No Stirrup November
It has begun. I got right into No Stirrup November last night and it was…enlightening. I’m not strong. I knew I was out of shape, but yeesh, it’s bad, guys.
Anyway, I decided that, due to Duke’s previous Kissing Spine surgery and our subsequent protection of his back, I am not going cold-turkey and taking off my stirrups. I’m going to warm him up with stirrups and make sure he’s feeling good and working well through his back before I go stirrup-less. I think that’s the best for both of us.
No-Weakness November
Once I dropped my stirrups, I immediately felt like a blobby, muscle-less mass just flopping around up there. I have very little muscle control, my legs don’t feel solid, and my position goes to crap because I also don’t have good core strength right now.
All of this will change throughout the month of doing no-stirrup work. I also decided to do a plank-a-day challenge this month. It’s what it sounds like; I will do a plank for as long as I can, every day.
A PLANK A DAY KEEPS POTATO RIDING AWAY.
-Me
I told my dad about my plank plans and he jumped on board. Because he is a competitive person and I don’t take after him AT ALL we are competitive people, this quickly became a challenge. On December 1st, we are going to do a live FaceTime showdown, in which we see who can do the longest plank. Oh, and somehow I got talked into this idea that he needs a handicap of 1 second per year he is older than me. So in order for me to win this challenge, I have to do a plank for 30 SECONDS LONGER than him.
What have I gotten myself into?
Also, I am totally going to win this.
Centered in the Saddle 
Your quote – LOL
Also, love the plank challenge with your Dad! YOU CAN DO IT!
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I hope the quote turns out to be true lol! My trainer was teaching a lesson while I was riding and when I dropped my stirrups she just silently watched me for awhile, and I was like, “I feel very scrutinized right now please don’t judge me harshly!” Thankfully she just laughed and said she was glad I was doing no-stirrup work! 🙂 And I am DETERMINED to win this challenge!
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OMG yes potato riding haha! My lesson on Wednesday was super enlightening for riding the bigger strided horses, and NOW I know what abs really need strengthening. Well, honestly, everything needs strengthening haha! But good luck with the plank! I know you can do it!
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💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻
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Go for it!! I am on holiday at the moment but when I get back no doubt my coach will have some no stirrups work lined up. You know, dressage….lots of sitting the trot…..on my warmblood horse. Truth be told his trot is big but not hard .
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I love the feeling of a good sitting trot 🙂
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I started my No Stirrup November last night. I agree with it really being “No Weakness November”. I also warmed May up with my stirrups and then rode without them. This is two fold. 1 – I don’t want to make her sore. 2 – She is a horse that needs a lot of warmup to really move over her back and ever GIVE me a place to sit. Definitely hoping for more strength by the end of the month!
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Exactly! No soreness + increased rider strength are great goals for the month. I hope to be able to look back at the end of November and giggle about how wimpy I was!
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Exactly! I want future me to wonder “Why would I need to warm up with stirrups when I can post without them for 20 minutes straight?”
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LOL your dad. I vote for this FaceTime to be saved and shared (is that a thing?) on here so we can all giggle and cheer you on after-the-fact.
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Hahaha great idea! I will do some investigating on recording FaceTime videos.
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I am also too out of shape to just be dropping my stirrups immediately and was feeling kind of lame for it, so I’m glad I’m not the only one who just wants to get strong! No sense in upsetting our ponies.
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Exactly! I think it’s in the spirit of No Stirrup November to get stronger but good horsemanship to be protective of our horse’s backs!
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