The Roaming Rider

The Dry Spell Has Ended

February 6, 2017February 6, 2017 roamingridersite

The daffodils are blooming. Ground Hog be damned. Spring is imminent!

Sunday mid afternoon I had a thought. “I want to ride my horse”. Not a wholey atypical thought, but one that has not surfaced since November and even then it was weak.

Why? A host of factors really, but the major one was that following this thought the conversation in my head went thus:

I want to ride my horse. It is an 80 minute round trip. Plus time to tack and untack. And I only ride for like 45-60 minutes. And I have x,y, and z to still do today before the work week starts again. And it is a lot of time away front Wyatt and I don’t like that. Sigh. Really there isn’t enough time now anyway.

So when the thought struck me that I want to ride my horse I paused. Hmmm. All I have to do is walk inside, change and then get Gem. An hour ride will only take me an hour and and a half all said and done. It’s nice out, well minus the 40mph wind gusts, and sunny. Let’s do this!

In a whopping 5 minutes I found myself with lead rope in hand opening the pasture gate. Gem was on the far side of the pasture, but started walking towards me the moment she saw me. She met me half way and then walked happily out to the trailer.

I brushed her out, picked her hooves clean, ran my hands down each leg feeling for any new lumps or swelling, and then wrapped my arms around her neck in a massive hug as I breathed her scent in. Oh how I’ve missed my mare!

I decided on the dressage saddle since I’ve only ridden in it one time since buying it. I need a smaller girth and would love to add a half pad under the square one, but all in due time.

When it came time to bridle her, she shoved her head in with such force, such obvious glee that it surprised me. It appears as though Gem has missed our time riding as much as I have.

Then we walked to the hay field and I climbed aboard.

Right about that same time my brain shut off. I stared off at the huge space we had available and completely froze. I was rigid. Any guesses as to how Gem then acted?

After about 15 minutes of us getting nowhere but more and more nervous and frazzled, my brain decided to function again.

What was it I was working on last summer? Halt transitions! Get Gem focusing on me instead of anywhere and everywhere else.

After about 10 minutes of working on soft and semi immediate (we are a work in progress on this skill) halts using as little hand and as much seat and core as possible, Gem finally lowered her head and began to blow and chew. A sure sign that her brain has decided to function again as well.

With a more relaxed Gem under me I decided to ask for a slow and steady trot. I got what I expected: a strung out, giraffe style high energy with low impulsion trot. I was okay with it though and used it to work on asking her to come back to me while trying to use less and less intense aids to get there.

When she finally softened and gave me a circle in both directions of a lovely trot with head lowered (not on the bit or anything, we are far from that stage yet but this is still massive progress) and ears on me, I called it a day.

Gem does not do well with a drill sergeant on board and releasing her from work once she answers correctly always pays bigger dividends than ramming it home with repetition.

It was a great first ride at home, a great first ride back after 3 months off, and a kick in my pants to do it more often.

Health and Fitness

Adventures in Fitness – Zumba

February 3, 2017 roamingridersite

In my attempt to find some way to get fit without wanting to die to in the process, I am exploring all the options the YMCA has available. Thus I found myself back there at 6 pm Wednesday fighting both an on coming migraine and terrible cramps. Had I not just signed up and had I not been meeting my mom, I would have just gone home to curl under the covers and pretend the world didn’t exist for the rest of the night.

Instead I stood there and watched the cardio studio begin to fill up. I was briefly hopeful that I would survive the class when the instructor showed up in a knee brace, but that was quickly dashed once the music began to play.

I knew going into it that I wouldn’t know all the moves or look good doing them, so when the first song began to play I was happy to find that I could follow along pretty easily and that I picked up the moves within a try or two. There is a special skill that some people have and that is the ability to have someone tell you an instruction and being able to perform it. I believe most horse people are taught this due to the very nature of lessons. A person stands in the ring and tells you to put your left heel down. So you do. They don’t have to come over and physically do it for you or have to show you. You can take the words and form the action. I was praised in residency for being able to do this in surgery and I attributed this skill to my riding.

Anyway…I digress.

This skill helped me during the class. I could not only follow her lead, but could listen when she shouted out the move and follow suit.

This skill did not help my complete lack of rhythm or my inability to loosen up, ever. As the instructor, a slender and fluid moving lady of hispanic descent, upped the tempo with the next song, I fell farther and farther behind. I could either make my upper body or y lower body move with the music. But not both.

