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| I've had my second lesson now getting back into barrel racing and I'm actually getting the experience I never got before due to really only doing it for one year, never getting the confidence to go full speed, etc. I'm very very excited and look forward to it a lot!
I haven't ridden for about a year until last week..and let me tell you am I so sore. Is that normal to be this sore? Lol. I think I had muscle spasms in my back last night as it felt it was twitching and I think I know what it feels like to be an old person when I wake up!
I'm out of breath after I lope the pattern and I think I'm holding my breath so how do I learn to breathe? By the way, I'm in decent shape and not overweight so you all don't think I'm really unhealthy and out of breath due to that, although I do acknowledge I need to work out more and eat healthier.
I saw someone else mentioned this in a post but can't remember the title but I'm very sore on the bones that you sit on (illium, ishium?) so is that bad as well? For the most part I'm very smooth and feel like my butt is glued to the seat and I feel great but sometimes, I think I lose concentration thinking about something else I need to fix, and my butt's flyin up and I have to get back into rhythm again. Riding without stirrups loping circles has really helped me in the past in cutting so I think I will try that next time. How do I concentrate on multitasking in the saddle?
I've also noticed that my ankles, one in particular, get sore and I think I'm putting weight on the outsides of my feet but when I tried to distribute the weight evenly in my feet, they ended up not staying in the stirrups very well. I've always ridden like that and I'm having a hard time changing it! It feels better to ride the way I've been riding but my ankles end up hurting so how can I change that without my feet falling out of the stirrups? Should I keep my feet that way since it works for me or change it?
It sounds dumb but I have a fear of hitting a gate/wall/fence on the run home and I think it holds me back from going faster. How can I overcome this?
I've started going twice a week this week and know that it will take practice to get back into the rhythm of things and to progress so some of these problems won't stay around forever! I'd just like some helpful advice so I can concentrate on starting to fix these things Thursday when I go back and my instructor is very helpful and says my seat is getting better as well as I'm good with keeping my hands down and using light hands so that's a plus! Thanks everyone!
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Expert
Posts: 1304
| Also, I know it depends on the brand but what size saddle should I have? I have a 14" at home that I haven't rode in since last year. It feels secure but a little too secure so I'm wondering if it's too small. At my lesson I rode in a 15" and it felt pretty good but maybe a little too big so should I go with a 14.5"? I'm not really in the market for a saddle until I get my own horse again in the next few years but I'm curious what is the round about size I should look for in the future? I'm 5'3, around 120 lbs, and am pear shaped if that helps! |
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 Expert
Posts: 2457
 
| blccwgl55 - 2015-06-10 9:36 AM I've had my second lesson now getting back into barrel racing and I'm actually getting the experience I never got before due to really only doing it for one year, never getting the confidence to go full speed, etc. I'm very very excited and look forward to it a lot! I haven't ridden for about a year until last week..and let me tell you am I so sore. Is that normal to be this sore? Lol. I think I had muscle spasms in my back last night as it felt it was twitching and I think I know what it feels like to be an old person when I wake up! I'm out of breath after I lope the pattern and I think I'm holding my breath so how do I learn to breathe? By the way, I'm in decent shape and not overweight so you all don't think I'm really unhealthy and out of breath due to that, although I do acknowledge I need to work out more and eat healthier. I saw someone else mentioned this in a post but can't remember the title but I'm very sore on the bones that you sit on (illium, ishium?) so is that bad as well? For the most part I'm very smooth and feel like my butt is glued to the seat and I feel great but sometimes, I think I lose concentration thinking about something else I need to fix, and my butt's flyin up and I have to get back into rhythm again. Riding without stirrups loping circles has really helped me in the past in cutting so I think I will try that next time. How do I concentrate on multitasking in the saddle? I've also noticed that my ankles, one in particular, get sore and I think I'm putting weight on the outsides of my feet but when I tried to distribute the weight evenly in my feet, they ended up not staying in the stirrups very well. I've always ridden like that and I'm having a hard time changing it! It feels better to ride the way I've been riding but my ankles end up hurting so how can I change that without my feet falling out of the stirrups? Should I keep my feet that way since it works for me or change it? It sounds dumb but I have a fear of hitting a gate/wall/fence on the run home and I think it holds me back from going faster. How can I overcome this? I've started going twice a week this week and know that it will take practice to get back into the rhythm of things and to progress so some of these problems won't stay around forever! I'd just like some helpful advice so I can concentrate on starting to fix these things Thursday when I go back and my instructor is very helpful and says my seat is getting better as well as I'm good with keeping my hands down and using light hands so that's a plus! Thanks everyone!
