Cleared to ride!! Finally!

On Sunday I finally was able to ride Dream for the first time since getting the green light to try from my Physical Therapist last week. I developed knee problems in the Spring that resulted in having to have arthroscopic surgery on it in late June. At first my recovery went beautifully, but then it suddenly suffered a major set back by swelling up and becoming extremely painful. I was referred the Physical Therapist, and have been going twice weekly for 6 weeks. The one admonition he gave me before giving me the okay to ride was to "start slowly and build up your time!" The last ride I'd had was on June 1st, and my knee hurt so badly that I had to stop, and it was that ride that made me call the orthopedist!

Sunday was nice because it was a cooler, clear day with just enough breeze to keep down the bugs. Mounting was what I had feared would be the biggest discomfort for my knee, but it wasn't at all! We spent only a half hour in the arena doing walk and trot, but it was great to be in the saddle again. Dream was very good, and even without being worked in so long, she took care of me, even though I'm sure that some of my cues weren't right on. My hips are too tight, and my lower legs feel "floppy," but there wasn't any discomfort in the bad knee; only some tightness. This is a good thing!! I will carefully build up my time, and take it slowly so that I don't aggravate what appears to be a "bum knee." Unfortunately, there wasn't anyone around to take a picture of us, and I wasn't wearing a RAC T-shirt anyway! I save those for the days that I know I'm going to go someplace!! :-)