Black and Blue Ribbons
— Karen Del Vecchio

The past two weeks have been a bit crazy. The owner of the farm where I live had ACL and meniscus reconstruction surgery, so I’ve been doing more farm chores, like I…

Last week, I shared a positive update about my new horse, Cherry. A few days later, Spotty had his six-month checkup for his ligament injury. We got good news from the vet! He’s healing well enough…

Last weekend was my first show after falling off my horse last November and badly spraining my right ankle and left MCL. It also was my first show…

Pants. For many years, women rallied for the ability to wear pants instead of skirts and dresses. As an extremely active individual, most of the time I fall into the category of women who prefer to…

Perhaps one of the toughest things about Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS) is the chronic fatigue. It’s invisible, so those around you often don’t understand, and we live in a fast-paced world where there just aren’t enough hours in the…

As I’ve shared before, Pilates has been an enormous help in managing my Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS). Although I was introduced to it as recently as December, I have noted improvements in my pain level after only a few…

When you live on a farm, you are witness to many bizarre events. Animals are amazing and wonderful, but they have their moments and a baffling knack for getting into unusual situations. I have an apartment on a…

I can manage to do most of what I want to, despite my Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. Sometimes, though, I have to get creative to pull it off. Because my joints are too loose, my muscles overcompensate by tightening up…

Overall, things have been going great in my life. My new horse Cherry is learning quickly, my other horse Spots is healing, and Pilates and massages generally keep me pretty well put together. Nevertheless, at times my…

Back in November when I fell off my horse Spotty, I badly sprained my left medial collateral ligament and my right ankle. I could barely walk. Limping was entertaining because I didn’t have a “good” leg to limp…

One common issue that many people with an Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS) deal with is that we “look normal.” While I’m grateful that it’s not blatantly obvious to most people that I have EDS, there are times when it can…

In the intervening weeks since my competition horse Spotty was diagnosed with a disorder affecting his legs, I realized that if I wanted to continue to improve my riding and be able to compete on occasion, I’d have to…