First of all - HOORAY for getting back in the saddle both figuratively and literally!! 
It takes practice to get in synch with the horse at a lope with your breathing, your muscles, your seat and everything all together. Strengthening the muscles in your core and your back are key to developing a great seat as well. Just because you're not overweight doesn't necessarily mean that those muscles are in "shape" for your riding. Maybe start with planks and real push ups? Both of those work your core and balance muscles.
Getting back into riding after having knee surgery for me ... I hopped on bareback and loped circles to really help get my balance back.
Another thought, as soon as you break into a lope, take a huge deep breath and slowly let it out over the course of two or three strides. Then do it again. Breathing exercises like that are what long distance runners use to help focus and relax which in turn allows the body to either "hit the stride" for runners or "relax and sit well" when riding.
I'm sure others will chime in for what works for them too! Good Luck!! |
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Expert
Posts: 1304
| Thank you! I feel so much better already being back into horses! And you're very right. I really do need to strengthen my core. I never really thought about that. I'll have to start doing some different kinds of strength exercises, etc like you mentioned. What other core exercises are good? I've never loped bareback but I guess I could try it sometime! If I had my own horse it'd be a lot easier. The only horse I ever rode bareback were gaited horses when I was younger and we never went past a rack or gait. If I can't during lessons I will at least try and warm him up with no stirrups. Thank you for the advice when it comes to the breathing as well! I really need to work on all of this! |
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 Expert
Posts: 1898
| I have found that breathing is hard thing to train our bodies to do in adrenaline filled situations. My dad and husband helped a lot kids get started riding rough stock and whether they had been on a horse or not, the one thing they all had in common was breathing, or lack there of. I honestly think in new and attention demanding situations we get to concentrating so hard on what we need to be doing that we just plain forget to breath! Not breathing can account for a lot of other mistakes in our riding as well. If we are not breathing, we are starving our brains for oxygen and there for the brain can not process information and cues correctly. It might sound silly but find a friend with a really big voice to yell at you to breathe a few times in the pattern. You may think you wont be able to hear them but subconsciously your brain will know they are there and you will start breathing in the pattern. It might take a lot of runs to get your brain to telling your lungs to work or could take just a couple.
If your feet are falling out of your stirrups, try to shorten them maybe one hole. See how that goes.
Without seeing a video of you riding I would guess that you are using your hips correctly in your turns and stops. Because this is not a bio-mechanical move we use on a daily basis your bones are getting sore from the excess pressure. They will eventually toughen up. OR the reason they are getting sore is because your flopping around like a chicken tied to a saddle swell, but I'm going to guess it's my first guess!
Fear is such a hard thing to over come. I am struggling with it now as I had brain surgery last summer. I am pretty confident on my seasoned mare but my colt scares me. Not a little either, bad enough I am considering selling him. I hope someone else can answer this for you, and maybe I can take a little advice home with me as well!
Edited by cyount2009 2015-06-10 1:07 PM
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  Sock eating dog owner
Posts: 4557
Location: Where the pavement ends and the West begins Utah | Congratulations. Yes it's normal to be sore. You haven't stretch those muscles since the last ride. RELAX. It make everything so much easier.. |
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I just read the headlines
Posts: 4483
| I, too, just started back. There is so much good advice on here, but I wanted to add something from my experience coming back. I have started and stopped coming back to barrel racing a couple times in the last 2 or so years. But this time I started working out first. Nothing hard, just some cardio and yoga with some weights added recently. Wow, yoga has made such a huge difference this time. My upper back is not tight or sore and my balance is better plus my lower back is not as sore. I highly recommend taking some yoga classes. |
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Expert
Posts: 1304
| Thank you for all of the replies!
