Ride Interrupted: Staying Sane 'Til You're Back in the Saddle

It can be hard to be separated from your sport. Your routine gets thrown into chaos. Suddenly you have this extra time on your hands and seemingly nothing to do. You might be looking at just a short time off due to weather restrictions or a much longer stretch resulting from an injury to yourself or your teammate.
Either way an idle rider with an idle mind can be a dangerous thing. You risk losing your fitness your sanity or both. Its not going to be okay to just stay home and wallow in your misfortune. Its time to figure out how best to use this unexpected windfall of free time to your advantage.

Acknowledge and accept
As with any considerable change in life the first course of action is always to acknowledge the change and just how you feel about it. Laura an experienced dressage rider found this much more challenging than she anticipated When I badly sprained my ankle I never thought it would have such an impact on my whole world. I tried to immediately return to riding but aggravated my injury and set myself right back. Then I was mad and more than a little depressed. It took some time for me to come to terms with taking a little time off and what I would do
There are many reasons a rider or other athlete would want to ignore the obvious. Every athlete separated from his or her beloved sport undergoes a small identity crisis. Your source of exercise has disappeared your social outlet evapourated. That long awaited release at the end of your stressful day is no longer there to greet you. Who could blame you for wanting to enter the realm of denial?
Uttering those horrid words to yourself I cannot ride right now is tough but necessary. If you can call it like it is you can begin to deal with it and youre already one step closer to that mounting block.
Stay connected
The feeling of isolation is commonly associated with being apart from your sport. Because you cant ride you stay away from the barn your horse and your riding friends. You may also feel jealous and resentful that everyone else is carrying on while youre stuck waiting to get back in the saddle. When you cant ride it might seem cruel to suggest that you get yourself out to the barn but its the first and