Physiotherapy

Today was my last day at physiotherapy for this semester. I met Petrina, my physiotherapist, and we did a couple of exercises to assess the strength and balance of my right knee and leg. I started with 5 minutes on a training bicycle like usual and then we did some jumping, bending, running and pushing and compared to that of my right. She was very pleased and said that my legs now were just about back to the state they had been in before the accident.This was of course a relief to hear as I have worked hard with exercises at home to regain strength but also had to deal with many thing I haven't been able to do the last year.

Because of my injured/healing knee I could not horse ride for some weeks, could not do volleyball and even now, when it is almost completely healed I had to accept that hockey this semester was not a possibility. It has become easier over time but having to be constantly aware of all things you do is quite exhausting. It lowers your confidence in your strength and takes time from your normal life. Also, the knee brace I had to wear for some time was often in the way and made it complecated to dress as it is supposed to sit directly on the leg, with no fabric in between, but still it was too big to fit under any pants. Still I have leared to manage these difficulties and appreciate that I am in a place where I can actually get help and can afford both time and money to go for a surgery and even just the gym, to help the healing process. Sometimes I have slacked of with my exercises, when there has been a lot in school, and if I gave advise to somebody else i would deffinately say: do your exercises! maybe i would have been done even earlier if I had done all my exercises as I should have. Anyhow it now feels normal and I'm glad to be able to participate in more sports next semester.

Horse of the Year Show

Horse of the Year Show(HOTYS) is a big horse event organized by Horse Association of Kenya that last for several days, 14 dec - 18 dec, in which horse riders may compete at all levels, both beginners and professionals. After I injured my knee I have gone back to riding slowly by slowly this semester and HOTYS is going to be my first competition in a year!

There have been many complications conserning this competition. First of all it is the weather in Kenya. For several weeks it has just been raining och raining. With an outside arena this is definately a disadvantage as it never get's to dry up before the rain starts again. Because of this, most of my riding has been up the rounds and around the area, climbing some hills and building stamina of both me and the horse which i am going to compete. We have, when the weather allowed, been able to jump a little and ride through the dressage tests. Even if horse riding is one of my greatest intersts it still takes both planning and determination to be able to balance both riding, homework and some free time, especially just before semster exams. It is time consuming and does take alot of energy but with sufficient time management and plenty of sleep it has actually worked quite well. For me horse back riding is also a way of relaxing and getting away from stress for a while. however, riding in the rain for a couple of weeks is perhaps not the most fun part of horsemanship but something that has to be done. I have really developed as a person by practicing for this show and I hope it will pay of.

These are pictures from last year's show