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You’re welcome

Totally understandable, I know where you’re coming from as I have some orthopaedic problems as well. All I can say to that is make sure that you do what the doctors and physiotherapist suggest to help strengthen and loosen up that joint and be kind to that joint, the hips are very important when you’re writing and sometimes you need to be careful to make sure that you don’t overdo it. Seeing a physical therapist and doing Sessions in the pool and hot tub will be really helpful for you. Mention to them that you’re looking at getting back into riding as this will also help them make treatment decisions. Best of luck.

Hi Mel Stephens,I am hoping and praying that I can go horseback riding on my 60th birthday with my friend in April 2025 even though I am legally blind with limited vision and I use a white cane and I have osteoarthritis throughout my body except my spine or neck.The only way that I can get back into riding a horse again after being away from riding a horse since 1991 Is to just go for it and ride a horse in 2025.i am 4'5" and I am 59 years old so getting on a horse will be a challenge for me but If there is a way to accomplish my goal and dream is to actually go riding at a farm in 2025

Is the horse that you are standing beside it your horse

I'm glad my suggestions help. your instructor may also have some ideas for how to do some exercises at home after she/he sees your first ride. I know going to the gym is not cheep but if you can at least try and go swimming once a week you'd be shocked how much that can help, if that's something you're able to do. Something that someone also suggested to me was that I have a try at doing squats a few times a day but I do not suggest you do those unless you know exactly how to do them because I do not want you hurting yourself! I hope you can find an instructor who is able to help you, but you may also be able to look into doing something with a riding for the disabled if you have that in your area? There are plenty of options out there, you've just got to find the right one for you at the time.

Hi there Kim, thanks for your comment and question. i am excited to hear that you are hoping to get back into riding again after such a long gap and I think that's a very brave thing. I suggest that you have a look into finding a gym or personal trainer in your area who can help you develop a program with your goal of riding again in mind. These people have training on which exercises are good for which groups of muscles so they can help you develop the core muscles and help with your leg strength. You can also look at going to the pool, if you have a local pool, and doing some swimming or exercsies in the water. My PT and I are working on my core strength and leg strength at the moment, as I plan to return to riding myself next year too. Good luck and I hope that helps.

Yes, like I said to you when you headed off, it's rather a lot to take in and to handle for a first time handler but it is also an amazing experience and you will come home not only with a new friend but with a lot of new knowledge. I've thought and felt for a long time that GD training is one of those experiences which is probably one of the most emotional ones which you may go through in your life. Unfortunately that's what comes with the decision to have a guide dog but it is very worth it. I'm glad you have been enjoying all the videos which I've been putting out and I'm sorry for the lack of content this week, I hope to do a post updating everyone on that situation today. I've enjoyed going back to vlogging so much that I've decided I will do it more regularly again as I know you all appeared to have enjoyed it. Best of luck with the second week of training.

Thank you very much. I think she had a good day, even though she has had a very quiet week :)

Hey, amazing that you've now got a little working friend for your guide, it's so cute when they have colleagues who they can hang with out of harness! I think it's important to make sure that when the two dogs are together they still respond to the commandds of their handlers, without being distracted by the other dog. You can test and train this by doing a quick obedience session in the drive/hall or some other such quiet open space which is safe for you to navigate with a cane or your remaining vision and has very little other distractions. I'd only do about 2 or 3 minutes of walking up and down asking the dogs to sit, wait, heal, down ect to make sure they are able to listen to you before they work together. When they are playing, it's fine for them to go for it but the first time they play I do suggest having a sighted person watching, you can call Aira if you have that service and do not have access to a live person, to make sure they don't get too rough. let them play for a few minutes, call them back and give the correct dog a treat when it returns to the correct handler. They will always be excited and happy to see each other when you meet up in harness, for example if you've arranged to meet at a restaurant, but it is important that they do not make a diversion from their task to the other dog until you have asked them to find the other dog. I'd use which ever method of avoiding distraction your school has taught for this and positive reinforcement when they successfully do what you ask but then not make a huge fuss about finding the other dog when it's time. I'll talk to Mum because I think this is an important topic which not many other blind TH-camrs have covered and I'll see what her and I can do about putting a video together on this topic :) but I hope this helps for now.

