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Not the day I planned… June 8, 2007

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I had a grand scheme today: go help at a local community fund-raiser, volunteer for another local non-profit, go back to the first fund-raiser to finish that out.  Then, go home, change clothes, and go out and ride my horse around 3pm.  Home by 6pm to have dinner with my family. Nope, not how it happened.

 I did fulfill my volunteer committments (and many thanks to Jeff for managing the kids today) but got home so late that I couldn’t go see Scout. That does make me a tad cranky.  But, we did have a lovely dinner out tonight.  I think Scout got a training ride today anyway, so he probably did get some work. But, I do like spending time with the little critter.

More than anything, though I get frustrated when I plan a tight day and fail to execute on it. But, it happens.

Tomorrow I get to go to a clinic in Cle Elum to learn more about Natural Horsemanship.  Scout has a background in Natural Horesmanship, so I thought it might help to know a little bit more about it. The clinic is taught by Shannon King.

Run with Beth June 7, 2007

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Had a nice run with Beth, and experimented with “Hammer Gel” for some fuel. I felt pretty good but Beth was having a hard time, so we cut out part of our loop and nixed the hill climb at the end.  Can’t say I was to broken-hearted. The weather was damp and cold and the joints just don’t appreiciate those days!

Workout:

See Scout. See Scout Run. June 6, 2007

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I almost forgot, here is my first ride on Scout:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmYux_pMtjE

 Handsome devil, eh?  ;-)

Very small circles June 6, 2007

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If you’re at all familiar with horses, you probably know what lunging is.  And even if you aren’t, many people have at least seen it.  You have a long line (kind of like leash).  You’re at one end, and the horse is at the other.  Generally, this line is about 10m long, so your horse goes in a 20m circle around you. Turns out, my horse doesn’t know how to do this. So, in order to teach them how to do this, you walk next to them and slowly push them out away from you using your body language.  Keep in mind that for 10 years, this horse was taught to walk next to a person, not away from them, and was probably punished for deviating from that path.  So, today was all about pushing the horse away, giving praise, pushing the horse away, giving praise, until the horse was on the edge of his comfort zone, and then you invite them to come back in.  Slowly, that comfort zone gets larger, until your horse can go out the full 10 meters and is comfortable with it. At least, that is the plan.

After about 20 minutes of a 1 meter radius circle, nausea finally started to set in.  I have never been great with motion sickness, so this wasn’t exactly a surprise. So, we went the other way.  The good news is that before I got dizzy, I did get him about 3m away from me.  That’s pretty good for a first time.  Think of it as training a 1000lb 3-year-old.  You have to take things in small steps.  Lunging looks pretty simple, but for a horse that doesn’t know how it can take a long time to get there.

Tomorrow I get to go for a run with my friend Beth.  We run 4 miles in about 45min, finishing with a nice 5-min hill climb.  It’s nice because the hill is getting easier (which means we probably need to go further up the hill).  Beth and I have decided to train for a 10k. We have a plan, but have yet to execute on it. Today was also supposed to be a gym day for me.  I have a personal trainer that has me doing all my free weights while standing on a BOSU ball, which has been amazing for my core.  I also do squats with the BOSU ball inverted (as recommended by my physical therapist).  I almost feel like a circus act at the gym.  :-)

Let you know how the run goes tomorrow. I just hope it isn’t raining!

Square peg in a round hole… June 5, 2007

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I’m giving this a try mostly because I am truly interested in this project, but my fitness goals don’t lie within the framework of this site.  My goal is to show 2nd Level in dressage schooling shows in two years.  This will require training in endurance, flexibility, and strength for both me and the horse.  So, while ultimately my goal is not necessarily in the majority, I thought it would be fun to explore my fitness progression through this blog. Follow along with me!