjoyed after riding!!:D

[rowdent]

Now I have to have them too...:rolleyes:

Mucking out IS hard... I had forgotten just HOW hard.. but not as hard as raking the outdoor school.. BOY oh BOY is that hard...:o

Misty is SUCH a wet mare..I think she stores it all up all day, then wees it out all night.. plus she "rubs" the poo into the shavings.. LOL.. I swear if I put a cake mix in there, by morning we'd have a cake! LOL.. she is SO good at rubbing in... LOL. Oh I hear what you're saying about the fork getting stuck in the rubber matting.. isn't that a nuisance?

The other night, after Misty duty for four days straight.. I was so tired I was cross eyed.. LOL.. hubby was away, and I had my son to do too.. ... housework? What housework.. plus a part time job... :o Still now I have been Mistyless for 2 days I miss her like MAD... Thank goodness it's the weekend tomorrow..:D I must be a glutton for punishment..:p