It was laughable really.

I tried my best, but the beat was beyond me. The class was an hour long, but as we went harder my head started spinning and I began to see black dots. I made the smart decision to take a breather and soon realized that my head was pounding harder than the beat and I was light headed and cramping hard.

I made the even smarter decision to call it quits half way through and try again another day. I made it home feeling like I was going to pass out at any moment, ate 5 smores with the hubby and son made over our backyard bonfire of unused pallets, and then hid under the covers until the world stopped spinning.

Zumba will have to be tried again.

Farm life, Uncategorized

It is a Hard Life

February 2, 2017 roamingridersite

Gem isn’t a morning horse. She showed up late to her 6:15 am breakfast with massive bedhead down the entire right side of her body and a droopy, cranky lower lip. Sorry girl. You can sleep in on the weekends like the rest of us 🙂

Uncategorized

Meet Me at the YMCA – Day 1

February 1, 2017January 31, 2017 roamingridersite

With running out of the picture, I needed to find a new form of exercise to get and then stay fit and healthy. While I’m not overweight, I am definitely not fit and I want to change that. Unfortunately, my favorite spin place closed up shop and the only other games in town were either downtown or the YMCA. My mom and I enjoy working out together – it adds an element of humor not found when working out alone – and I managed to talk her into touring the Y on Sunday.

It is a nice facility and happens to be only 3 miles from my house. They have a covered pool that is open year round (while not warm and cozy, it is sufficient in the winter while the dome is up), four rooms for class activities, one level of weights, an upper level of cardio equipment, a cardio theater that plays a feature film on a large projector screen while you workout, a gym, a cafe and free child care while you are there. They also offer tons of things Wyatt can participate in plus a free date night out once a month.With everything they offer, it really fits nicely into my busy life schedule.

My mom and I both signed up and the best part was that we got 20% off for doing so and the join fee was waived as well. This brought the price down to only $48 a month for my entire family of 3 and only $32 a month for my mom. No other place in town comes close to matching that in price.

Monday around 4:15 pm my phone goes off as I wait for my last patient to show. It is my mom.

“Be there at 5:40 pm”
“Ummm…what?”
“Guts and Glutes at 5:40. Be there.”
“No way I can make that work. I have a procedure to do at 4:30, I don’t have my work out clothes with me so I have to go home and change and then I have to make it all the way to Wyatt, get him and go to the Y. Won’t happen”

After we talked for a bit, my mom decided to pick Wyatt up for me and meet me there. I ended up with just enough time to change and catch up to them as they were entering the building. My mom also talked my sister-in-law into using a day pass to give it a try with us.

Wyatt went into the child center until Dusty arrived and took him to the pool and the rest of us went upstairs to studio #3 where we proceeded to laugh, cry and groan for 30 minutes.

Guts and Glutes – a 30 minute exercise class with dumbbells that focuses on your lower body and abs.

So there we were…we dutifully grabbed our mats, light weights (4 lbs for me) and heavy weights (having no clue what we were going to do I used 5 lbs as my heavy) and looked around the room with anticipation. This was going to be fun! And easy because…you know…it was only 30 minutes long. A good intro to the Y.

We began.

About 3 minutes into the warm up I looked over at my mom and told her I hated her. I was not only warmed up, but also cooled down and ready to call it a day. And we hadn’t even really begun!

The real workout began. Planks. Then twisting planks. Then planks with one leg off the ground. Then planks with one of the heavy weights tucked into the crook of your knee and pulsing that knee towards the ceiling – don’t lose your plank now! – for an endless count of 16, switch legs do it some more.

Then came the squats and lunges. Dozens upon dozens of squats and lunges. With the heavy weights resting on your shoulders. Then point your toes out and widen the stance and squat some more. Legs not shaking enough? Go up on your tip toes and squat. Then stay on those toes and pinch your knees in and pulse. Then go back as far as you can with your knees. Stay on those toes!

Legs shaking in defeat – the three of us looked at each other and began to laugh. The teacher giggled.

Back to the floor! Crunches, sit ups, weights, no weights. Legs off the floor, on the floor…come on…you can do it!

By the time the 30 minutes were up, my legs were shaking, my abs were on fire and I was d-o-n-e.

