Hi!

Any fellow horseback riders out there? How long after surgery did you wait to start riding again?

I asked my surgeon the day I was discharged when I could get back in the saddle. He got this really horrified look on his face (doctors always get this look when you mention riding horses) and said that we could "discuss it" at my 4-week post-op followup. I guess I can wait that long, but I'm really starting to hit withdrawal!

BTW: When I say riding, I don't mean "just sitting there", I mean getting back to work with my trainer schooling dressage and jumping.

Also, is it realisitic to expect to do my first 25mile limited distance endurance race later this summer (surgery date 1/31/2012)??

I used to ride horses but I haven't for maybe 25 years ... it's definitely on my to-do list when I get smaller

Well, any aspiring equestrians on the west side of Atlanta, GA just get in touch with me and I can arrange it for you!

Oh my gosh, a fellow horse lady!!! Music to my ears/ keyboard!!! :-)

I asked my surgeon the same thing. I show Arabian Western Pleasure and he said I could start riding as soon as 3 weeks if I felt up to it. He did ask me to have someone else lift the saddle up on the horse or do anything that exceeded a weight limit of 10# for like 4 to 6 weeks. But, dressage is a much lighter saddle than western so you may be good to go.

Now, about doing the endurance ride later this summer- ABSOLUTELY!!! You will be riding full steam ahead easily within 3 months, especially if this was something you were doing on a regular basis before.

I know my show horse soooo appreciates that I have lost so much weight. He doesn't groan when I get on anymore and he used to shift his weight when we were standing still in the arena and I was sure it was him trying to redistribute the weight for his fat rider. I felt horrible. He doesn't do that anymore. :Banane55:

p.s. I'm going to Portugal next month and spending a week in a riding program with Lusitano classically trained stallions where I will get 2 lessons per day. I've never had any dressage lessons, but VERY much admire the discipline. I think it can benefit any horse/ discipline!!! Below is a link to their facility. There are 2 videos (Part 1 / Part 2). The commentator is a bit korny, but the content is awesome! I feel like a 10 yr old waiting for christmas!!!

Hi!

Any fellow horseback riders out there? How long after surgery did you wait to start riding again?

I asked my surgeon the day I was discharged when I could get back in the saddle. He got this really horrified look on his face (doctors always get this look when you mention riding horses) and said that we could "discuss it" at my 4-week post-op followup. I guess I can wait that long, but I'm really starting to hit withdrawal!

BTW: When I say riding, I don't mean "just sitting there", I mean getting back to work with my trainer schooling dressage and jumping.

Also, is it realisitic to expect to do my first 25mile limited distance endurance race later this summer (surgery date 1/31/2012)??

Wow! Your riding vacation looks AWESOME! You'll have to let me know all about it when you get back. You're absolutely right, dressage definitely improves your seat and refines your riding to make it look more effortless (even though its really not) and it improves the responsiveness of your horse.

I was initially trying to learn dressage on my VERY GREEN QH/Arab. So, for about a year we were stagnant because I didn't know how to ask and she didn't know what to do. I finally decided, screw that, now I'm taking lessons on a been there-done that warmblood. I was so messed up, my first four lessons I couldn't even get the jug-head to trot! Now we are doing lovely collected canter circles, so we've made alot of improvement in six months. My trainer and I thought when I came back from surgery we would start on lateral movements since those are initially taught at the walk. We'll see how that goes.

My horse is kinda "retired" from dressage. She's SO stubborn, she can have a beautiful headset and trot but she HATES being in the arena. She's a trail horse and I've never found her bottom. At my heaviest I was 256lbs and I've had that horse lay down in the creek and turn and look up at me like, "Oh! I forgot you were back there!" Then get back up with me still in the saddle and carry on up the other bank like nothing happened. I'm sure she will be happy with the weight loss, but she never hinted that it was a problem! She's brave and eager and I think she will excell at endurance. We've done a couple of ten milers with no issues and so I think it's time to move up to 25 miles and see how it goes.

I loved that story about your horse lying down with you on and then getting up like there was nothing wrong. Too funny!! :-) I think with my show horse being a PB Arabian, they are naturally a little smaller, refined legs and so he doesn't have quite the same level of strength as a QH/Arab. That does make for great combination to do endurance though, so you should do really well. I've thought about doing endurance, but the horse I would have used passed away a couple years ago in a tragic stall accident.

I'm so excited about my riding program in Portugal, we get 2 lessons per day (1 hr long) and I will be there 1 week. I will only be touching the surface, but I know there is no place here in the U.S. that I could have this level of lessons and that caliber of horse. I am also excited just to see how people do things over there in terms of care and management styles.

I have actually found lateral work to be quite challenging, to do it correctly both rider and horse. It's done some in the Arabian training world, but not NEAR to the level done in dressage.

Going to send you a PM with my email so we can stay in touch.

Wow! Your riding vacation looks AWESOME! You'll have to let me know all about it when you get back. You're absolutely right, dressage definitely improves your seat and refines your riding to make it look more effortless (even though its really not) and it improves the responsiveness of your horse.

I was initially trying to learn dressage on my VERY GREEN QH/Arab. So, for about a year we were stagnant because I didn't know how to ask and she didn't know what to do. I finally decided, screw that, now I'm taking lessons on a been there-done that warmblood. I was so messed up, my first four lessons I couldn't even get the jug-head to trot! Now we are doing lovely collected canter circles, so we've made alot of improvement in six months. My trainer and I thought when I came back from surgery we would start on lateral movements since those are initially taught at the walk. We'll see how that goes.

My horse is kinda "retired" from dressage. She's SO stubborn, she can have a beautiful headset and trot but she HATES being in the arena. She's a trail horse and I've never found her bottom. At my heaviest I was 256lbs and I've had that horse lay down in the creek and turn and look up at me like, "Oh! I forgot you were back there!" Then get back up with me still in the saddle and carry on up the other bank like nothing happened. I'm sure she will be happy with the weight loss, but she never hinted that it was a problem! She's brave and eager and I think she will excell at endurance. We've done a couple of ten milers with no issues and so I think it's time to move up to 25 miles and see how it goes.