Hi
@rhapsody Just as an aside, the gal that comes and feeds and mucks my horses when we are away, and who came on my Sept 14th surgery day and will come again for my Nov 8th date to do my horses has a lovely mare called Rhapsody, so I will never forget your name LOL!!
On to serious matters. My surgeon consulted with some other surgeons, who are riders, and talked to them at great length about riding, THR and dislocation etc. We discussed general fitness and cross training. He knows I have a serious amount of time, energy and money wrapped up in horses over the years and they are my life's passion. He doesn't want me doing high impact sports like running, high impact aerobics etc., as those things will prematurely wear down the prosthesis. I don't play tennis much so don't have to worry about that. I've heard from others that it is better to play doubles. He has told me I can ride, hike, cycle, walk the dogs for miles, paddle board, swim, do yoga (I'll be minding a few moves there), pilates etc. etc. He has basically said, "Get on with your life, once you have healed and returned to fitness". He told me that he had a patient who went to the same gym as him.. She was very fit. After she healed post op, she returned to the gym and slowly built herself back up. He said he watched her on the rowing machine, and she had her knees up by her ears but she didn't dislocate!
I ride really big warmbloods with a lot of get up and go in them. They also have huge strides and one has to be fit to ride them. I am an ex-eventer, so used to be a little crazy, galloped cross country over silly fences etc. in my twenties. I started cross training more in my 30's as I found it made me a better rider in many ways. My loose plan, once I've healed this time around, is to get back on the elliptical machine, and slowly but surely build myself up again, before I get back on. I am significantly older than you, so need to do that. I will also have to do some serious stretching once I've healed, as the OA has stopped me from opening my legs, thus the reason for feeling like I was a clothes peg when things got bad, and ultimately couldn't open my legs wide enough to get astride a horse at all. A lot of my riding muscles were SO tight prior to not being able to ride at all. I'd be doing elaborate stretches before getting on to ride....couldn't figure out what was happening! I am not thinking about getting on until next spring to be honest. I want to wait beyond six months, and have some decent weather as well. I have a really good physio and massage therapist (who is also a somatic yoga practitioner) who I'll be working with when the time is right. I want to be completely healed, and fit in every other way, before I get back on. That way if we have a few leaps and bucks I can take them in stride. Honestly, I work really hard at not falling off. I simply can't afford to anymore. I won't be riding anyone else's horses for starters. I intend to get right back to dressage and also want to do some working equitation with my horse, as it looks like fun. However, if it is a crazy windy day, and my horse is acting like a fruit loop, I'll turn him out instead of ride. I think we have to be smart about it. I didn't worry about these things so much in my thirties, except that I was a Mum, and whether good, bad or indifferent, the only Mum my kids had, so I started being more sensible then!!!
The point of getting our hips done is to get our lives back. Nick Skelton won gold at the London Olympics for England, he'd had THR the year before. There was a gal here where I am in western Canada, doing rider biomechanic clinic here the week before my surgery. She is also a martial artist. She is in her 70's, rides a couple of horses every day, and has had both her hips done. There are tons of people foxhunting (read The Chronicle of The Horse health forums for a boost!), reining, riding dressage and doing the hunters with new hips. We can do this, but we must be smart about it!
Keep in touch and I wish you the very best in all your planning. Find a surgeon who will support your interests! We've got this OK
.....and don't talk to negative people!