I've been involved with horses all of my life. I have also been varying degrees of overweight/obese all my live. I have ridden when not SMO but look forward to riding again. I have a horse now and do ground work with him but haven't ridden in some time.

Any one else out there that can tell me the difference they experience in their riding?

My surgery was 5/25 and the guy that I hired to take care of stalls and other heavy barn work bailed on me. I figured I could do it if I was careful! WRONG! I can see that I will have to be aware that I have had major surgery and treat myself as such until I heal. I ended up calling someone today that says he will come out and clean stalls, pick local fields and dump manure. If I want to stay under the weight limit restrictions I must let others due things for me. Three main reasons for having surgery were health, riding and employability. Don't want to screw it up now.

Bummer....glad you found someone to help out. Fortunately my horses are in a large corral, so I didn't have any stalls to clean. I Just needed to keep their water tank full (and thawed) and feed hay. I ended up making several trips carrying one flake at a time instead of the whole 40 pounds at once. Of course that went towards my 10,000 steps/day so it was all good. My downfall was shoveling snow. I could plow the driveway, but had to have someone else shovel the walkways for the first 3 weeks.

Hey Kindle I get what you say about multiple trips vs one. I feed that way also. Just bedding and manure removal was a problem. You have done a great job! It helps me to see all of those riders that have been helped with WLS n

The best feeling was when I started riding again,,I know my horse was grateful that I lost weight. the work involved in owning horses can sometimes be hard on you physically. I can pick my stalls and I have a hay stall so I can feed them flakes instead of dragging the whole bale out to them. My hay man delivers and stacks my hay. I am able to carry my saddle (24 lbs) but 50 lb feed bags are a struggle. My daughter insist that I do not dump the feed by myself. so luckily they live here on the farm (55 acres). I am very blessed to have my children close by to help me. Being careful is important because regardless of what type of surgery you have you do not want to cause damage by being cavalier.

@@Sharpie sounds like you've got a great setup. So nice to have family close by. BTW, Does your hay man travel? I have to load, unload, and stack 8 tons of hay by myself every year....80 pounds at a time. But I guess that's why I never have to go to the gym . And I consider myself very lucky to not have to clean stalls. Harrowing the corral 4-5 times a year is all the manure maintenance I have to do.

Have a great Memorial Day....

So, I got my referral from my primary care doctor for the surgery!! Yay!!

I'm curious.....I'm reading you guys' posts about not doing heavy lifting. I know it's taboo for the first several months after surgery. But for how long? I've been a fiercely independent single mom for 15 years......gonna be tough to let others do that stuff for me long term! lol!!

By the way.....how do you guys get the countdown ticker that's below your posts? That's cool! I want one!

Edited May 30, 201610 yr by HorseChik

Kindle I doubt he will go too far, I know he goes to Miami to deliver to feed stores, he just happens to live around the corner from us.. very good people have always helped me. When my husband passed away they came over and made sure my hay was put into the barn. yes we are very lucky to have family close . I really am careful about lifting too much weight mostly for my back (I have osteoporosis.) I had band surgery and was told to limit my lifting to 50# . sounds like you are plenty strong but be careful.

Omgsh I loved reading this I have horses too and can't wait till the day comes where I can ride again bc I'm much more lighter

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So, I got my referral from my primary care doctor for the surgery!! Yay!!

I'm curious.....I'm reading you guys' posts about not doing heavy lifting. I know it's taboo for the first several months after surgery. But for how long? I've been a fiercely independent single mom for 15 years......gonna be tough to let others do that stuff for me long term! lol!!

By the way.....how do you guys get the countdown ticker that's below your posts? That's cool! I want one!

I had a lifting restriction of 20 pounds for 3 weeks. After that I was back to lifting 40-80 pounds. But these are weights I was used to lifting everyday before surgery at my job and at home. It wasn't like I just jumped into a new "weight lifting program" fresh out of surgery. Other than someone shoveling snow for me twice postop, there was nothing I couldn't do for myself. But check with your own surgeon about what physical restrictions you will have. I think mine was one of the more generous ones and I was in strong, good physical shape to start with

As for the ticker, click on the "Hello HorseChik" at the top of the page and select My Tickers from the pull down menu. Your weights get entered under My Surgery.

I'm fortunate that Hay is delivered and stacked in my hay room. I also feed it by flakes so not difficult. Mature pony normally gets a lot of warm beet pulp and liquids added to feed. Her beet pulp is still soaked but I just add cold Water (via hose) to mixture. I'm hoping to be "off" weight restriction sooner than later as I am used to lifting these weights also.

I'm only 7 days out but already feel "lighter" on my feet and hoping for a positive summer. Used to HATE summer with my weight and the sweating and general yuck. Now maybe I will enjoy it a bit more. Still love Spring and Fall but maybe Summer won't be such a hardship at 100+ pounds thinner.

It makes me happy to see all of the others here that have had success with their wls tools and it has benefited their riding. Truly a pleasure to see!