Selena Ride 7: Just One More!

Wednesday, 8/5/09

A rider knows she is riding a nice horse when she does not want to stop riding. I felt that way tonight. I rode Selena in the big (100′ x 200′) outdoor arena for the first time and it was fun :^) I’m sticking to my horsey fitness plan of trotting an increased number of laps each week with Selena but I wanted to keep trotting- I felt like a little kid who wanted to ride the carousel one more time. Just one more! I think that Selena will get back in shape more quickly than a green horse because she has already developed these muscles and she is regaining fitness that she once had- none of this is new to her.

We started out hand walking, then walking under saddle. I did a few leg yields with her at the walk. Mary the Morgan and her owner were in the arena with us and we mostly rode together. We then trotted 3 laps in each direction. My original plan was to work on transitions but since we were taking advantage of the big arena, we instead had an easy ride. Selena’s trot is big and ground-covering. The girl can move– I love it. When we were done trotting, I let her canter about a third of the way around the arena. She is a strong mare but she responds well to seat cues. The weather is humid and the air is still so Selena got a little sweaty. I hosed her off and grazed her for a little while.

June 18 (approx) was when Wizard injured his right hind leg. It looked better on July 29. That is just shy of 6 weeks. I’d like to give him almost that much more time before he resumes work, which puts us in early September. It’s a good time of year for this, since he is getting plenty of turnout and it’s one of my busiest times of the year as a photographer. I’ll continue his therapeutic hand walking and keep experimenting with massage, stretching, and other treatments. Tonight, I hand walked him for about 20 minutes and turned him loose for 5 to see how he was moving. Looking good, Wizzy Boy.