Back to School (ing)

After spending a couple of days in Kansas for work last week, I made it back to Oklahoma (i.e., Glenpool) in the nick of time to watch the Claremore JH volleyball team play their first match (3 games) of the season. The Big News is that Alaina is on the B-Team so she got to play in Game 2. She made one successful serve, one assist, and one return as well as several other good tries, but alas, the team lost in a close comeback battle. The Good News is that Claremore JH A-Team dominated, so Claremore won the match which just happened to be the first day of school. FUN.

Although still hot overall, a couple of days have been cooler and we have had a bit of rain. So, Riding again seems possible. Mallory and I met at Cheval Lake to work the horses on Friday morning. Splash was first and Mallory showed me a bit of Clinton Anderson ‘Lunging for Respect’ lessons on him. After lunging, I rode walk/trot in the round pen reminding him that he is a horse and I mean to ride (our next show is Sept 3 at the Rocking C). Next up, Sister. It has been several months so I thought I would only lunge a little. But she was very snotty – so we lunged a bit more. Then the heat must have gotten to me because I decided we needed to lunge until I felt like I could ride. So we did. We moved up to the arena and I rode walk/trot until Sister flew right. I didn’t canter but decided to quit while we were both ahead. Then, off to Lunch After Riding (LAR) – haha.

Saturday morning and the party lesson was ON! The girls (Ivy, Alaina, Roxy, and Maddie) worked their horses in a lesson while Ashlyne and Laura rode a bit with them. Then, Mallory on Raffles, Kathy on Call, Marsha and Latte, and Splash and I rode. I confess to using der GERMAN NECK STRETCHER for all but the last canter. The lunging Friday morning must have helped because we had a great lesson. I told Larry that Splash’s price had gone UP! But Larry said he could hear Splash groaning at the canter work so I should mark him down. We all worked on leg yields walk and trot. Kathy and Call finished the lesson with some magnificent canter serpentine loops and Mallory looked lovely at her canters too. Also, when Latte canters, the sound of his pounding hooves can lift your spirits. Even Splash and I worked on very shallow serpentine loops. We dropped gait finishing the first on left lead because I lost control of his bend but we managed one good go left lead and two to the right. Woo Hoo.

LAL at Romona’s new location is the best!

Sunday afternoon, ODS/GCC hosted a seminar with Sloan Taylor (MS, CSSD, RD/LD – Sloan works at St. Francis and is the nutritionist for all but one TU sports team). Sloan is certain that riders ARE athletes that the horse does not do all the work. The seminar was very informative and Sloan is a dynamic speaker. Not only that, but we got so see dressagy friends as well.

Peak Performance with Sports Nutrition – M-W Dictionary Definitions – Athlete: a person who is trained or skilled in exercises, sports, or games requiring physical strength, agility, or stamina. I am a person, trained (if not yet skilled) in exercises, sports, and games requiring physical strength and stamina. That’s my story…… Sport: 1) a contest or game in which people do certain physical activities according to a specific set of rules and compete against each other, 2) a physical activity that is done for enjoyment. We certainly do physical activities (tests) and compete against ourselves (at least) and do it all for enjoyment. So. We ARE sporting athletes.

Sloan discussed several items that can affect our nutritional requirements which can also affect our performance. Some of these are beyond our control, such as hear, wind, humidity, and cold. We can influence other factors such as lack of sleep, hunger, dehydration, and overeating. The message? For peak performance we need adequate sleep, food, and water.

How much water do we need daily? Take your weight and divide by half – that is the number of ounces of water that a body needs. You need to add more to compensate for exercise and perspiration. If the weather (heat/humidity) are excessive, you need replacement salts as well as water (G2 is lower carbs and higher salts). Caffeinated beverages do provide fluid but not equal to their volume. BAD Cathy! Tea is not salted. Remember, if you are sweating profusely, water alone can dilute your electrolytes. So, eat pickles!

Hydration in preparation for exercise – 2-hours before event/drink 1 oz for every 10 lbs body wt; 20-min before event/drink 0.6 oz for every 10 lbs body wt – at a minimum sip 4 oz of fluid; drink your 0.6 again if you have more than 30 minutes between tests. W/in 30 minutes of your final test drink a recovery fluid/food – you need at least 50 grams of carbs – chocolate milk is a best bet but grapes, Gatorade, granola bars or raisins are good.

Food at the show – pack your own and if you can’t eat LUNCH, than snack every 2 hours.

A Few Rules – 1) Coffee is not Breakfast; 2) Feed yourself as carefully as you feed your horse; 3) for mental focus, feed your brain. Thanks Sloan.

PS - Steve and I went to see Steve Martin (Banjos and Bluegrass) on Wed. night and it was a great show.  We did not wear our head arrows, but they let us in anyway.  Brown Betty (a Narragansett Pacer) was Paul Revere's borrowed horse.... Steve sang a song called Me and Paul Revere.