Bit Of Lungeing

Tucker and Chance on the Line

Church and lunch afterwards took up a good part of day. Since it was Mother's Day, the diner was very busy so we had a wait.  I did have a nice salad bar lunch so it was worth the time, though.

Afternoon had worn on by the time I got home. I settled in for some computer time and eventually headed out to the barn to do something with the Boys.

I decided to lunge, again because my knees are hurting and I still think I am in "X-ray" shock from what the doctor said.  Oh, yes, I also did a lot of research on knee replacements and the best places to go.  The top surgical center is in New York City.  That is a major hassle as far as I am concerned. Getting into and out of the city is a challenge.  Public transportation for this kind of thing is out of the question, so that leaves driving in and out. And, since I would not be able to drive with the surgery, that means getting someone to drive for me. That might be OK for one or two trips in, but this procedure has follow up visits, so that is imposing an awful lot on the kindness of friends.

Another friend recommended a surgical center in Philadelphia. Again, that's a hassle, but perhaps not quite as daunting as New York. And some of the Philly doctors have offices in New Jersey, so I might be able to do follow ups there.

The local doctor I already met with is certainly qualified, but two things are putting me off a bit. The first is that he will not do both knees at one time.  Both my chiropractor and physical therapist think that is the way to go for some pretty solid reasons. The second "put off," was his reaction to the idea of riding. When I did my research on the Internet, I found no less than four reputable sites that say horseback riding is actually a recommended exercise after TKR surgery.  Now, I wouldn't mind this too much, but apparently riding USED to be a no-no and it's only within the last five years or so that it has been put on the good exercise list. I wish this doctor knew this.

So much for the knees. On to the horses!!

I lunged Tucker first and he was really a good boy this time. The fun part was doing a lot of transitions trot/canter/trot.  He was almost instantly obedient to my voice commands, doing 6-9 strides in each gait before the transition.  He was super responsive.  Then I set up a one foot high little "jump" for him just to keep him entertained.  Unlike the other day, he was quiet and lovely going over it on the right rein. On the left, he got a bit silly and started some of the bucking after the jump, but he was very much under my control, so it didn't matter. Since we finished up with a nice quiet jump again, it was just fine that he played a bit.

I did basically the same routine with Chance.  He too was very responsive on the transitions up and down, again, just on my voice commands. His jumping was very relaxed and I had to push him to keep him forward, but by the end of the little session, he was doing a nice soft canter to the fence, jumping and then cantering softly off without too much "push" from me.

All and all we had nice little workouts from some very well behaved horses.

Good for a Sunday afternoon.