Talking Nonsense - Can I Even Ride?
How is everyone doing? Seriously, I mean that and I'm genuinely interested in the answer.
With lockdown beginning to ease and life trying to go back to normal, or the "new normal" as it's now referred to, there can be a lot of pressure on us to carry on with life as if nothing ever happened. But just know that it is still okay, in fact, it's always okay not to feel okay or to feel worried, confused and anxious about the world right now.
It's 100% okay to say "no thanks" to a garden gathering if you don't feel quite ready to integrate back into society and meet people yet, your friends will understand. Do what YOU need to do to be happy (or even just to get through) this next phase of lockdown. Additionally, if you think someone is struggling then make that extra effort and reach out just to say "hey, how are you doing?". Trust me, I've done this throughout lockdown and has made a difference, even in a very small way.
Our yard is starting to get back to normal now; you may remember we all had specific time segments where we have to arrive, do our thang and get out of there before the next person arrived. Going back to normal, well the "new normal" that is, is GREAT but comes with one major negative; I now have free rein to dilly-dally again!!
I don't know about you but during lockdown, I seem to have been able to get everything I need to do, including riding and mucking out, done and dusted within an hour to an hour and a half, depending on which time slot I had. Without this time limit, I fear I'll revert back to taking four hours to do everything! How does that even happen? I swear it's like a different time dimension when you go to the stables where time moves at the speed of light. I call it "stable time" and my boyfriend has grown to accept that the question "when will you be home" is as useful as "how long is a bit of string".
I know I'm bias, but how handsome is he?
In other news, actually, it's more like in ever-so-slightly other news, I feel like I am making real progress on my flatwork. I say MY flatwork, not OUR flatwork because the truth is that Woody has developed into being pretty awesome on the flat but all of our issues stem from me and my wonky body/my inability to actually ride despite doing it for 20 + years.
For those of you who don't know, I had four major surgeries on my hips between the age of 18 months and 7 years old, which was due to being born with a dislocated hip and one leg longer than the other. I happened to be in the right hospital at the right time when the problem was discovered as I was treated by a surgeon who was at the time, the top hip-guy in Europe I believe. Maybe they just told me that to make me feel better, but either way, it instilled confidence in the process.
Although my hips are almost like normal hips now, the left one does misbehave at times including when my horses over the years choose to taker a flyer at a fence and I get jolted (anyone who has knowledge of my past and present horses, especially Jamie and Woody, will know I have been and still am flung about on a long stride very regularly). It's no big deal though, I just have to stand up in my stirrups and "pop it back in" before carrying on.
It also causes me to sit really wonky on the left rein, which is something I have been working on for a while now. I had a breakthrough the other day that the more I focus on the way Woody is going the more I tend to "fiddle" and the more unbalanced I get. So, the last few rides I have really focused on what I am doing and trying to use my core to balance every part of me and you know what, Woods is going 10 times better than he was before. Amazing right? Who would have thought that me actually being able to ride properly would make such a difference to the way my horse went... *feel free to roll your eyes at me here*
My little-old-lady sunbathing buddy.
I'm slightly sad that the weather is looking quite so pants over the weekend but I've very much enjoyed topping up my tan while working in the garden this week. If you are looking for something awesome to watch on Netflix to pass the time during the thunderstorms we have just finished watching "How To Get Away With Murder" (not a documentary btw) and it was amazing. I also HIGHLY recommend my ultimate guilty pleasure which is Selling Sunset - a reality show which follows ultra-glam realtors selling million-dollar mansions in the Hollywood Hills. It sounds awful but trust me when I say it's INCREDIBLE!!! Please don't judge me.
There's not been that much nonsense in my "talking nonsense" column this week but I genuinely haven't done anything really stupid this week to report on (there's still time with it only being Friday afternoon and all), but I'm still going to use my new sign off which I have lovely customer and ex-yardy Anna to thank for...
That's enough nonsense for now, let's get back to business!
Have a FAB-U-LOUS weekend,
Sarah x
