Today I was able to attend my first horse show as a gate keeper and picnic table jump judge for riders far advanced to me and ladies from Saddle Club age and up riding, jumping, doing tests for certification, and advancing in arena and in cross country. It is a neat thing to see an outreach program for young people in a positive environment.
It starts with riders warming up in the pasture where Destiny and Sky hang out in usually, and then riders and their horses are hand walked over the bridge, to the gate on deck, and with a whistle and a prayer in they go. As a new rider with an old body that gets an MRI on the left knee Wednesday from hay bale attack off a pick up at the dairy barn, I was very impressed on how brave they all are and how confident. It is a lot to keep on the mind and a lot to keep in mind out there. The lady's jump little, high, medium, water jumps, and triple posts and then in the advanced cross country do things like picnic tables, drums, cross ties, and run trails and around ponds. It is rather amazing to see. I really like seeing riders that meld with their horse mentally and emotionally with physical balance when it is not easy. That kind of poise I think will serve these lady's well later in life and is a positive atmosphere for a young person in this day and age. The web page shows many services available for horse loving people with a dream.
I am taking Tai Chi at Madisonville Community College under Dr. Scott Vanderploeg and I find many of the breathing, balance, and flexibility concepts are in both disciplines. Dr. Mesa at Trover Clinic seemed to think the riding and Tai Chi has been doing physical therapy for me since the injury. I have the kind of injury that lets me function using my right leg like lifting a bale, and if I stand on my right leg and rest the left I can function. Aspirin is your friend. I watched a young lady take a warm up tumble with a good horse, and she was so brave and such a good rider, she popped right back on and kept her concentration and when the time came to do the arena test she was right on the mark. That is the mark of a courageous young lady with concentraion, focus, and poise, and bodes well for her future as a good human being. Nature and animals can bring out the best in people and having a stable barn family with good positive influences is a good thing. Having been NIMS certified for emergency incidents, I watched our instructor manage logistics, incident command, operations, and finance and was impressed to still see a smile with that much churning in the head. Having dealt with train derailments, truck spills, leaking hazardous drums, and evacuations from releases for 33 years in th environmental field I can appreciate folks with that skill. It is one of the reasons I liked my job, my fire marshal friends, my EMT's, and operators so much. Quality people are like getting a good rush of fall air in your face when you need refreshing.
My Diana is coming home after attending her Aunt Geneva's funeral this weekend, and I have a clean car, another two loads moved out of our old place, scrubbed floors and walls, and washed three loads of glassware moved like our tupperware and corning ware so I have the place ready to see my baby soon in more style. The apples are still coming in my orchard and Diana's humming bird feeder functioned until it got colder and the bees loved it for a day then. There is something nice about doing Tai Chi after class under a full October moon in an orchard swaying in the breeze smelling of apples.
I may not be good enough yet like my last class where all the students were advanced while I am a beginner at MCC's class, but being a college student again after my career is good for me, and some things you enjoy for their own sake and how it makes you feel inside and less about how many forms you have in your head correctly. It is kind of neat to have been the person who 35 years ago gave the open house tour of the science department at MCC having moved in my old car trunk the skeleton and specimen jars to the new laboratory and now I am back at college again as a student.
I have discovered the neat taste of a pomegranete and blueberry juice with antioxidants as I searched for ways to try and heal faster while shopping at Krogers and it seems to help. I add blueberry's to my oatmeal in the form of a smiley face now since I have been on the Eat Right for your Bloodtype Diet and watching everything I eat since I retired. I have so far only lost 32 pounds on it and I have more to go to keep my doctor happy. After I retired I ended up seeing Trover Clinic a lot, but I have better blood pressure and blood glucose readings now and I can document the diet, horse riding and Tai Chi benefits to my health. Hay bales falling towards you off a pick up truck stacked 5 high may not be in the group for health benefits or my lack of being able to dodge isn't!
It is rather nice to have an interesting day learning new things even if I ended up standing on one foot a lot. Moving around actually keeps the knee warmed up and I think by keeping up moving it I have kept it from locking up. I will not know if I have to have surgery until Dr. Mesa sees the MRI results. I can already move it better daily from all the work I have been doing on it, but I have a ways to go yet.
Old folks heal slower! ;^)
I was lucky Thursday to get to visit with my friend Scott Wagner at Olney's area on my way back from the hour long lesson on horse riding. I was always lucky to work with quality folks. I met in the produce section getting stuff for Mom tonight my old coworker in DWM, Anthony Cox, who was interested in coming back to work in UST and was going to Frankfort to take the merit exam for UST. I always like to keep in touch with folks I knew from work. I was so blessed with good folks in my job to get to know.
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