Back in the saddle…😊😊🐴🐴

When you start riding before you can walk it becomes something that you recognise as familiar. I got on the horse again for the first time this week and it feels like coming home.

I had mentally given up the hope of riding again, but sometimes you are lucky enough to find people who are so passionate about helping you that you feel in the beginning like you have to do it for them, and then suddenly you are doing it for yourself.

Ana Martim Luís ( Pilates goddess), Jorge Pereira ( physiotherapist to the ultimate sporting club- Benfica) and Patricia Tiago da Silva ( Oesteopath and magician) have made something that seemed impossible, possible. I am not there yet but it definitely is much more realistic than it was a year ago.

It is so important if you have chronic pain or injury to find someone you trust to help you. What works for one person might not work for another!

I am still a long way off but just the hope that it might work makes me so much more determined. I have more classical articles on the way and the book is being met with great feedback and I feel so lucky to have people who are just good people.

My mum who flew my horse across the other side of the world because she knew I couldn’t bear the thought of selling him to someone who would treat him badly.

It literally fills my heart to see him playing happily in his paddock with my mum laughing at him in the background! What a pair they will be…lookout dressage Australia!!

I have also learnt how nice it is to have someone who supports you. I always believed that if someone loves you they make what you love to do easier, not more difficult. It might be asking how it went or knowing when not to ask. It might be going to watch you or packing your lunch or just being there when you get home. I moved across the world alone and I thought that made me independent. I have learnt that independence is finding the line between doing it yourself and asking for help. And above all admitting to yourself that even If you don’t need anyone, it’s really really nice to have them there.

I am more hopeful this time because I got what I believe is the right saddle for me…this for a rider with problems is a must and for a rider who doesn’t want to end up with problems also a must! For information on the saddle that I am riding in, and perhaps to help you in your search for a saddle, I highly recommend you contact Julia Duffin at Saddle Kind.

Iota ( son of Rubi AR bred by mum in Portugal) was gelded this week and I will try to start very slowly on him. Classical training articles will appear on Eurodressage in the coming weeks. To everyone at Cascais riding club thankyou, in particular frederico pinteus and Valdeni soures luz!!

To tell me your story or ask a question write to me…don’t suffer riding in pain if you don’t have to!

Stay tuned for next weeks blog on the international dressage riding club seminar!