Awww thank you. I will pass that on. Yes, it’s very important that you talk to your animals in a manner that is kind but assertive if it needs to be I always talk kindly and lovingly to my animals but as you could see when I was feeding Abby I was trying to get her to stay out of my space and not get too pushy with me so I used a more assertive and deep toned sounding voice which had quite a good result but then praised her after she had done the right thing

Thank you, I don't very offten go to KMart so this was quite an unusual trip for us. We usually go to Target or somewhere like that but because KMart is in WaterGardens and I don't know where it is without going with my support worker I don't go there that much. Would pix be useful for you to see how I go with Make-Up? If you want to, I will post them on my insta and FaceBook so be sure to follow me over there to see how I'm going. unfortunately I missed my last OT session this week because I got sick but I will be sure to post a vid or pix of that when it happens. Pen did very well, and so did my support worker, she hadn't worked with the dog in an environment like that before so she had to learn a lot but I think she did well. Pen is truely such a great dog, I'm so blessd to have her and I hope she continues working for some time to come. Today, the 9th, is her 7th birthday.

Oh my goodness, thank you! So, that just goes to prove that I am blind. When I was putting this video up, I used dictation software on my phone to type out the video title because I was on the move and unable to use my braille display to type out the name of this video. Due to the way that the current TH-cam app is laid out, I am then unable to go back and check to see if things are spelt correctly in the title because that part is not accessible. It was pronouncing it correctly so I did not realise it was spelt incorrectly… Thank you very much! Spelling errors corrected now.

I would be interested to know if they have those little fat sheets in the United Kingdom as well. It’s the bit that you pull off the sticky side of the pad. It certainly was exciting to find out that they had a fact about braille written on them, part of me wants to get singing AI out to read them every time now to find out what else they tell you.

⁠I'm totally going to check next time I get one out haha.

Usually, my arms don’t start burning until I’m halfway through my second set with most of my exercises but sometimes I can get most of the way through the third set before it starts getting really hard. I’m lucky to have a great trainer, who helps me work hard to achieve my goals.

Thanks. Housework can be really annoying but I actually don’t mind, it’s a lovely sense of achievement when you start the day with a dirty house and go to bed and clean sheets with a vacuumed floor under your feet and a tidy kitchen to make breakfast in the following morning.

I’m sorry, that was super boring!

No, not boring. I watched it all. I was wondering where was Penny or what does she do usually when you’re busy Thank you for your time to make these videos

Usually, if she’s not in the video for example working with me or participating in some other way, she’ll be on her bed or chewing her bone or something.

thank you, I’m loving being able to go back to PT. I was doing it consistently at the start of the year two days a week but my PT had some personal life circumstances change and he was unable to work. Then when he got back on board, I got sick and wasn’t able to train so we have finally been able to start training again a week ago. It’s been really nice getting my fitness back on track, especially after my surgery. Yeah, it is good being able to see the horses every day. Sometimes, it does feel like a bit of a chore but most days I do love it. In the winter, when it’s freezing cold or bucketing with rain. That’s when it can feel really hard. Congratulations on heading off to Guide dog training! Don’t be surprised that you will be tired and not just physically but emotionally as well. It’s a rewarding experience but it’s not always rainbows and lollipops. Suffice to say though, you and your dog will have a good time getting to know each other. which school are you going to?

I’m glad you will enjoy this week, it’s going to be mayhem! Penelope is such a great little thing, she’s got such an amazing personality, when she’s in work mode she’s totally focused and she works her little heart out. When she’s at home, she likes to relax and chew on her bone And when we have visiting dogs, she does quite enjoy playing with them.

Haha nothing. It was a great day

Thanks, we love working together and showing our skills. I love listening to Guide dog videos where you can hear things like their paws on the ground and their collar rattling as well as the atmosphere, I think those sound effects came through well in this video.

