A lesson to keep me sane

I took another lesson on July 6...work and life were crazy between my last lesson and this one, and I only rode twice in between - one last set for polo at the end of May and a 4 hour trail ride in the mountains of North Carolina in early June. 

I think S was happy to hear from me. I asked her if we could do something more consistent, and try for every other weekend. She said we could work something out when she returned from a show on the 23rd (she's been gone since the 9th!). 

Since the middle of June, I have been focusing more on strength training than cardio, trying to get back into shape and lose weight. And I definitely felt a difference on both fronts while riding...my muscles were stronger, and did not fatigue as quickly, but boy was it hard to breathe when trotting and cantering around. The heat did NOT help, it was 95*F or more, and HUMID, plus she scheduled at 11:30 a.m. -- ouch! 

She let us (me, ha!) rest plenty and I got quite a lot out of the horse, including a beautiful stretchy, soft trot after cantering, in each direction - so we were both pleased. I also noticed that she didn't tell me nearly as much to sit back. She still had to say it a few times, but it was considerably less - which was both because my core is stronger, so it was easier and because I was making a more conscious effort to stay back!

So, I resolved to start adding a couple days of cardio back in to my gym routine (I still want to finish the C25k program, anyway).

And, I will be reaching out to her later this week to try to get something somewhat regular scheduled...I'm looking forward to being in the saddle more. And, to continuing to build strength, so I can start jumping again!

A Year Later

I cannot believe it's been a year already.

365 days since I said goodbye to my heart horse.

In some ways, it seems like forever ago, and in others it seems like it was only yesterday. It has gotten easier. But, I still think about her every day...and I think it will be much the same for the rest of my life. Promise was my once in a lifetime horse. I think I will, eventually, want to welcome another horse into my heart, but for now, I am mostly focusing on myself, on paying some stuff off and on just riding.

Just as with last year, I have been seeing rainbows constantly for the last couple of weeks. I am sure this has to do with it being the it-rains-every-afternoon season here in Florida, but it always makes me smile (and get a little misty) because it makes me think of Promise.

So, today is going to be bittersweet. While it won't be quite as emotionally challenging as it was last year (when I had to get through 3/4 of the work day knowing what was coming)...it is still going to be difficult to not sink into my own thoughts.