I really need to work on breathing. I've realized I have a hard time with that in other aspects of life as well like when I'm working out or if I get upset. I think someone yellin at me just might work! Lol.
I also think I'll shorten up the stirrups. Luckily my mom is coming to visit me and can bring my saddle which I can try. Although it feels a little too secure sometimes, I still feel very comfortable in it right now and will try using it in lessons as well. Once I purchase my own horse is when I'll be in the market for a different saddle depending on how I feel later on down the road!
I have a video of me riding but the arena's dusty and it's not clear enough or close up enough to really tell much! I feel like I could sit a little better by watching the videos so I'll be working on that. I'm glad my instructor takes videos of me, it really helps for me to see what I'm doing and what I'm not doing.
That's very scary cyount2009 and I would probably be nervous too but hopefully we can both overcome our fears. I've realized that ANYTHING can happen ANYTIME and it's all in God's hands so I need to apply that when I ride as well. The chances are a little higher when you ride but so is it when you're driving, walking up a flight of stairs, etc. We'll both have to think about that!
I really do need to relax. What are some ways that I can better relax myself in the saddle? It seems like such a simple concept but isn't sometimes!
I've heard so many good things about yoga so I really need to try it! It's been a couple weeks since I was working out Mon-Fri and felt good about it. My school has a dumb policy for a student rec center. Although I'm going into my senior year, have registered for classes for the fall, and am a federal work study STUDENT I'm not considered a student because I didn't sign up for summer classes and therefore can not work out at the rec this summer unless I pay a $110 membership. Once my next paycheck comes up, I'll fork it out but I think it's ridiculous -_- Anyways, once I do that I'll be working out more and harder in the mornings before work like I was and start looking at the schedule for yoga classes!
Unfortunately my instructor and I's plans both got messed up so I'll have a lesson next week again and not today! But that gives me time to think about what all of you said and I'm very excited about this journey I'm on!
Any other helpful advice is welcome  |
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I just read the headlines
Posts: 4483
| There is a lot of yoga stuff on YouTube. One I really like when I can't get to the class is by Adrienne. She has a lot of them from beginner up. |
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Expert
Posts: 1304
| Ohhh good idea! I'll look on there! Duh, I forgot I didn't really have to go to a class. Lol |
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 470
Location: Seward, Nebraska | I'm just getting back into shape with lessons also, I do 4 sets of 60 second planks a day worked up from 20 seconds, barrel horse news had a great article on work outs for barrel racers, they suggest planks, Russian twists,Bulgarian split squats and yoga to name a few. |
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 Take a Picture
Posts: 12841
| The only help I can give is to make sure your saddle seat is big enough. If the seat is too small, you cannot get your feet forward enough to sit properly going around a barrel and it makes it hard to get up in the saddle when leaving a barrel. Can't recommend a size but the person training should be able to help. I bought a new saddle at Joseys and they told me to call my trainer to get her suggestion for seat size. |
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The Advice Guru
Posts: 6419
| For core muscles planking does wonders. |
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 Off the Wall Wacky
Posts: 2981
Location: Louisiana | I ride quite a bit, but if I ride for a while in one of my husband's roping saddles I get sore all over. My seat bones hurt, my legs and ankles ache, and my back will hurt if I do more than sit up there. He finally got a smaller saddle that he uses for calf roping. I get to ride in that one if I want to rope with him. |
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Expert
Posts: 1304
| Thanks everyone! I started doing planks yesterday and will work on my core area. It's flabby and needs some tonin up anyways so I'll be knockin two birds out with one stone! Lol. I'll look into those other exercises that were mentioned and I plan on trying a yoga video tomorrow.
When I ride in my saddle this week, we'll see how it goes and see what my instructor thinks as well. I haven't ridden in it since last summer and just got it back so we shall see! And I think that may've been some of my problem too with the soreness. I'm definitely sore because I haven't been riding for a good while, and that's the main culprit, but the first saddle I rode in at my lesson was significantly bigger than what I need and the second one was maybe just a little too big. We'll decide this week which one works best!
Thank you for all of the comments! I appreciate it and will definitely start working out more to make my riding better! |
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