Giving up competing...reasons?

madhector

madhector

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After spending Saturday unable to do anything and most of Sunday fed up I got to thinking....



What reasons would cause you to stop competing and become a leisure rider? I ride for a living and do this in order to fund my competing, giving me flexible hours and extra rides too. However I now have a dodgy leg and a semi dodgy arm, I know I must be one sided due to my leg and this must affect the horses I ride, especially the youngsters I am bringing on. I got to wondering if it was fair to inflict my one sidedness on these horses?

I do everything I can to ride evenly but it doesn't change the fact that one leg is alot weaker than the other. (when I measured myself for new boots my right leg was 2 inches narrower than my left
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I know my arm will heal fine (hopefully) but it will no doubt be weaker for a while, which wont help either...



So should I just carry on and accept the fact that thats me, and there is very little I can do about it, or get a different job and become a happy hacker? (to be fair if I didn't compete I probably wouldn't ride)



Thoughts? Have I just been thinking to much? Or does that make any sense?


Thanks
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You've been thinking too much!

Most horses are one sided anyway, you just have to work harder on your weak side.

STOP worrying so much.

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I would continue competiting. If you ride evenly and correctly the horses you ride should be able to adapt to your riding and I am sure that it won't cause that much of a problem to your youngsters. Anyway they will have to get used to people riding them not so evenly as you! If your leg is a lot weaker could you use a whip or spur on that side? Hope this helps!
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I had the same issue in that my right knee/leg was much weaker than left due to damaging the ligaments adventure racing some years ago.

So I joined a gym and used a programme designed to even me out, went to the chiropractor and got checked out and basically do everything I can to even myself up again.

No-one is perfect - was it Ginny Leng or Lucinda Green who broke their arm so badly they can no longer straighten it? Can't remember but whoever it was it did not stop them riding at the top level.

So do whatever you can to even yourself out, stay aware of it, and stop thinking so much!
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Most people are one sided as well, but don't realise. At least you are giving your horses a fighting chance of getting it right and won't blame them straight away if you think your one sidedness is causing a problem. In fact, I bet when you go to your next competition if you look around you will see loads of riders who can't ride one side of their horse!
 
I am going for physio tomorrow on my arm and think will get them to have a look at my leg (as it was kind of squashed again too) It just isnt as good as it should be, but think there is only so much movement I can get in it due to the plates and screws getting in the way...

I know I think to much, its what comes of actually having a day off - its dangerous LOL
 
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Shut up!! You need to go back to work, young lady
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p.s. my leg is still a little smaller than my left one. Everyone is a little one sided anyway
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I know, brain doesnt normally have time to think like this
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I was back today, and just about coped, going to try and get back on said ponio tomorrow as no one else seems keen to ride it...
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If one leg is a little smaller than the other, then go to the gym and build it up again!!!!! my left leg totally waisted away when i did my knee in, but when i was fir enough i spent 2 hrs a day, 5 days a week down the gym getting it strong again!! now they are the same size again, and i only use it as an excuse for crap riding on the odd occasion
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Think of what the jump jockey's go though and still come out riding again.. am sure you'll be fine.. me thinks you need to stop thinking about yourself as much as you need to stop thinking about your horses!
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you need a hobbie
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LOL - Any suggestions?
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I do have exersizes to do for my leg, but it just doesnt seem to get any better, I have limted movement in the joint so figure this is why the muscle doesnt build up evenly... just a guess mind and maybe worth asking physio about tomorrow.

If I do too much on it then I go lame which isnt so good
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I am not too worried, just got to thinking thats all and wondered what other people thought...
 
I did the same as MDS - I use all the weights machines for legs, but use them one leg at a time so my left leg cannot compensate for the weaker right one. I also started with lower weights on the right and until I could do the same number of reps with right as left, did not build the weight up on the right. The weight did not go up on the left until right and left were using the same amount of weight. I try and do 30 reps per leg split into blocks of 10 per leg.
 
