A Good Trainer Knows

Since finding out in February this year that I have Multiple Sclerosis, I have been doing a lot of thinking and remembering.

I remember one time, when I was still at school, maybe I was twelve, one of Dad's horses went lame. She'd had an accident, but Dad felt it had been long enough ago that she should have been over it.

Dad asked me (possibly my brothers too - I can't remember) to chase her around the yard a bit, gently, to keep her moving. Dad thought that the mare was scared her leg would hurt, so she limped in a way that didn't impact on the injured leg. Dad didn't think she still had any pain any more, she was just scared it would hurt, so she walked in a way that made sure it wouldn't.

We kept this up for a while, shooing her off, keeping her going, on and off for a few days. And, sure enough, within a week that mare was moving properly again, using the leg she had injured.

That happened over thirty years ago. It's not surprising really, I guess, why I should think of it now. I'm keeping moving, and it doesn't hurt a bit! My recent health issues have given me time to sit and think. My body tells me when it's time to rest and I've learned that the best thing to do is to obey my body.

I'm remembering that horse though, and I'm trying to do a little more whenever I can. If I just sat and rested all day, every day, my muscles would get weaker and weaker. I'd end up not being able to get up at all. That is not the way I want to live my life.

Having Multiple Sclerosis is not the end of my world, it's the beginning of my new life and it's going to be great!