Elves; horse remedies; trail running; scrabble

We woke up to find the elves ready to go horse riding! Elf Kendall was attempting to fit into Kyra's riding boots, with Kyra's new pony nearby. Elf Edward was riding on Moki's back. Guess they wanted to ride their own horses today rather than ride in my backpack. Can't say that I blame them after yesterday's fall off a horse in which I squished them.

I didn't sleep well last night because of my back pain. When I got up this morning, the headache was gone, but my lower back still hurts and my right thigh and knee are bruised. I told Kyra that I would try to ride today, but definitely no cantering. She said she was glad I was willing to try, but that she would understand if I hurt too bad to ride. I explained the situation to Connie, who works at the ranch but wasn't there yesterday. She suggested that I ride Freckles this morning because she has a very smooth walk. Kyra chose Sioux. I liked Freckles, but she kept shaking her head during the ride. Not sure why. Our group consisted of us; Sandy, Madi and Austin (the family we met yesterday); and another woman from Beaufort, SC. Josh was our guide and he rode Cheyenne (the horse that bucked me off yesterday). Cheyenne was testy with him too, but he forced her to do things his way.

After the ride, a trainer saw me stretching my back and grimacing. He asked if I was okay and I told him about my fall yesterday. He gave me a tube of Horse Remedies Tendon Repair Gel and told me to take a hot bath or shower, then rub it in good, and repeat several times a day. He said he used it when he took a saddle horn to his chest and it helped him heal quickly, with less pain than expected, and no bruising. He said it had all natural ingredients and therefore, no side effects. I was in so much pain that I was willing to try almost anything. Especially a recommendation from a horse trainer that has probably been through a lot worse than my current experience. And since it's all natural ingredients, why not give it a try. He told me to just keep the tube and use it during our stay. I could return it to him before leaving or if I used the whole tube he didn't mind. Wow, what a nice guy!

We left the barn and returned to the guest house. It was too early for lunch. Kyra and Madi wanted to go to the game room. I told them to stay together and that I would be in our room resting. I applied the gel as the trainer suggested and laid on the bed, having difficulty finding a comfortable position, until nearly lunch time.

After lunch, I was going to ride Freckles again. But when I tried to put on the saddle, she pulled away from me. I finally got it on her back after a few tries, but I wondered if something was wrong. Then when a stable-hand tried to put on the girth, she moved again and her hind leg/hip appeared to spasm. It spasmed a few times as she danced around. The decision was that something must truly be wrong with her so they suggested I ride Tiffy instead. Freckles got to go out into the pasture and relax. Tiffy has a very smooth trot, but moves very slowly. She also doesn't like other horses to be behind her; she kicked Sandy's horse when they came too close so we moved to the back of the line. Travis was our guide again and we rode with Sandy, Austin and Madi. I didn't mind Tiffy moving slowly and was very greatful for her extremely smooth and slow trot. The gel that I applied to my back must have worked because I didn't hurt as bad at the end of the ride. Don't get me wrong, I was still in a lot of pain, but not nearly as much as I anticipated.

After the ride, since my back was feeling a little better and I was feeling guilty about not running yesterday, I thought I would go for a run through the trails before dinner. Sandy said she would take a shower and either she or Austin (Madi's older brother) would keep an eye on the girls. So I changed into running clothes, put on my blinky light hat, reflective bright yellow vest, and headlamp and headed towards the trails. The sun was setting and I wasn't sure if I would need my headlamp or not, but decided to take it just in case it got dark faster than I expected. Each step I took my back ached. I could feel every painful footfall. But once I left the road and hit the trails, it didn't hurt as bad. Now I know first hand that running on dirt is much less jarring on your body than running on pavement. I'd read that before, but now I truly felt the difference. I followed the main horse trail because I didn't want to get lost. I followed the circle rather than branching off on one of the side trails. I completed one loop and decided I had time for one more loop before I would need to head back for dinner. But I didn't get very far on that second loop before I received a text message from Kyra. I headed back to the guest house and met her in Madi's room. By this time, it was almost 6 p.m. (dinner time). Sandi said she'd take the kids to dinner and I should take a shower and join them afterwards. I took a long shower trying to relax. I reapplied the gel, dressed and met them in the dining room. We had a pleasant meal.

After dinner, the five of us went into the game room of the main guest house and played scrabble. As the game went on, we got sillier. Madi put what she thought was a word down on the table. Others questioned it. I did a google search on my iPhone and came across Urban Dictionary. Did you know that "danga" means: "(1) quick way of saying thats really nice, (2) or your a fool (3) i will hert you"? So then we started making up crazy words and searching for them on Urban Dictionary. It was HILARIOUS! Eventually we ran out of tiles and tallied up the points. Kyra and I won (we played as a single person since the game is meant for four players), Sandy came in a close 2nd, Austin was 3rd, and Madi was 4th.

It reminded me of playing scrabble with my mom. She LOVED scrabble! My mom died on the night before Thanksgiving, ten years ago. The fact that Kyra and Madi picked scrabble for us to play tonight, the day after Thanksgiving, was cathartic. I miss my mom so much, but she truly lives on in our lives. We had the most amazing time laughing and playing scrabble with our new friends tonight! Thank you mom, for the little things!