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After knee replacement surgery
Joint Replacements | Last Active: Oct 27, 2021 | Replies (618)Comment receiving replies
Thanks @jenniferhunter! I will probably give them a call in the next month or so. You are right about the too much sitting. I've worked from home since I retired as an Internet help desk and web designer and that hasn't helped my back. I also have degenerative disc disease and osteopenia. I'm planning to really retire at the end of this year and am currently in some crunches at work to help with my job going away. I've had the back problem quite a few years but have been ignoring it and walking less and less because of it. Now that the knee is good I'm hoping to do what I can to help the back get better.
I do have to tell you about a funny horse riding story. I grew up in San Bernardino, Calif. and as a city boy I had friends that loved horse back riding. They would rent horses at a few places, one being located on the edge of the desert area of the county where there was an old river bed and trails to ride on. They talked me into going with them and when we were driving to the ranch where we could rent the horses they told me whatever I say do not tell them I have never ridden a horse before or they will give you a dead head. So we get there and the guy looks at the 3 of us and asks if we've ever ridden before specifically looking at me. Why sure, lots of times I told him. He must have known because he brought a horse out of the barn that was snorting and prancing and then helped me up on his back. After a few minutes (maybe seconds), I let go of the reins and set them on the front of the saddle horn. The horse bolted and started running towards a small circular track near the barn. When he bolted, I almost fell out of the saddle but grabbed on for dear life to the saddle horn. The horse ran around the track until the owner did a loud whistle and he came running back to the owner. I got down from the horse with a little help and he had a big knowing smile on his face and told me, I'll go get you another horse. This one hasn't been out much lately. Although my friends never fessed up to it, I have a feeling they were in on the joke. I have a healthy respect for horses now. ☺
Replies to "Thanks @jenniferhunter! I will probably give them a call in the next month or so. You..."
@johnbishop Oh my.... snorting and prancing would be the first clue not to get on that horse unless you are a jockey in a race..... oh the dangerous things we do when we're young. You want a horse that is calm and drops his head and even licks his lips. That's when they are happy and relaxed. You need a healthy respect for horses, but they need to respect you. If they don't, you will be getting onto an animal that is unsafe and bigger and stronger and you run the risk of an injury. A horse is a prey animal and if spooked, it will run first and ask questions later, so you need to be prepared to stay balanced if that should happen. It's happened to me when a speeding semi truck barreled past us in a residential area when I was riding with my sister. Our horses took off at a gallop and we steered them away from the road and then circled them to stop them in someone's front yard. You can't stop them when they are reacting because they won't be thinking about their training when they panic. The guy should not have put you up there. He may not have understood horses and safety and he should have been able to figure out your skill level by looking at you and your confidence level, and I bet that horse ran around that track a lot. They develop habits and will often guess what they think you want because of what they did last time. I hope that didn't ruin horses for you. The reason it works at all is respect, and you have to demonstrate you are in charge and the horse will accept you as a leader. You do that by giving correct signals when riding and not allowing the horse to avoid your requests, and praising desired behavior. When I was a kid in riding class, another horse passed me which they were not supposed to do because some of the horses would kick. That made my horse bolt, and then come to a sudden stop, and on an English saddle with nothing to grab, I went over his head. What I grabbed was the horse's neck, and my legs flew up and around and I found myself hanging underneath his neck right behind his head. My feet didn't touch the ground and I let go and dropped a few inches to the dirt. That might seem like a funny thing to a bunch of kids and you were lucky. Did you tell your parents or was that one of your secrets?
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@jenniferhunter, @johnbishopMy dad was a snob when he was young. My mom loved to ride, but she was a timid rider. So my mom insisted that my dad try it and he relented to go with her. But as soon as the horse pooped he got off the horse saying that he was insulted and walked back to the barn, or wherever they rented the horses. And he never ever got back on one again.