Lesson learned - Keep riding in winter

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Skib

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I hadnt ridden since September. Big Mistake. NHS warn us old people not to go out and get chilled in bad weather and I thought of the Brontes catching cold at funerals, so I stopped riding, thinking I would resume in Spring, just as I did after Covid Lockdown.

Well today was Springlike but when I went to the yard and put my foot in the stirrup, it seemed I simply coudnt launch myself at the mare and swing my leg over the cantle. YM did eventually get me on, and I hacked a very stroppy mare. But O tonight, both my ankles ache. And that too was what happened when I resumed riding after Covid. Riding seems to stress your ankles even though you dont feel it at the time.

I have resolved to ride all next winter whatever the weather.
 
I agree! When I lost my horse a year ago I didn’t ride for months. My problem was I couldnt get off!🤣
Horse was a wide Cob which I’m not used to after having a TB for many years, but still! I also couldnt walk for two days after. Lost so much fitness and flexibility not mucking out, riding and doing all the usual yard jobs.
I now ride twice a week (can get off ok now) and do Pilates.
As the saying goes..’ if you dont use it, you lose it’ True dat.
 
Great that you're back on, Skib!

You may already do this, so ignore me, but have you considered having your own pair of stirrups? Some designs can cause ankle pain as they put you in the wrong position (plus also dependent on saddle and stirrup bar location etc). I absolutely cannot ride in Freejumps for example - they kill my ankles so much so I spent a lesson sans stirrups once 😂
 
deicinmerlyn said:
My problem was I couldnt get off!
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That is not uncommon. At my very first riding lesson (aged 61) I was being introduced to the horse in the yard when an old gentleman, obviously a knowledgeable rider, as he had just returned from a solo hack, slipped while dismounting and fell on the cobbled yard. My new RI said to me, I dont want that ever to happen to you and she taught me what I later learned was the cavalry dismount. Though I drop to the ground, rather than step down as the cavalry do, I have dismounted that way ever since and in 25 years have only once fallen over when dismounting. She spent the first lesson teaching me to mount and dismount, over and over.
teapot said:
but have you considered having your own pair of stirrups?
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Yes. I have my own stirrups (2 sizes to fit summer and winter boots) and leathers and I put them on any horse I ride. I bought them years ago after being bucked off an RS pony and getting my boot caught in their stirrup which was too small for my winter boots. I like my own soft leathers too. I am Princess and the Pea when it comes to stirrup leathers.

i am a spoiled brat too. Someone else lifts the saddle onto the horse. Someone else helps me mount. But if old people want to ride (and I do) we are like small children at the stable, we depend on kind staff to help. And it is lovely to have H&H Forum andto be encouraged and taught here too.
 
Congratulations on getting back in the saddle!

It might be worth checking out Maeve Sheridan's instagram page - I saw a post about helping an older client with their mobility getting in & out the saddle today.

I can highly recommend her programme to help keep those riding muscles strong and mobile for riding, which might help keep you riding as long as possible :)
 
deicinmerlyn said:
I now ride twice a week (can get off ok now) and do Pilates.
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What sort of Pilates do you do? We did Jo Wicks during lock down and I used to do the Canadian airforce exercises (1964 ish) when young. but I have not done Pilates.

However, I will never dismount properly in the normal way. I asked the YM/RI last summer, if I could try because I felt that I could and she said No. She felt it might not end well, whereas the cavalry dismount always works for me.
 
Skib said:
No. I will have a look. I am not sure how to work Instagram but my daughters put things there so I will look
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She is on FB too, if that is easier for you to work.

Meg Parkinson Aligned Rider (pilates & yoga mix) would also be another recommendation :)
 
My sister always dismounted by slinging her leg over the pommel and sliding down, backside to the horse. She was very arthritic and stiff.
It seemed to work well. We were told not to at my riding school years ago because the horse might throw its head up and catch your leg, pitching you backwards. Seems unlikely but I suppose it is possible. I struggle to dismount any which way I can think of! My forgiving pony lets me slide down his shoulder hanging on to his mane so I don’t hit the ground too hard. He then sighs heavily.
 
Skib said:
What sort of Pilates do you do? We did Jo Wicks during lock down and I used to do the Canadian airforce exercises (1964 ish) when young. but I have not done Pilates.

