Tuesday 21 April 2015

Osteo Visit, reflections & photo dump

This post is going to be flooded with images kindly snapped by my good friend who recorded the video snippets on Saturday.



Having watched them a couple of times since I can see where we have improved and have a clearer road map to the issues my trainer mentioned last month in our lessons. There really is a gulf in difference between my right and left leg, the latter requiring a lot more work on my behalf. Having concrete evidence of its waywardness like this will hopefully help me home in on it and bring it more in line with the other one.



My hands, Lord where to start with my hands?! For a start my reins are miles to long. I need to shorten those suckers and raise my hands slightly - but that will come with time. My trainer encourages me to ride with them lower and further apart while i am still holding Nancy's hand until she has the strength and musculature to stays straighter and hold herself better. Baby steps and we will get there.

A little BTV but rest seems ok to me

I need to sit my backside in the saddle and perhaps slide a little forward as i think i might be sitting a little far back. The saddle isn't ideal for either of us, but we will keep working with it till I find the magic money tree so i can get us a better fitting one.

The only "okay" canter pic - bloopers will follow tomorrow

Monday night the osteo  am as Kika kindly let me know our last few spins that she was beginning to feel ouchy. She has her tells in this respect & the fact my horse is not a martyr is a blessing. B (the osteo) was very complimentary of both girls mental & physical state. She commented on their dapples, healthy coats and happy demeanor. K had a few niggles (as expected by me) a little blockage at the base of her neck/withers area, 2 lumbar niggles in her lower back and required a tweak further back but no major bones of contention. B mentioned her need for maintenance possibly being linked to her inclination to spook & hold tension tweaking herself.


Nancy was as close to perfect as possible, B found  othing out of place and said she was in great condition with a balanced musculed back. I mentioned my saddle fit concerns and she said she could feel some tension alright but that she was developing muscles correctly. She said I lucked out with her back not being inherited from her Friesian dad which can sometimes be dipped as they were originally bred to be carriage horses. She kept singing her brain praises and how she has such a gentle eye. I really am lucky with both my girls.
Their osteo also does archery from horseback and gas said she'll teach Nancy & I if i can get us to her place a couple of times - SQUEE
How exciting would that be?!

16 comments:

  1. omg yessss you have to do mounted archery with Nancy!! glad both girls are doing well according to the osteo, and also glad you got so much out of the videos. it can be hard to honestly critique ourselves from pictures without getting too demotivated - but i think it's a useful exercise.

    also - i just love those blue irons :D

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    1. Finding ways to critique media of myself is a lot easier than finding good points #ownworstcritic
      I hope I can find a way to do mounted archery with Nancy - B mentioned how perfect she would be for medieval fairs ☺

      I am kicking myself for not having bought more than a pair of those irons as they have made such a difference to my leg stability! I wish I had a pair for Kika's saddle too *shrug*

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  2. Replies
    1. Now if i can up my riding game i might help her shine some day rather than dull her glow

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  3. Yes please do horse archery! How neat is that?!?

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    1. If it works out and i don't hurt anyone...awesome ☺☺😅

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  4. You take such excellent care of the girls :) The archery on horseback sounds absolutely awesome!!!

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    1. I try to do my best by them.
      I hope I can try the archery thing some day as i have thought it would be awesome since she told me about it when I first met her 4-5 years ago

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  5. Beautiful pics! Feeling your pain with the wide and low hands - I'm also encouraged to do that with B and it quickly turned into a habit! Archery on horseback sounds like so much fun - I used to practice it and enjoyed it (no horses though)!

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    1. I've never done archery so hopefully I don't main anyone trying to learn from horseback ;-)
      We can be part of the low & wide hands club ☺

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  6. Yesss archery, that sounds like so much fun! Definitely get as many pictures as you can :) Nancy looks so good!

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    1. Love pictures as they really help me isolate problem areas to work on - the bloopers are particularly insightful. Now to figure out how to fix the issues I see *blush*

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  7. THOSE STIRRUPS <3

    And girl, your hands are not that bad, particularly given what your instructor has you working on. You're always pretty close to a straight line from elbow to bit.

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    1. I ♡ those new stirrups so bad - they help my leg stability so much. I wish I had moar!!!
      I need to find a way of sourcing more & hooking you guys up! Although your new ones are totes bad ass!

      My reins are too long & wrists are broken - needs mucho refinement ;-)

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  8. I'm jealous that someone offered to teach you mounted archery!! That's on my 30 b4 30 list!! Find a way to do it! That would be awesome!!

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