Multiple Sclerosis - Extreme Cold

The average temperature for the next few days will be about twenty degrees and with the wind chill it will be below zero. I can not stand to be out of doors when it is this cold. Because of my MS my legs become completely numb and at the same time very painful. I may not get to the farm at all this week.

OTTB - More Winter Weather

I haven't written for te last few days because we had a major snow storm on Tuesday and the farm has been closed down pretty much for any type of riding. I  missed my lesson on Wednesday and just because of the very cold temperatures I didn't even try to go today. Hopefully next week will be better. Bouffe got his new blanket just in time.

OTTB - The Winter Freeze

The outdoor ring was still frozen solid, so I couldn't ride. But Bouffe really seemed to appreciate his new heavyweight blanket I put on him this morning. His old blanket was a hand-me-down from my previous horse and it has seen better days. Bouffe stood completely still in his stall while I adjusted all the straps and was so content when I was finished. There is just that sense of communication that is not spoken that Bouffe and I have and I have such a sense of peace when I am with him. I forget about my MS and any other problems I  may be having.

OTTB - Ring Is Just Too Deep

Well, the weather has been pleasant for January, but because of the thaw the outdoor ring is too deep for me to ride Bouffe in there. I've had a horse rebow training on this type of surface and I don't want it to happen again.

OTTB - It Wasn't So Scary After All

This morning Eileen and I decided we needed to make Bouffe's experience in the indoor ring a pleasant one right from the beginning; so, today's lesson was just for Bouffe. I really didn't have to do a thing as I watched Eileen work Bouffe on the lunge line, first one direction, than the other, until in the end, he was completely relaxed and followed Eileen around the ring after she took the lung line off. It looked just like something from a Monti Roberts demonstration! I was extremely pleased.

Next week we want to do the same thing plus have me ride Bouffe in the outdoor ring before we end the session. The following week the entire session will be indoors. It all sounds like a great master plan.

Hopefully, if the weather continues to cooperate I want to ride Bouffe again on Friday in the outdoor ring.

Multiple Sclerosis - "You Didn't Give Up"

"You didn't give up." Those were the words I heard from one of Robin's hippotherapy patients this morning, when she praised me after I had finished riding Bouffe. I didn't realize anyone was watching, as Bouffe and I shared the outdoor ring with Robin and her patient (I have to find out her name) for thirty minutes. As we were leaving was when the compliments came including, how well I was riding and what an inspiration I was, which she attributed to the fact that I didn't give up. She also asked about Bouffe as he stood there quietly. I didn't have much chance to say anything as Robin and Eileen spoke for me, praising  Bouffe. 

Speaking of Bouffe he really wasn't very interested in training this morning as the ring was thawing out and I could tell he hated the going. But at least it wasn't deep or slippery which I imagine it was by this afternoon as the temperature continued to rise. 

I mentioned Eileen in the previous paragraph. She is again working for Robin and is going to again be my riding instructor starting on Wednesday. Leslie just hasn't had the time to teach me and I am looking forward to lessons with Eileen, where I must remember to listen and cooperate. I made amends in a previous post and I must live up to what I wrote. I believe this too is God given and a second chance for me to become a better rider. I have Bouffe and now I have a instructor who I trust will give me every chance to achieve the goals I have for myself and Bouffe.    

OTTB - Riding Postponed Until?

I don't really know when I will be able to ride Bouffe again. Because of his fear of the indoor ring I haven't been able to ride in there and lately, because of the weather the outdoor ring is frozen when it's cold and sloppy, which is not good footing for a horse with a bowed tenon, when it warms up for the day. Tomorrow we are scheduled to have both as the day starts out with sleet and then warms up with rain. It is only two and a half months until April and I can't wait. 

OTTB - My Spiritual Awakening

I did manage to have hippotherapy yesterday morning before the cold weather set in. The temperature was in the forties when my session started and in the twenties by the time the hour was over. I was so cold by then that I got right in my car and came home. 

I did see Bouffe for a few minutes before my session and told him the weather had been just too cold and snowy for me to come up and see him. He looked me straight in the eyes like he understood. I have been around horses since I was five years old and I have never had this type of a relationship with any of my horses. From the first time I ever saw him, Bouffe has had that look like he knows all about me and was put into my life as a spiritual awakening, which he certainly has been.

OTTB - The Snow and The Ice and The Cold

Right now, the weather today and in the forecast for the next few days, are making it impossible for me to go to the farm, much less ride. I'm sure Bouffe is doing OK and we will see what happens in this coming week.

Multiple Sclerosis - The Ups and The Downs

Happy New Year to all my readers!

Well, 2014 has started off on a down note as far as my MS is concerned. As well as I felt on Monday and as much energy as I had when I rode Bouffe, that's how little I have today. Fatigue has always been the main symptom of Multiple Sclerosis that has affected me; in fact, it is why I am on disability. But during the last twenty-five years I have learned to live with it and arrange my life and my daily activities around how I feel on any particular day and today was not one where I could ride.

I have had something to do every day since Christmas and decided this morning I needed one day of complete rest and that is what I have done today. Hopefully, one day soon I will be able to at least get to the farm, even if I don't ride. I am thankful that I have someone in Leslie Bosley that I can trust to take care of Bouffe and she has done a wonderful job!