Goals

I figure that every good program should start with some goal-setting. Obviously, my biggest goal is to improve my riding. My secondary goal is to look hot in a cute little dress. What can I say? I'm vain. Or I'm honest. Or both. I want to be able to show up to a rated hunter show in my Tailored Sportsman breeches and NOT feel awkward and totally out of place.

So, in no particular order, here is what I am hoping to accomplish with my new exercise obsession:

1.) Improve my flexibility
2.) Tone shoulders and upper arms
3.) Increase upper-body strength (I have terrible upper-body strength. Terrible.)
4.) Increase my endurance.
5.) Lose (or at least reduce) some of these love-handles.

Of course, I'm somewhat certain that focusing on 1-4 will certainly help 5, but I just wanted to make sure it's up there. ;-)

Introduction

After the vet told me to put one of my equine charges on a diet, I hauled an old bathroom scale out to the barn to start weighing her hay. The easy process of weighing hay (that doesn't involve a hay net or special feed scale) is to weigh oneself, then pick up the hay, and whatever the difference is equals the weight of the hay. The process that I went through was as follows:

1.) Step on scale.

2.) Gasp in astonishment

3.) Realize the scale is telling me that I am the heaviest that I have ever been in my life.

4.) Begin denial process: This is an old scale. It's been in my parents' garage for years. I have no way of knowing if it's accurate. Very likely it's not.

5.) Pick up hay and pout while calculating the difference.

After I completed feeding, and went home, I fearfully climbed onto my own bathroom scale, which I unfortunately know is accurate. For that reason, I don't climb on said scale often. But when I did, I was aghasted to find that the scale at the barn did in fact match my accurate scale at home.

For the next week, I convinced myself that I felt fine. I am still wearing the same sized clothing. I voiced my fears to The Boy, who dutifully consoled me and reassured me that he still, indeed, found me attractive.

Then, a few days later after I put thoughts of diabetes and heart attacks (which run in my family) out of mind, I decided that the pony needed to be trained and sold. It was completely unrelated to the weight issue. I hated riding the pony. I always felt awkwardly huge on the 13.2h dainty, feminine, and somewhat squirrel-y pony. She was sitting in her stall taking up space, and she needs to be sold. Okay, maybe it's not entirely unrelated to my weight; I do feel like I am squishing her.

So, in order to force myself to become more comfortable on the pony, I quit riding my big horses all together and only permitted myself to ride the pony. Within two weeks I was comfortable riding the itty bitty pony, since she was my only mount and I no longer had the "big horses" to compare her to. Her training began progressing very quickly. She learned how to go on the bit and become nice and round. She is getting stronger and stronger and can hold a nice collected frame for longer now. We started working on her canter under saddle as well, since that was lacking from all of her prior education. She canters around lovely as can be, and we are currently polishing up her canter cues. She is a joy to ride- a very naturally talented and athletic pony.

Last week I drove to the Equestrian Center to watch a rated hunter/jumper show. After an hour of watching supreme 5- and 6-figure horses, I was feeling especially motivated, so I drove out to the barn and set up a small (12") vertical fence for the pony and I to negotiate. We hopped over the fence a few times at the trot and once at the canter. When I went home afterwards and reviewed the schooling session in my mind, I decided that I could, indeed, stand to drastically improve my riding by getting more fit. I know I didn't do poorly. But I know that I can do better. It didn't FEEL the same as it used to. And the pony is so talented, that she deserves a rider who is physically fit enough to help her become the best athlete she can be.

I came to the conclusion that it is hardly fair for me to expect my horses to all be athletes, and to turn around and let myself fall apart. I have a gym membership; it is time that I use it.