Hot and Humid Weather

With this hot, humid weather, how do we practice any Centered Riding exercises? I ride early, but if I didn’t, I wouldn’t be riding. Even in my lessons, we go through a lot of slow, walking times and do a lot of stretches. I’ve done more stretches and exercises than I ever have in lessons. If I didn’t, the horses would be lathered in sweat, instead of just wet with sweat.

Why is this summer so hot and humid? Is it the extra rain? Is it the pivots adding moisture to the air? Is it global warming? Yea, right, this past December and January, there was no global warming here!

All I know is that the humidity is draining everyone’s good moods about horses and the desire to ride. How can we enjoy our horses when all we do is sweat? I try to stay calm and breathe…. Slowly.

But on the bright side, maybe there is only 1 more month of summer before the cooler weather of fall is here! Well, maybe a little over a month.

So in a month, get prepared to ride. And a lot! With a lot of homework from me! Every week, we’ll concentrate on a different Centered Riding exercise. I’ll through in an AAHS exercise. We’ll concentrate on making ourselves a balanced rider.

Sally Swift, founder of Centered Riding, said that we need to work on 75% on our riding and 25% on the horse. When we concentrate on ourselves, the riding gets easier.

Ok, plan on riding by Sept. I sure hope August isn’t so hot and humid as July!