Non-Rider at the Trail Ride

Last Saturday, Oakmont Farm hosted a group trail ride for the boarders. As I have this crappy knee situation, I couldn't ride, but that didn't stop me from visiting with my girl, Kadance. I even talked my extremely patient husband into coming and taking some pictures.


Kadance is a very loving horse. She seeks out attention and loves to be rubbed on her throat. There is a particular spot on her throat that she loves more than any other. You can obviously tell by her expression when I rubbed it. If a horse could get its back leg going like a dog does when the sweet spot was scratched, she would have been kicking like crazy.

Physiology Grades Are Back on Track

The exam on nerve cell conduction....96%. Sweet!

So, How Bad Is It?

Today was the follow up appointment for my knee. Unfortunately, I have hurt myself more than I had suspected. During the past week, my knee has gotten to feel much better. Every now and then, I move it in a particular way that reminds me that I hurt myself. The message is loud and clear.

Stairs are not my friend and my knee does get tired quickly.

It's no wonder. The Doctor said I have done some damage to my MCL. Actually, he said I have torn my MCL, probably have done damage to my meniscus and probably have injured my ACL as well. Isn't that just nice.

Now, all I have to do is wait for an MRI for clarification of damage. How about this? If I have torn my MCL, meniscus and ACL , then I'll be having surgery. If I have torn my MCL and injured my meniscus, then maybe surgery, depending on the amount of damage. If I have only torn my MCL, then I'll be in the bionic brace for up to 6 months.

CRAP!

I really don't think I have done worrisome damage to my ACL. There is probably some damage to my meniscus, but I'm hoping there isn't. I have resigned myself to accepting that I have injured my MCL.

I know this because, there was a chart on the wall in the doctor's office that illustrated knee injury with a fellow swimming using the frog kick. So, I tried it. YIKES! It really hurt. No knee rotation for me.

The worst and most sad news about the whole situation is that I can't ride horses for a while. BooHoohoooo.

Eeewww, Crappy Score.

Well, I got back my physiology exam, which covered the cell membrane.

When I turned it in, I told the instructor that I had either done well or really bad. I hoped that I would at least come away with a B.

I did. I got an 88%. My overall grade is still an A.

The test today covered nerves. Hmmm. I'll be pleased with a B on that one.

Next week, muscles. Hopefully, I'll get back on the A-train with that one.

What Happened to Kelly?

When I visited my sister for the Daniel Stewart clinic, a conversation about the trials and tribulations of me came up. My sister suggested that I have a column on the Oakmont Farm website entitled "What Happened to Kelly?" Well, pooh, I thought. Yes, exciting things do happen to me and yes, they usually involve some sort of animal, but I don't think I need to have a column focusing my adventures.

I have my own personal blog.

So, this is what happened earlier this week.

I was at Oakmont practicing with Blue for the filming of the second portion of my Parelli Level 1 test. I decided to work on mounting while Blue stood still. I had done the saddling portion and began working on bareback mounting.

Okay, so there I was...one foot on the mounting block and the other foot on Blue's back. Things were okay for a few seconds, then she decided she would play "hide your heiny." Basically, she began to scoot her behind around and away from me. In my precarious position, I was slowly being "wishboned." Had she stopped after two or three steps, I would have been fine, but no. She took several steps and eventually, I fell.

As I was falling, I thought to myself, "I really don't want to land on the mounting block. That would really be a bad thing." I leaned away from the mounting block and ended up hitting the arena floor. My right knee connected with the ground and I heard a distinct crunching sound.

Let me say this...It really hurt. To add insult to my situation, Vanessa had just dumped a big bucket of water in the arena and naturally, I landed in the wet spot. So, there I am rolling around in wet arena dirt holding my knee and trying not to vomit. I didn't even care that I was getting really dirty, that's how bad it hurt.

Eventually, the nausea subsided and the pain calmed down. Blue just stood there looking at me with her head down. Clearly, she was asking me, "What are you doing down there?"

"Thanks alot, Blue," I said to her and made my first attempt to stand.

Yikes! It hurt, but I was able to stand and sort of walk, okay, hobble. I knew I had hurt myself and there would be no way I would be able to teach the two horseback riding lessons I had scheduled for later that afternoon.

With lessons cancelled, I drove home. Good thing I was driving the truck. It's an automatic.

At home, the pain just got worse.

During the night, I had to get up to pee. The pain was very intense and I was seriously struggling to walk. My nonsympathetic husband suggested that I crawl.

By 2:00 am, I knew I would not be attending school Wednesday morning. That really chaps my behind. But, there was no way around it. Off to the clinic.

At the clinic, my first examination yielded a trip to orthopedics. Orthopedics ordered an X-ray. X-rays revealed no broken bones, possible bruising. Further manipulation of the knee resulted in lots and lots of hurting. The initial diagnosis was a possible tear to the MCL, grade 2. Treatment options would consist of a hinged brace and crutches. Medications: Tylenol 3 and Ibuprofen. Follow up in a week to determine possible injury to the ACL.

Meanwhile, I have to keep my knee elevated and I can't ride Blue. No horseback riding. That means filming is out for the weekend. CRAP. I guess it's a good thing this test isn't on a deadline.

Today is Friday. My knee is much better and I really don't think surgery will be warranted. The brace is extremely helpful and the crutches are bothersome.