Good introduction, Mother.

I wasn’t done though. I had to meet the kiddo at the pool. The 80 degree water felt more like ice and Dusty doesn’t handle cold water at all. Probably because he is like 2% body fat. When I entered the dome, Wyatt was practically begging Dusty to get in and Dusty was turning blue and chattering. So I jumped in. And immediately regretted that decision.

Wyatt wanted to jump in and I caught him easily since my arms still functioned. When he wanted to race to the deep end and I found myself having to tread water for 15 minutes as he slowly floated along, I nearly died.

I’m not sure how long we stayed in the ice bowl, but eventually we coaxed Wyatt out, changed and went home. It was a good first day at the YMCA and I am really excited for the future.

Farm life, Riding/Horses

They Are Home!!!

January 31, 2017January 29, 2017 roamingridersite

Farm life

DIY Horse Shelter

January 29, 2017January 29, 2017 roamingridersite

The horse shelter posed more of a conundrum than the fence. There is no access to natural shelter and while the weather here is mild, they need somewhere to get out of the sun at the least.

Buying a shelter would be the easiest and quickest solution, but at around $1000 for a 10×10 box, it was a bit steep for a rental property. They aren’t easy to lift and we would likely have to leave it behind if we ever moved.

DIY it would have to be and so we scoured the internet for ideas. I finally found one I didn’t completely hate and got busy securing supplies and then modifying it to suit our needs. Below you will find the likely only DIY post you’ll see on here. I’m just not much of a creator.

Supplies:

Pallets – we used 16 that were 27×40. Normal ones are supposed to be 48×40.

T posts – 16

Cattle panel -4

Tarp – 16×20

Screws

Braces – 18

Zip ties

Plywood – 4 sheets

A truck full of pallets and a dog happy to help.

Step 1:

Create the first wall by placing a T post in at one end then place a pallet over it. We didn’t think this was as stable as we would like so we added a second t post to each pallet.

Laying out the pallets to measure the walls. 4 pallets made it 16ft long. We the new planned the other wall 11ft away to make it end up around 10ft wide.

Another view of the pallets laying flat to measure out the walls

The pallets standing up with a t post in each. We then went back and added a second post to each.

With the size of pallets we could find the height wouldn’t be high enough, so we took another set of panels and cut the top off to get our walls 48″ high. If you can find pallets of normal size, you can skip this.

The pallets stacked on top of each other to reach a height of 48″

Step 2:

Optional step because we stacked the pallets. I went and screwed in a metal brace to connect the top and bottom pallets (two went into the end pallets). I also went ahead and added a brace connecting each pallet horizontally. I just felt much more comfortable with the stability with everything screwed together.

Metal braces connecting the top and bottom as well as from left to right

Step 3:

Now it becomes a two person job. Take one of the 50ft cattle panels and create the roof. Start at one end lining the end of the panel up to the end of the pallet wall. The best technique we found was to rest the panel against the top horizontal slat of the pallet. I would hold that end and Dusty would go to the other to jam it into its resting spot.

The first panel in place. It sagged because we went against it natural tendency to bend. By the time we realized it we had two others on and couldn’t easily fix it.

Attach the panel to the pallets with fence staples. Tip here: whoever isn’t hammering in the staple should go to the outside of the pallet and lean into it while grabbing the metal panel and pulling it hard to you. This helps the person hammering in the staple and gets a tighter fit.

Gem and Pete checking out what was going on

For our 16ft wall length, four cattle panels fit perfectly with one square overlap to each.

Step 4:

This also requires two people and was the trickiest part. Stretch the 16×20 tarp over the cattle panel and attach with zip ties.

In a way it was great that we built this on an insanely windy day. While it made it hard to secure the tarp, it showed us when we had it taut enough.

The hardest part was getting it over the 10ft peak. Neither of us were tall enough to reach. What we ended up doing was loosely attaching on side to the pallets at both ends then attaching a lead rope to the opposite side and using that to pull it over. Be careful it doesn’t catch on the panel and rip.

Using a lead rope on one end to pull it across the peak. Be careful not to get it caught.

Attach the tarp using zip ties to the pallets. Make sure you work in one direction pulling it taut as you go

We then attached it to the wooden pallets along one wall pulling it as tight as we could. Next we returned to an open end and attached the tarp to the panel along the peak with more zip ties making sure to pull it both toward us and to the left to get it as tight as we could. Work your way down the next wall and finish up the other open end.

