Deborah & Winston - Faith, Family, Fitness, Fun - Part 2

*Faith, Family, Fitness, Fun* 

Part Two

Just last week, we hearkened back to Kayla's post introducing Deborah Herbert and also Deborah's blog, The 50+ Equestrian. We then recapped Deborah's first month with her Equicizer, Winston, and saw the exciting progress she was making. 

The goal of this Wooden Horse Wednesday blog series is to get you caught up on Deborah’s journey and encourage you to follow along directly with her! While the recap here will “hit the high notes”, be sure to check out her blog page for more pictures, videos, healthy eating advice, and detail! We just love her narrative style as it shows her fun, quirky, and positive personality.

May 2018

Deborah begins the month of May with some speculations about what effect a workout on Winston has in comparison to a workout on her "AQHA princess", Belle. While there is plenty of evidence that both horses have stolen her heart, more specifically she was interested in what they did to her heart rate. Deborah employed her fitness tracker and tracked herself riding Belle at a walk and sitting trot... then riding Winston at a trot (with some posting) and canter. Deborah noticed that her heart rate increased and peaked in similar ways on Winston that it did with her mare, yet the workout on Winston was more vigorous.

The first peak is with Belle. The second is on Winston.

Deborah notes that the increased rate during her ride on Belle actually starts about an hour before the lesson. This could be attributed to the anxiety she carries when riding "real" horses ever since her accident. After noticing this evidence on the fitness tracker app, she took it upon herself to meditate on a Bible verse and take that verse in her heart to the lesson the following day rather than carrying the burden of anxiety.

6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-8 New King James Version (NKJV)

You can see the clear difference from the first riding lesson on Belle that she tracked to the next. While there is still a pre-ride spike, Deborah's consciousness and faith allowed her to be in control of the anxiety. Besides the fact that the pre-ride anxiety spike is noticeably absent on Winston, Deborah noticed another difference between her living room workouts and her arena workouts: 

I also recorded my footsteps, started my ride in the evening at 8590 steps, after my 30 minute session with Winston it was up to 11,646…a difference of 3050 added during my workout!

In conjunction with the health benefits - mental and physical - of riding, Deborah touches on the ways that eating better has impacted her entire household. Not only does she feel much healthier, but her husband was able to lose weight and avoid being put on insulin, and her mare Belle even gets benefit out of a healthy concoction Deborah cooks up for her each day.

Progressing through the month saw one little set back for Deborah. Mini horse Caspian was trying to get in on Belle's belly rub and, when Belle went to give him a warning bite, she caught Deborah on the leg instead. OUCH! Luckily Deborah had Winston there for her to hop on to test out the injury before getting back on Belle.

Swinging up in the saddle on Winston Saturday was not only a safe test of whether I should ride, but also a gentle, then gradually more rigorous work out between my lessons.

In May, Deborah made a creative adjustment to her training regimen in response to the rainy spring weather in Florida. She started using weights with Winston! She made a very cool video showing some of the basic workouts she developed with the weights and how she first masters them without the horse's movement. Then she challenges herself to remain balanced as she completes the same maneuvers with the weights while the horse is in motion.

Weights & Winston... a winning alliteration!

We love that Deborah is pointing out here one of the most appealing elements of the Equicizer. It's a workout your way and it does not matter what the weather is doing! You can ride it while watching TV and do different exercises during each commercial! It doesn't matter if it's raining, snowing, or just unbearably hot outside. You can always enjoy a workout on the Equicizer from the comfort of your home.

Hubby says I am going to wear poor Winston out.

I secretly think Winston really isn’t concerned…we’re having too much fun!

The end of May saw a rough patch for Belle. She came in with some hives after some particularly heavy rain. The suspect? Ground wasps. Luckily she is was still eating well and responded great to a holistic treatment. 

June 2018

 The month of June came with more tough weather - heat and rain - and the onset of hurricane season! When the forecast is gloomy, Deborah has no fear that she will have the opportunity for a workout.

I can ride in my pjs or after I’ve sloshed through the yard back from cleaning the barn. Yay!!! He doesn’t care, and he doesn’t get crabby!

Deborah had the opportunity to invite a few friends over and they gave her some feedback on Winston. One rider is an equine/human physical therapist and the other is a licensed psychologist who works with riders and is working toward a silver medal in dressage. They said:

Winston has amazingly authentic gaits ! Perfect to facilitate or maintain riders muscle memory from beginners to advanced . Practice upper level moves even when you don’t have an upper level horse ! Lots of fun.

I was pleased to meet her patient and SAFE riding exercise partner and quickly learned he was a real workout. Winston requires the use of my core muscles to move and a non-restricting hand to keep him going. With Deb’s guidance I was able to experience walk, trot and canter, as well as feel how to keep my arms and legs independent from my seat. Winston was also very sensitive to any changes in the rhythm of my seat or lifting my seat from the saddle. He was also a real tattle tale if my rein contact became inconsistent. In about 10 minutes I was sweating and 20 was all I could handle. Winston was a fun and instructive way to stay in condition for riding.

As we all know, June also brought about the very exciting win for Justify and jockey Mike Smith at the Belmont Stakes. Deborah writes that she watched from atop Winston and cheered as the pair made their Triple Crown winning victory. 

Deborah joked with her trainer that her mare seems to go out of her way to get out of work. Belle came in once with a mysterious scrape that put her off work for a few days. Later in the month, she came in a little colicky and Deborah spent the night out in the barn checking in on her. She pulled through okay and Deborah had a chance to work on this beautiful new painting!

Click here to see more

After a workout at LA Fitness with her daughter, Deborah's suspicion that her left side is weaker was confirmed by the trainer. She was able to have a productive workout and she even picked up a few targeted exercises to incorporate into her workouts with Winston. Another exciting moment was having the Alpha Dressage Association GMO Club stop by and check out the horse in the living room! Everyone took their turn riding Winston and was impressed.

I LOVE my Equicizer! (He’s a party animal!)

Check back with us next week for Part Three of this special three part series!

By Amanda Elia

www.equicizer.com