Stall rest

It's not stall rest for the princess.  It's stall rest for me.

My knee was bugging me a bit last week.  Nothing serious, just a bit sore.  At the dressage show, after a ridiculous amount of walking around the grounds, I went to ask for a left lead canter and felt a very distinct pop in my right knee.  Ouch.  It was decidedly sore after that, enough that I popped some Advil on the way home.

With the competition season in full swing, I am trying to be smart about this and give my body rest when it needs rest rather than push it and end up at a show with a leg that isn't working quite right.  Anyone remember the shoulder debacle of 2011 when I ignored an injury and had my arm basically give out on me in the middle of a stadium jump course?  I need all of my aids to be functioning in order to take the princess cross country without scaring small children, animals, or my trainer.  And sometimes a lot of luck.

This means I haven't been in the saddle since the show.  Four days off for me.  I'm ready to climb the walls.  I'm not someone with enough will power to go to the barn for a visit and not ride, so I've been staying away.  Fi had the planned two days off after her two show weekend (she finished on her dressage score with her junior rider and got fourth place at the Groton House Summer Classic!), but come Wednesday I had to ask the trainer to have someone else work her.  Fortunately, her junior rider has asked to extend the partnership a bit longer for a show on July 18.  This means the princess still has two riders and one of them is much younger and healthier.

I have a flat lesson tonight, so we'll see what my knee thinks of this.  With any luck, four days of stall rest, some NSAIDs, and some hand walking did the trick. Hey, if it's good enough for the horses, it's good enough for me.  A pity stall rest doesn't get me out of work or doing the dishes.