Not dead

Who else hated this 13 month drought as much as I did?

By some miracle of god, my schedule managed to work itself into something doable this semester. I cut back to 12 credits, which was only possible since I front loaded so many classes freshman and sophomore year. I'm working eight hours a week, which is less than I wanted, but it's also a three hour round trip commute . . . gotta love the DMV.

Lessons are on Tuesdays this semester, and we get three practice rides per semester too, which is, as the kids say, lit.

I'll probably use those rides to do polework and other assorted riding things that I've missed. No, hip stretches do not fall in the "things that I've missed" category, but I'll do them for my sake.

The first ride back was fairly uneventful. The most exciting part was just my ridiculous Instagram story. Coach S put me on Leia, which was surprising but appropriate. Fun fact: when you only go to the barn a handful of times in the course of a year, the ponies start to look larger. A lot larger.

It actually wasn't as difficult to get back into the swing of things as I thought it would be. The whole ride was mostly painless, including the no-stirrup work. I can't hold my two point for very long. My lower leg kinda flops all the time. There weren't any new or shocking issues; mostly, I just need to be less stiff and keep my thumbs up. We've heard it all before, folks.

I did also switch onto Penny at one point. Besides randomly spooking then bolting at . . . nothing . . . she was a doll.

I decided to do a quick workout after the lesson, just to stretch things out and keep myself moving. If you're coming back from a hiatus, leg lifts are the way to go. The only place that had opinions was the inner thigh muscles that I used to settle Penny when she decided we were Preakness competitors.

I also bought a new pair of breeches because I'm young and dumb. Your favorite barely 20-something is back, this time with no limits.