Attach all possible points to the cattle panel as well

Step 5:

This was not included in the directions, but I wasn’t comfortable having the slats open on the inside where the horses could potentially get a hoof or leg stuck. Our last step was to place plywood along the interior walls with long screws to make a kickboard.

After that we were all finished. It will provide protection form wind, rain and sun. You could close in one end to make a 3 sided shelter, but we decided to leave ours open.

Tarp on. Plywood kickboards on the ground. We only got one on before the bit on the power drill broke so no completely finished picture

Overall I like it as a temporary shelter. You can make it as large as you want and it is super easy to take down and move. Even easier if you don’t add the braces. It probably took us a half a day. Plan on roughly 4-5 hours with two people and 6-7 if you do it by yourself (although you need two people for the cattle panels and tarp)

Total cost was around $300.

Health and Fitness

Hanging Up the Running Shoes.

January 27, 2017 roamingridersite

I can’t remember a time when I didn’t run. Varsity track gave me the coveted high school letter. In college, I’d head out to the nearby lake and run the 5 mile track around it.

I’ve run on the treadmill, down country roads rarely travelled by cars, along busy urban sidewalks, across paved park pathways and up trails.

I’ve run in the early morning as the sun was waking up and in the pitch black dark with a headlamp showing me the way.

I’ve run during a frigid Wisconsin winter night and through a scalding South Carolina summer day.

I’ve run with family, friends, my dog and alone.

The best runs I have ever had were with Bones

I’ve run listening to music, podcasts and my own breathing.

I’ve run following couch to marathon plans, interval apps, my own make shift schedule and with no plan or goal at all.

Mile 11 of my very first half marathon. Still enjoying life.

I’ve worn high tech clothes and cute accessories only to be worn while running.

I’ve run four half marathons all in the 2:21-2:23 time frame and just for fun.

And through it all I can honestly say….

….that I stink at running.

It isn’t really the physical part that gets me. I’m no Olympic level runner and I tend to trudge more than fly, but my times are at least respectable and I run way more than I walk.

It is the mental game that kills me. I never zone out. I never enjoy it. I’m trudging along and all my mind does is go on and on about how I can’t breathe, how I can’t take another step, how I’m too slow. It is defeatist and it doesn’t matter if I run a mile or 5. It is the same rhetoric in my brain.

So I am taking a break. I run for exercise and health. Riding is my stress relief. I’m joining the local YMCA and I am going to dabble in the various classes that they offer: spin to yoga to cardio dance to weights to swimming. I’m going to bounce around until I find something that I can do and mostly enjoy.

Then, once I am in better shape, I am going to try running again. See if it doesn’t fit back in in a healthier manner. We will see.

2017 Reading Challenge

Popsugar Reading Challenge Book #5

January 25, 2017January 24, 2017 roamingridersite

Back to me and back to the internet for the next prompt. Thankfully there are multiple library branches within 15 minutes of each other so my mom and I can get the same book out at the same time.

A Book with A Season in the Title: Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson.

I need to preface this with two facts:

1) I am not a fan of Young Adult (YA) fiction.

2) I didn’t know this was a YA book when I chose it.

Lia is an 18 year old girl who is lost inside herself. She is fighting demons that she doesn’t understand. Her weapon of choice is starvation and self mutilation in the form of cutting.

Her best friend for years uses binging and purging as her weapon, but loses her war in the first pages of the book.

The author paints a world, both of reality and the one trapped inside Lia’s head, in a way that immediately feels accessible and tangible. I found myself feeling scared for Lia, then angry, then hopeless. It’s what a book should do: pull you into the story and teach you a new way to look at people, at the world.

I give credit to the author for making a very difficult and real topic accessible and endearing while laying out the dangers in a plain way. Still, I wish it wasn’t a YA book. I wish it was written with beefier vocabulary, heartier themes and a more grown up feel. That’s the way I always feel when reading a YA book though: a vague feeling of being gypped out of a deeper meaning, a more robust story.

Anyway.

If you like YA novels, this is one to read. Even if not the story has a way of wrapping around you.

