Jackie Cochran's Blog Posts Tagged 'MS' (14)

Bingo Responds Favorably to the Guidance...

Bingo Responds Favorably to the Guidance of my Thighs

Bingo, at 22 years of age and having a lot of bad riding in his life, has strengthened the muscles that help him ignore/disobey/and actively resist all rein aids. His upper neck is THICK, vertically and horizontally, with all the muscles he has built up to resist improper rein aids. If I am not very, very careful I can trigger a super…

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Added by Jackie Cochran on August 13, 2016 at 1:00pm — No Comments

Some Philosophical Ramblings on Why I Could Never Jump Right

 

Long, long ago, when I first read of jumping horses I dreamed of effortlessly sailing through the air on my trustworthy horse.  Needless to say my first jump (accidental) was a horrible wake-up call as I lurched all over the horse's back (I did stay on but the jump was only one foot.)  Years later when I finally got my first horse I was DETERMINED to learn how to jump.  Having learned about the Forward Seat I finally got one week of lessons at a FS school and from then on it was a…

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Added by Jackie Cochran on February 19, 2012 at 12:00pm — No Comments

Walking in the Heat

 



This week it has been HOT and muggy down here in N.C..  My body is having some trouble adjusting to the heat this year, nothing major, but the heat came on so quickly!  I have really needed my canes to walk this week.  At least I can still ride at a walk! 

 

This all worked out good with Mia.  When I got to the stable Debbie's husband brought Mia up like he usually does,…

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Added by Jackie Cochran on June 12, 2011 at 1:00pm — 3 Comments

My 100th Blog

 



Around 2 years ago I discovered Barnmice and started blogging for the first time in my life. 

 

I was in shock, for I had been on the net for several years and could not believe how much the horse world had changed since the last time I had been involved with horse shows and riding.  I…

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Added by Jackie Cochran on May 15, 2011 at 11:30am — 5 Comments

Adjusting to my MS--Fatigue



Fatigue is the worst symptom of my Multiple Sclerosis.  Not only does it affect my riding, my fatigue makes it extremely hard to take care of horses.  If it was not for the fatigue the rest of my symptoms would not matter as much, but everytime I ride or handle horses I tire quickly, and as I tire all the rest of my symptoms rapidly get worse.  ANYTHING I do before I ride tires me, getting up, eating, riding in the car to the stable, and then walking…

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Added by Jackie Cochran on April 10, 2011 at 12:00pm — 5 Comments

Adjusting to my MS--Lower Legs



When I got back to riding after being diagnosed with MS I found that I never knew where my lower legs were.  I would start of riding with my lower legs in the right place, and sometime during the ride my attention would go elsewhere and my lower legs would start drifting along the horse's sides.  My toes were pointing too far out, I was pivoting on my knees, bringing my lower leg too far back, and when I tried to correct this I would put too much weight…

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Added by Jackie Cochran on March 27, 2011 at 1:00pm — 4 Comments

Adjusting to my MS--Hands



Ever since I got my first horse, the Anglo-Arab Hat Tricks, I have been trying to ride at as high a level as I can.  I faced repeated frustrations due to my undiagnosed MS as it affected my balance, coordination, and proprioceptive sense (I could not tell where parts of my body were.)  In spite of all this my riding gradually improved, and I got to riding reliably at a low to middle intermediate level in the Forward Seat system.  Even my jumping improved, not that I was ever…

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Added by Jackie Cochran on March 20, 2011 at 12:30pm — No Comments

The Mares Respond Positively



Spring has arrived early here in NC.  Today it is supposed to get up to 70 F.  The horses are shedding like crazy, the trees are pumping out pollen, and the fruit farmers are really worried because the flower buds on their trees are preparing to bloom.  Sometime in the next month or two we will probably get another sharp freeze down in the 20's F.  Meanwhile I am enjoying the clement weather.

 …

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Added by Jackie Cochran on February 27, 2011 at 1:00pm — No Comments

Courage



I did not get to ride this week.  Either it was too wet (just rain this time), cold, or I had a head cold.  So I read in some old horse books I just got, two from the U.S.A. Cavalry and an old one from an ex Russian cavalry officer who got taught by both James Fillis and Federico Caprilli.  This guy literally got to learn riding from both sides, the high collection of Fillis to the free extended movement taught by Caprilli.  This cavalryman, Colonel…

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Added by Jackie Cochran on January 30, 2011 at 1:00pm — No Comments

The Experimenting Continues



After months of saving most of my spending money for Christmas I finally saved enough to spend some on myself--well, horsie stuff really.  After my earlier experiment with a Myler bit I had been sort of disillusioned, but when I got home after realizing Mia did not have much room in her mouth I measured the thickness of the mouthpieces of several of my bits.  The results were eye-opening.  I finally realized that the thicker the bit was in the middle…

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Added by Jackie Cochran on January 2, 2011 at 1:00pm — No Comments

Riding Gives Me Back My Body



With MS, even if I am not having an "attack", my body can rapidly worsen. In the past three weeks I had a gradual decline in physical ability, one that I did not notice at first. Last week was the worst, three times when I walked without my canes I'd loose my balance unexpectedly, start staggering, and almost fall. I did not fall because riding has helped me recognize when I lose my balance, and because my thigh muscles are strong enough to keep me on my feet long enough so I…

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Added by Jackie Cochran on December 13, 2009 at 12:30pm — 3 Comments

What Horses Mean To Me



I met my first horse (a TB I think) in 1957 in Chile. He was sooo big, and sooo tall. This horse was kind, when my little finger got taken into his mouth with the treat, he pushed it out with his tongue before chewing.



My mania for horses gave me a sort of stability through all the moves of my father's Foreign Service career. I got to ride in the foothills of the Andes, this sort of spoiled me for normal trail riding. Then my family rode on the white sand beaches in…

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Added by Jackie Cochran on September 7, 2009 at 10:30am — 2 Comments

Adjusting to the heat



Summer has now truly begun here in the South. Days in the high 80's and low 90's with extremely high humidity. I go outside and it is like stepping into a sauna. Next month I face temperatures in the high 90's and possibly up to the 100's.



High temperatures and high humidity make all MS symptoms worse. Within a matter of minutes, on a bad day, I can lose up to a third of my IQ, become almost totally unable to coordinate my body, greatly increase my tremor, and lose…

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Added by Jackie Cochran on June 12, 2009 at 12:30pm — 4 Comments

Facing my limitations



In 1993, after years of puzzling symptoms, I finally got diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. Finally I had the answer to why I could never ride as well as I wanted to. I tried to get back to riding my horses, but the exhaustion, muscle pain, and lack of emotional control when exhausted that come from MS defeated my first attempt to get back riding. Due to owning 4 horses at the time I did not have the money for lessons, or the endurance to take them.

Several years later I…

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Added by Jackie Cochran on June 5, 2009 at 12:00pm — 3 Comments

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