However, I will never dismount properly in the normal way. I asked the YM/RI last summer, if I could try because I felt that I could and she said No. She felt it might not end well, whereas the cavalry dismount always works for me.
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I’m a nurse and within our team one of the Physios runs weekly classes in the evening. It’s really helped with balance and strength. I noticed as I’ve got older that my reactions arent as quick as they were and I’ve lost so much flexibility. Probably need to do it more often tbh but can’t really fit it in.
Initially I stood up in the stirrups and simultaneously pulled my right leg over while slipping my foot out of the left stirrup. I worry about landing with foot in stirrup as it’s not really safe.
A lot was was confidence, sort of brain block so my body wouldn’t work. Once my confidence increased its improved.
 
I don't ride much in winter since I no longer have my own. (Share pony gets turned away for 2 or 3 months & I don't have a say in it.)

I do Pilates at least twice a week. It helps with suppleness, posture, balance, core strength, mounting & dismounting but not ankles in my experience.

I use "Pilates for Riders" by Lindsay Wilcox-Reid. It's well enough explained for a complete beginner to use & I prefer a book to a video that presumes you are going at a certain speed with no stops to blow your nose or have a drink of water ! 🤣

Edited - I'm wondering if there's a good ankle exercise we could both be doing? Do please tell if you find one!
 
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Regards dismounts.
I go for a hack with similarly aged friends once a week. Our dismounts are varied.
Commonest seems to be Cavalry dismount.
I favour the "find a balance point with belly on saddle & then do an unladylike slither hoping clothes don't catch on anything and undress me on the way down" method. (I'm light & Tommy is both patient and quite near the floor!)
The one of us whose horse is tallest goes into the school & borrows the huge, wheelchair adapted RDA mounting block & then does right leg over the neck, forwards method like @Time for Tea 's sister only onto the block. It looks very unsafe but I've never seen her have a problem. (Her horse is very steady & used to it.)
 
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Yep, I did the same, and on day two, it was awful as I waited for my muscles to relax enough for me to sit in the saddle . Lesson learned.
 
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Apologies, I have just edited this to add a detail about freeing ones feet from the stirrup.
deicinmerlyn said:
Initially I stood up in the stirrups and simultaneously pulled my right leg over while slipping my foot out of the left stirrup. I worry about landing with foot in stirrup as it’s not really safe.
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No, I dont think that is safe. In a normal dismount your feet should not be in the stirrups.
In the cavalry dismount, you need to keep your left foot in the stirrup. Someone should be holding your horse and also ready to grip the right stirrup if the saddle slips.
Stand up in the stirrups to attention. It is essential when doing the Cavalry dismount to keep your left foot in the left stirrup and your left leg straight and rigid. Do not bend the left knee until the right leg is over the cantle and on the left side of the horse. Your right leg should be straight and close to the left leg as if you were standing to attention.
Once I am standng to attention on the left side of the horse, I then put my hands in the seat of the saddle, put my weight on them, free my foot from the stirrup, and slither down the side of the horse to the ground. You are right that the bp makes this slightly awkward and one can end up with a bare tummy.
I have a grab strap on the front of the saddle and I usually hold this to help in the slither part of the dismount, as I once fell backwards onto the yard.
Goldie's mum said:
Edited - I'm wondering if there's a good ankle exercise we could both be doing? Do please tell if you find one!
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After lock down I did the NHS ankle exercises. I bought a set of rubber resistance bands, but I was already over 80 and found it hurt me to sit on the floor. I found the NHS ankle exercises worked. My ankles stopped hurting when I did rising trot.

I cant paste the link and the NHS site as changed but if you go to the NHS site and search, you will find ankle exercises. Our Dr daughter also gave me some core strengthening exercises, but I never did them. Like someone else here said, I am a sack of potatoes rider.

I also do some balance exercises given me after I broke my ankle years ago.
 
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Big mounting block is a must. When I got my 17:3 ID x gypsy vaneer , I got a mounting block with top step at stirrup height. Just to make it more safe I stapled an old carpet square in coir to the top step. I would mount and dismount on it. Worked ok. Only fell off it once when it was icy. I don’t ride now. Have to say the day after my first ride after a year or so off, due to no horse, I felt I couldn’t walk without looking like I Shat my pants
 
I had to take some time off with illness and have come back with hips tight.

I had to use the cavalry dismount to swing my right leg over but worried that my foot would catch in the standing to attention phase so I had someone confirm that I'd released before I hopped down.
 
ROMANY 1959 said:
Have to say the day after my first ride after a year or so off, due to no horse, I felt I couldn’t walk without looking like I Shat my pants
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Something similar here. As posted above,I rode on Tuesday and my lower legs are still really achey today. I need to walk with OH to the hospital this afternoon so perhaps they will loosen up.
 
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