I cantered today! OK, not me exactly, but the horse I was riding. I wasn't exactly in control of the horse - my instructor had the horse on a lunge rein, just so I wouldn't accidentally make the horse go berserk, and go galloping out of the arena with me screaming blue murder all the way to Inner Mongolia.
But back to the story, I cantered today! And why it's such a big deal is because
a) I didn't fall off and
b) I wasn't petrified!
I had fallen off before many years ago when learning how to canter (again, the horse, not me). The fall itself didn't hurt me, but because of the position of my legs when I fell, my right shin was at just the right spot for the horse's hind leg to give a good smack as he merrily continued cantering on, riderless. (Note: the horse had on horseshoes made of metal).
I suspect I actually sustained a crack on the antero-medial aspect of the tibia where the impact was; it hurt like #%@^, had a hematoma the size of a baseball over it, and a horrendous lookinig bruise that didn't go away for 2 months. Of course, I didn't get it xrayed. I thought: after all, if it's a crack, it was just going to be conservative treatment anyway, so why bother? (By the way, doctors do make the worse patients). So, R.I.C.E it was for me, and good ol' Ibuprofen.
Ever since then, I go into a slightly panicked mode whenever I get onto a horse & it starts cantering.
So today was an achievement for me. I know I didn't look exactly very graceful, I know I need to work on my posture while cantering, & I was also hanging on for dear life to the strap in front of the saddle (put there for people like me, I assume). And I know I have a long way to go to actually feel comfortable at a canter.
But I did it.
The first step - sometimes the hardest one of all.
2 comments:
Hi aliendoc:
Yes docs make the worst patients!
I know this senior doctor ( who is very well known in Gleneagles).
So when the PET scan of his lung showed that there is no FDG-avid lesion ie no likely malignant tumour, instead of celebrating, he is still groaning and moaning and will continue to do so till he gets the PET Scan repeated in 2 months' time.
If it is still normal, I suspect he will moan till he gets some positive lesion ( which is probably radiation-induced considering the number of Scans he has had!).
He prefers the half-empty to half-full scenario ( or is it the other way round).
About the Beijing trip- after I returned, I decided to be a "better Chinese" and bought dvd about China's history and cultures and am now past Qin dynasty/Warring states/3 kingdoms.
Long way more- then I will go through the series again with only Chinese subtitles ( instead of the English ones now)
Ha ha
I think doctors-as-patients are on either extremes: the super-paranoid one (like the one you describe), or the bo-chap ones (like me)!
Good luck with your "cultural enrichment"! I am going to start posting short entries on Chinese idioms & proverbs, as & when I find good, meaningful ones to write about...they used to be such a chore to learn in school. Now, it's my 2nd chances at appreciating the beauty of these sayings...(not that I would start spouting them in everyday life, but you never know - heehee).
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