Back In The Saddle

I finally saddled up the Wonder Horse and rode him today. No, my leg is still not fully healed and I can only ride at a walk, but it was still an achievement. I have a large sack of fluid on the outside of my leg where I impacted the ground during my riding accident. I have to keep it wrapped all the time and elevated and iced as often as possible per the doctor's orders. I sit in my office at various times during the day with my leg propped up on an old computer and a cold wrap on my leg. The wrap is designed for a horse's leg, but it works pretty well on me as well. I found the wrap in the freezer compartment of our office refrigerator.

I rode Apache for about 30 minutes and he was content to stay at a walk. Since I have to keep it slow, I can work on fundamentals like rein cues and leg cues. Riding a horse at a walk is deadly boring, so I don't usually concentrate on the finer details when working with Apache. Maybe this slow pace will all work out for me in the long run. In any case, I'm just happy to be riding a horse again---at any speed.

In other news, Charlie got a visit from the mil vet today who scrubbed out his wound and treated it. His face looks like cheese pizza with the cheese pealed off. Not pretty, but hopefully the treatment will kill off the sarcoid. They are hard to get rid of and extreme measures obviously apply here. Poor Charlie.