My husband, well, he keeps saying that he won't take care of me if I "Christopher Reeve" myself on this horse. He pointed out that my mother's condo is not wheelchair friendly.

Baby Steps

Yesterday was an AMAZING day. Not only did I get to give tours at Red Barn Farm, but I also went out to Oakmont. That's a great thing, but the most AMAZING thing happened while I was out at Oakmont.

I had intended to ride Blue, but she was to have a lesson later, so I was told to ride Flame. Well, on my way to get Flame, I changed my mind and decided to play with Kadance. I brought her into the arena and made a big decision.

I went way out on a limb and decided that I was going to ride her.

And...I did!

She was very calm about the whole experience. It was really no big deal to her at all. I was far more nervous and excited than she was. All she wanted to do was explore the new items in the arena.

I am thrilled! I rode my girl for the VERY FIRST TIME!!

Assorted Clinic Pictures

Here is Audrey and Red rocking around the jump course.

This is me riding around. At this moment, I am concentrating so hard. Stryder is simply doing his thing.

More riding.

Here I am about to do something that I have only done once before and that was about 2 minutes before this attempt. Luckily, I didn't fall off.

After all was said and done, there was time for relaxing. From left to right: me, Daniel Stewart, and Donna. If you look closely, you'll see an outline of a saddlebred on her shirt.

Audrey and Daniel Stewart. Notice he is signing her book for the third time. Pretty soon, she'll have to insert more pages. I wish she would just go train with him.

Audrey and Red Jumping

Audrey and Red Making a Sharp Turn

Riding Right in Oklahoma

This past weekend, I went to Oklahoma to visit my family and to participate in my second riding clinic with Daniel Stewart.

The clinic was great and Daniel Stewart is such a nice man. He always has encouraging things to say. This best part is that I know I am a very basic beginner and even though he is a coach for the Olympic Team, he still provided individual attention to me. No matter how poorly or how well a rider rides, he always points out a positive. In my case, he complemented my positive attitude. That's me -- Have a coke and a smile!

Anyway, I did learn bunches as did my friend, Donna. She boards and rides at Oakmont with me. She loves saddlebreds. I give her a hard time about those giraffe horses and she accepts that I like big butts. My girl's butt is significantly bigger that her horse's. Anyway....back to the topic.

So, there I was...way, way outside my comfort zone attempting to canter. I've only purposefully asked for a canter maybe three times. And that was about a week ago. So, Daniel Stewart told me to ask for a canter and I did. My sister's horse, Stryder, complied and we were off to the races, so to speak, right directly into the wall. Yikes. I bailed. Ka-Blam!

Dang it. I had really hoped NOT to fall off this time. Every time I have ridden Stryder, I have ended up in the dirt. Luckily, this time was less sever that the previous times. No major bruising and no concussion. Only a wrenched finger and a big time head ache.

All in all, I am tickled to have attended the clinic. It is such a privilege to get to work with a big time horse person. He'll be back in July "08. Even though we will be moving to Missouri around the exact same time, I am going to do my best to move mountains to be able to attend.

My niece, Audrey, did extremely well. That young lady has such a great relationship with her horse. She looked amazing. I asked her when she might be moving to Spain to train with Daniel Stewart full-time. She said she has no desire to do that. All she wants to do is ride and train. Keep it simple and love what your doing.

I can definitely understand that. Right now, my ultimate long term goal is to do a flying lead change. Short term, I just want to saddle my horse and ride her without an issue. She's been doing so well. Vanessa, her trainer, has made major improvements with Kadance. I have progressed from simply wanting to pick up her feet to completing basic ground games without a temper tantrum. By spring, I hope to be doing light saddle work.

On another note...this morning I woke up being able to correctly identify the precise location of all those muscles in my own body that I had to identify on the anatomy learning models for my exam last Friday. I know this based on how sore they are. Trust me when I say the sternocleidomastoid muscle gets a work out when you slam the back of your head to the ground when falling from a horse.

More Points for Me

This past Friday, I took two exams. The first one was in my Physiology class and covered metabolism. I thought I did pretty well. There was only one area where I was concerned. When I read the question, I actually said out loud, "What?" I wondered to myself where that question had come from because it certainly was not in my notes.

The second exam was in Anatomy and covered muscle systems; the function, structure and names of the muscles of the body. There were a couple of questions on the written portion that caused me to stop and think. The practical portion was cake and pie (piece of cake and easy as pie).

So, today scores came back. Physiology...95%. Anatomy...102%. Right now, I'm working on straight A's. Frankly, I rock!

Big Bull

Next to Oakmont farm, there is a pasture that is home to several bulls. The hang out doing nothing but eating, sleeping, pooping and peeing. No big deal, right? Well, I find them to be intimidating and I won't even approach the fence. These pictures are taken from the safety of my truck. I'm just too frightened to find out how they would react if I were to approach the fence.

Life Lessons

I got this as an email several days ago. I thought it was pretty dang accurate.

You have to click on it for a larger image.

Test Results

The test scores on the Physiology test covering homeostasis and biofeedback loops were revealed. I did well. Not as well as I would have liked, but a 94% is nothing to sneeze at.

Last Friday, we had a test covering DNA and RNA and the central dogma of biology. I can honestly say that I owe my score completely to my Microbiology instructor. I earned myself a BIG, FAT 100 PERCENT!
Yeah, that's right.

I am an overachieving study nerd...and PROUD of it!