Thanks, I really do need to keep vlogging all the time and putting out video after video after video. After all, it's how a TH-camr becomes more popular. I'm just not sure I can keep it up for a long time. I do like doing it though

I’m chacing that magic 1000 subs, that would be an amazing milestone to reach.

​@@melStephens1994 well you do a brilliant job.

Thank you

Thank you for your amazing insight. The job I was doing was something I loved, Braille testing through my personal business that I have started up. Working for myself is great, I can work as much or as little as I want to accommodate for my health which is important. It's also good because I can work from home or travel to places like I did yesterday. There are, of course, disadvantages to having your own business like not getting enough work some weeks but I think they outweigh the benefits. Yes, I personally do not like lifts and wouldn't use them as my regular mode of transport but Penelope doesn't like escalators so if I am having a bad pain day like I was yesterday a lift is my only other option, my next guide, however, will be a dog that can do escalators because I much rather them and use them a lot when I'm out and about with my cane. And thank you for your little explanations regarding people in front of us, I found it very interesting and I'm ever so greatful you could give that little bit of info.

If I was to see another handler treat their dog poorly, I would certainly make a phone call to our Guide team leader and let him know but if it was a dog from another school I would try and contact their dog team leader as well. If the dog does something wrong, it depends on the Things that they do as to how you manage it. If they bump you into something, you might rework the area. If they overrun a curve, you might give them a light correction and use the word. No then take them back to the curb and make sure they stop at the curb. If they eat something up off the footpath, you may also give them a correction but like I said, it depends on what they’ve done wrong.

@@melStephens1994 Oh okay, thanks. Now I know what to do next time, take care

Haha it’s a problem

I know, unboxing videos can be so much fun! I’m glad you enjoyed the video, I’ll be doing more videos on this device as time progresses.

You are welcome, it’s been such a long time since I did a video about Maggie, I can’t believe it.

You’re welcome, I hope you enjoyed and learned something.

Yum, enjoy the coffee 😋

It is currently 5 PM here in Chicago just asked Alexa what time is it over there 9 AM good morning Mel

Yes, thank you, I’ve just had my Saturday morning breakfast and I’m debating what I do for the rest of the morning.

@@melStephens1994 normally what I do in the morning while drinking my coffee feed my two girl cats then pay bills on a cool Chicago morning, sitting down in my kitchen table

It’s currently 6 PM here in Chicago. Just finished eating dinner.

Thank you, the recovery certainly did take awhile but I’m glad that I have recovered now. And yeah, can’t believe it’s been five years with my girl, I’m so happy with her and I hope to continue for another five.

@@melStephens1994 I am currently getting ready to go to training for my first guide dog do you have any? advice for me I am very nervous and excited. I’ve never got a hold of a harness or experience being guided by a guide dog.😊😄

Yeah, I can’t believe it. It’s been five years. It feels like only yesterday that I was at Guide Dogs doing my training with her, but it wasn’t. All the amazing adventures that we’ve had in the five years, it’s incredibly good to look back on. I’ve been so lucky to have such a good time with her and I look forward to having more good years with her. And as for my health in the doctors, totally agree, can be very frustrating sometimes but I’m glad to be on the other side.

I would never do that 😘❤️

Thank you, it has been a long road but I'm so greatful to be back and feeling in the right place to make content for everyone. I hope you can find an inclusive sporting club somewhere in your area :)

No, sorry, it’s not what they call Metro now. Back when I filmed this, being from country Victoria, it’s what I call Metro… Electric trains that run around city suburbs.

@@melStephens1994 ok 👍 they call it metro in Melbourne btw

Yes. I’m looking forward to seeing the Sydney Metro next time I’m there.

Yes that would be very nice 😊

Thank you very much. It’s been a slow recovery and it hasn’t been an easy one, hoping to do an update here real soon.

Yep, I’ve forcibly been taking rest, it’s now been 3 1/2 weeks and I’m only just starting to get back on my feet now. Can’t wait to update you all on the situation very soon, also got some amazing content coming out, look forward to that. Hope you are well also.

Yeah it was amazing

Thank you. Next video will be a fun one, it is about technology. I have recorded it but I have not edited yet.

Thank you xx