You are thinking too much! I have one leg bigger than the other and I have never done anything to my legs (touches wood quickly). Get back out there and enjoy yourself, once you are healed of course.
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you just have to build yourself up again, if you love competing enough. that's what it comes down to, is it worth the effort to you, or not?
i broke an arm in my teens, and blew the knee apart on the opposite side a few years ago, so i've had to build myself up again. i know i'm not absolutely 100% even but i reckon that horses cope brilliantly with para riders, so they can jolly well cope with me!
 
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You are thinking too much! I have one leg bigger than the other and I have never done anything to my legs (touches wood quickly). Get back out there and enjoy yourself, once you are healed of course.
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Thats a point - I never measured my legs before the accident, maybe they have always been odd
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Easier said than done, but if I was in your position I would think of giving up youngsters and reschoolers, rather than competing.

Competing is what you enjoy and what you work hard for - it would be a real shame if your work prevented you from doing it, or feeling that you couldn't/shouldn't do it. You might find that if you had a non-horsey job (horrible though that may be!) then you would relax and enjoy your horses more as they would be more of a hobby, with a clear definition between job and hobby.

Re: current wonkiness, see if you can get more physio and also consider a chiro - I see a great one in Ipswich after I went splat, and she not only sorts me out but knows how the various problems I have impact on the horse. I get given lots of exercises to do and I am so much straighter and even than previously - I walk completely differently, and I am losing the muscle I built up in the wrong areas and gaining it where I need it. Downside is I have to pretty much re-learn how to ride, as my balance has shifted a lot (ie I should now have some
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) and I need a block of lunge lessons to learn how to find that balance on a horse - joy
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definitely. there are probably lots of things you can do, e.g. when at home, put weights on the ankle of your weak leg and walk around with them all evening. physio will sort you out, just don't let him/her go too overboard, i reckon some of them are sadists!
 
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You are thinking too much! I have one leg bigger than the other and I have never done anything to my legs (touches wood quickly). Get back out there and enjoy yourself, once you are healed of course.
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Thats a point - I never measured my legs before the accident, maybe they have always been odd
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Well there you go then - I'd go with that theory if I were you
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I have not read all the replies but want to smack your bottom .
Claire broke her leg in a bad fall and had loads of metalwork which later was removed as she was rejecting it. She cannot drop one heel at all and is weak in that leg but she has had a go on the machine which measures how one sided you are and was fine. I think one sidedness comes from higher up anyway.
You have some lovely horses to ride this year that some would give their eye teeth to ride So get on with it and take it I have smacked your bottom and say OUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
You are def thinking too much. As Kerilli said, the Para riders get fantastic results from their horses... so you should feel inspired by them! You will be good as new in no time!
You are doubting yourself... prob coz you are still feeling wobbly from your accident. It will pass. You'll see.
 
There's definitely no reason for you to give up. Everyone is weaker on one side and as long as you're aware of it and work on building up your weaker side that's fine. Hope the physio tomorrow helps you.

In response to question about giving up competing.....I've evented for the last 10 years or so but have recently given up competing my horse as she has tweaked her tendon for the 3rd time last year so I've retired her as a hack. I've still got my sister's horse while she's at uni but she'll have him back in the summer when I'll be happy just looking after them and plodding around the roads. Perhaps I'm strange but with working full time over an hour away from home often I just didn't have the energy to be competing anyway.
 
I think most people who do horses as a job have collected various injuries along the way, it's the nature of what you do. I'm sure, as said above, there are exercises you can do to help with your leg.

Fwiw there are lots of us with non-horsey jobs that ride just to compete. I changed my job and altered my career path this year so i have more time and money to compete. It got to a point where either the job or horses (more specifically doing them enough to compete properly) had to give, i choose horses. My life pretty much revolves around them....because i love competing. If i didn't i wouldn't spend the time or the money i'm afraid.

