I arranged to meet G at the ring so I could have my own much needed cheering section. He's really just the kindest guy and insisted on holding Ginger while I got on and even walked along side for a little bit, just chatting and cheering me up. I'm pretty lucky to have such a supportive other half.
I did a bit of lateral work at the walk before moving on to a nice snappy trot. She was quite forward, but it felt like the good kind of "happy to get to work" forward rather than the anxious "an imaginary monster is chasing us" kind. Eventually I pulled up and mentioned to G that I felt a little nauseous - I must have been really nervous about the ride? We kind of laughed about my ridiculousness, and I asked him if I should complete 'recovery' and ask for a canter to finish off the ride. Being super overconfident in my abilities, he encouraged me and off we went. It was a bit funny - poor Ginger I think still had some memories of the previous day and took offense to my leg (and nervousness!) and bolted off, on the wrong lead to boot. I slowed her down and she threw in a nice flying change (totally her own thing - this is not something we've worked on yet) which was sort of cool and got me excited for the day when it's a real part of our repertoire. Obviously we had to repeat to ensure we got the right lead to start, and again, she went off a bit too enthusiastically, but this time was a big improvement as within a couple of strides we were back to a sane canter.. Opposite direction went without a hitch, I think she got over her fear of me coming off (as did I!). At this point G asked "Hey, what's the difference between a gallop and a canter? It's just that I thought you said you were going to canter and it seemed like she really took off kind of fast. Is she faster than a racehorse?" Sigh. Not the sort of questions you want to hear when you are supposed to be practicing dressage.
We opted for a quick trail ride up the mountain and back on the way back to the barn. The road goes in a nice loop from the ring, up the mountain to a gravel quarry, and then back down the hill to a trail that comes out across the road from the barn. It's about a 40 minute ride and is a nice low key end to the day.
On the drive home, I thought I had got something in my eye - my vision was super blurry and I couldn't see! I was also really, really tired. Since I'm kind of stupid, it took G to put two and two together and ask just how hard I hit my head the day before. Too hard, it seems. A concussion it is and I've been advised to take it easy for at least few days. If there's ever a next time I'll be sure to get checked immediately- even if I think I'm OK. I'm sure I made the symptoms way worse by being ignorant and pushing too hard yesterday.
I have some rides with friends tentatively scheduled for late next week, so I suspect until then I'll just play it safe and rest up and see how I feel next week. And maybe scour the sales for a new helmet :)
Scene from our trail ride. Apparently the fog wasn't just in my head ;)
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