I’d give it 3.5/5

Farm life

Building a Fence

January 23, 2017January 23, 2017 roamingridersite

4cf7cfa6-685b-41de-aa70-6e7fe238a70b — A dreary day on the farm beats the sunniest day in suburbia hands down

With the clock starting to run out, we checked the weather forecast a dozen times hoping it was wrong. Another weekend of rain and there was no way the horses would be coming home before another board check was due.

Thankfully Sunday saw a break in the deluge from 9-12 and we rushed out to work as fast as we could. Dusty and my dad had placed the T posts weeks ago, in fact that was done before our move in date, and the wooden posts for the gate were cemented in last weekend. The tensioners and fence clips were attached under the light of a headlamp at 8 pm during the work week.

Now all that was left was to string the tape.

Wyatt helping to screw the tensioner to the wooden post

Einstein enjoying and abusing his freedom. He came back with a gouge on his head likely from the barbed wire that surrounds the entire property. He will learn some day.

My mum came over to help and we got busy stringing the line. We had ordered it from Horse Guard, a U.K. company, and the experience was great from start to finish. Since we only needed to create two sides of fencing, we were unsure what all to order. A quick call to the company had all our questions answered and the materials were shipped out the next day. The guy walked us through the entire process and even gave tips on how to cut a few costs.

He lugged the heavy spool of tape around for us

The tape itself is very sturdy. It comes in three color options, but only the brown was in stock when we ordered. They also have a monopolar, requiring humid ground and a ground pole, and bipolar, which does not, units and we went with the bipolar.

Much sturdier than the brand Tractor Supply sold and way better than my portable corral tape.

The system is nearly fooproof and comes with everything you could possibly need. The first go round we places the clips on backwards but thankfully figured it out half way through. Nothing is more annoying than working hard then having to redo it all.

The longer side was completed before lunch and nap time. Seriously, the system is really simple: tension the one end, string the tape and apply the clips that hold the tape to the t post, tension the far end, go back and tighten the line and screw down the clips on each post. Done.

During nap time, Dusty went out and hung the gate then it was back out for all three of us to finish the shorter end.

Seeing the gate put on really made it all seem so real.

With the hay delivered, fence up, gate hung, water tank purchased and t post caps installed all we have left to do is build the shelter. The weather looks sunny and clear all week which means we can get out there and build it before the weekend.

Medicine

I’m a Person too, You Know.

January 21, 2017 roamingridersite

“I hate podiatrists. Go see an orthopedist”

A response to someone on Facebook looking for help with a foot injury. I only saw it because a friend of mine tagged me and recommended my services.

I could go on about the differences in the two specialists, but that isn’t what I want to focus on. In truth, there are benefits to going to either and there are times I tell my own patients that they would be better served by an orthopedist.

Here is what I do want to focus on: the blanket and negative statement toward an entire group of people who have dedicated their lives to curing you of your lower extremity ailments.

Being a doctor is a full time lifestyle. It’s not something you can turn off, pile up and walk away from until the next shift. There is no ability to forget your patients and carry on. I’m on call 24/7 and I have been contacted by patients at all hours of the day, on weekends and holidays. I worry about those who have trusted me with their care and I do take things personally.

So when I see someone so flippantly negating an entire profession, writing them off as if they are not real people with real emotions, it makes me angry.

Your physician is a person. I guarantee you they are not out to cause harm or create worsening of your condition. I can tell you that they care about your outcome. How would like it if I declared that I hate all teachers, plumbers, HR personnel? Pretty ridiculous, isn’t it? Yet people get away with hating on the medical profession all the time.

You get angry if you have to wait more than 10 minutes yet the very next time you call to get worked in and get angry when you are told there isn’t any available time to do so. You want the doctor to be at your beck and call and then wonder why they appear tired, stressed and burnt out.

I’m a person. A person who dedicated 11 years to the study of your body and how to fix what can go wrong. Someone who didn’t travel or save up money when I was younger instead going deeper in debt and killing my eyesight reading endless textbooks and taking test after test. A person who does her best each and every day but just like you I am a person who sometimes wakes up overly tired or cranky. Can you honestly tell me that you never went to work tired and barely scraped by all day?

Before you write off an entire body of people who would have been way smarter to choose another profession, but chose this one out of a passion for helping others, remember that we are people too. Our job isn’t just a job. It gets carried home with us, bleeds into our regular conversations and wakes us up at 2 am with thoughts on what we could do differently.

I am more than just a podiatrist. I am a person too.