Everything i've read from you on here suggests you love your job and are bloody good at it. If we all sat about wondering if horses were a good idea we'd run a mile!!! Maybe it's a good thing none of us have any spare time......
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ETS - i agree with The_Carthorse above about how lucky you are to have those horses to compete this year so get on with getting better. I'm looking forward to your reports!!!
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First off, as previously noted, too much thinking.

You might note that the people who have been "harshest" (in the nicest, most well intentioned way) are the people who have been/are involved in horses professionally and/or at a high level. Injuries are part of the game, there is no question. Horses are big, strong and fast. They are even more part of the game when you take someone's money - they are paying you to assume those risks AND affect things so they don't have to take them in the future.

BUT . . .

What are you selling when you ride professionally? You're selling your knowledge and your physical ability. Your body is, in effect, a tool of your trade. So yes, it is important - perhaps more so than for someone who rides for their own pleasure - that it works to the best of your ability to maintain it. It's an investment. You pay good money for boots, a good saddle, competition clothes, etc etc, you need to put the same investment into your body. Exercises, physio - whatever is needed. And yes, some people do get away without that investment but usually not for long and often at a cost. And yes, age is part of it - it takes more to stay healthy and fit the more miles you have on the clock and the more bits you break. Get used to it.
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By the same token, you have to weigh the risks. Getting hurt with no potential "return", when you rely on your physical ability, is not a good investment in your business. Of course this is a very personal choice and depends a lot on how you define risk, what your individual strengths and weaknesses are etc.

Here endeth the lecture.
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On the subject of not competing, yes, I pretty much gave it up when I stopped competing my own upper level horse. I simply could not make enough money riding to run a horse at the level I wanted to and have some of the other things I wanted, like a house and a decent car. So for the last decade and a half or so my competing has been limited to clients' horses and usually in the service of sorting out a problem or starting them out, as these are the areas I love and have spent time getting good at. Then I help clients either take the horse on themselves or place it with someone who makes showing a priority. I found it almost impossible to give the time I needed to the horses at home and compete professionally. I've decided to concentrate on the areas I do well, other people have made other choices.

I will say if I'd had another source of support (a base I didn't have to rent etc.) and been able to afford to run a horse, I would have. But in the end I'd rather do the things with horses I'm interested in, although less high profile.

Hmm, that was a lot of sharing . . .
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You have to decide what's right for you and what you can afford in money, time etc. What I can tell you is today is not the day to be making those decisions. But I can also tell you almost everyone I know who rides professionally has had similar questions, whether they admit it or not.
 
You are definately thinking too much madhector!!

Have a chat with your physio tomorrow, explain that the current exercises aren't really working for you and see if there are any others that you can do. Don't give up on them altogether though, these things can take time and aren't necessarily obvious. I guess it's a bit like watching a foal grow, if you see it everyday you don't really notice the changes, but someone who sees it once every three weeks will turn up and go "my god, hasn't he grown?!" which is where you turn around and sort of mumble "well I guess so?!"

As for giving up competing and riding, DON'T.

Correct me if I'm wrong but haven't you recently posted about a couple (maybe more) horses that have been sent over to you to bring on and compete? Obviously their owners don't have any doubts about your riding or they would send them somewhere else...

Don't beat yourself up so much, and if you do have one of those things that I believe are called day's off, or something, keep your mind busy; plan your competition diary, paint the tack room, clean tack, anything that stops you thinking too much about what's going on.

Consider yourself told young lady!
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As well as weights you need to work on core balance. I spent hours on one leg doing things like brushing my teeth, wobble boards, closing my eyes etc all to build up the muscles and also to even out the inbalances. Elastic gym bands are brilliant at working different muscles correctly.
Even limping and being on crutches will mean different muscles have been allowed to weaken throughout your body.
I tore my cruciate ligament playing rugby and had to build up one thigh and leg completely from scratch as it wasted from surgery. It is hard work and there are no short cuts. I was back playing top level rugby within 6 months. I notice inbalances when I ride but have worked really hard to sort them out.
 
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