Ridecamp: [RC] knee pain (human)

Had a great time at Spook Run on Saturday -- I crewed there last year and
decided to take my horse this year. For a lot of reasons, I opted for the 25
rather than the 50 despite numerous people telling me that my mare NEEDS to
do 50.

I'm very glad I decided to only do 25, mostly for my sake. I just haven't
done a tremendous amount of downhill trotting (new to the sport bringing
along a young horse) and by the second loop, my left knee was screaming when
we trotted downhill! (OK any other time.) My mare was fine. I refuse to be
the weakest link and I am determined to do at least one endurance 50 (as
opposed to the two-day CTR 50's I'm doing now) next year, so I hafta get
this fixed.

Knee pain seems to be common. So how do you all deal with it? I neglected to
"pre-load" ibuprophen and will fix that next time. Is there a better OTC
pain reliever? Side effects? No prescription stuff for me please. No
alcoholic solutions either, LOL!

I also plan to experiment with changing the length of my stirrups a bit or
maybe fiddling with just the one. (As in, maybe my legs are different
lengths.) I also plan to take a riding lesson or two. Everytime I add either
speed or distance, it seems I hafta do something different!

Any other suggestions?

BTW, Spook Run is a great ride, wonderful trails and great ride management.
And now I know my truck and trailer won't get stuck in the mud. I'll be
back!

Deanna -- now with a big whopping 25 LD miles to add to my whopping 460 CTR
miles. Woohoo! 


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