Riding Dragons

Today I'll be horseback riding, instead of yoga. I'll be working muscles that neither walking or yoga can touch.

. . . and then I'll be walking funny tomorrow. Just saying.

It's been many, many years since I had to sell Buster, but I do miss the smell of manure, hay, leather and that special spicy aroma that is pure horse.

Yes, there is something to that, romance writers!
When I read my first dragon story by Ann McCaffery, I hadn't ridden a horse. Checking out all the Walter Farley books from the library over and over again satisfied a need at the time.

Oh, I wanted to ride.

But growing up, we simply didn't have the money. No matter what anyone says, owning a horse is an expensive proposition even if you have your own land--hay, farrier and vet bills come immediately to mind, not including the initial investment of the horse, equipment, saddle, and supplies. It all adds up.

I never had the chance to ride a horse until I was in my early twenties. There is a learning curve just like any new skill. It took me two years to finally figure out that when my trainer was screaming at me, "put your heels down!" she actually meant, "sink your weight into your heels."

It's all in how you word it.

But back to Ann. I love Ann's dragons. When a dragon hatches it has a special connection with one person--telepathically. I never got to experience that special connection with a horse, Buster would be the closest.

But I did understand the feeling of riding a dragon. It happened to me twice in all my years of riding.

Wow. That's it, just wow.

Everything clicks. You are in sync with an 1000-pound animal. It's like gliding on a dragon.

It's beautiful.

I hadn't realized until years later that Ann bred and raised Irish Hunters. Her dragons. It makes total sense.

To describe the intangible, the unknown, the fantasy, writers must draw upon what they know and then add their imagination to the mix.

Sometimes it's just magic.

Let's hope riding my friend's horse will end up being magic.

Later, Peeps!

Yoga

With all the cold rain we'd been having, I simply wasn't motivated to walk. In the past, I didn't mind walking in the rain, but since we went skiing I never could seem to warm up.

So I decided to do something I hadn't done in a couple of years--I went to the gym.

Actually, our fitness facility is very nice, with rooms to take various classes or lift weights, or do zumba, or simply work out on equipment. It used to be an old grocery store, so it's very open. The one thing I don't like about it are the fluorescent lights. There's something about them that bothers my eyes. Anyway, I knew I didn't want to simply walk on the treadmill, so I looked at their class schedule. There are all sorts of classes one could take, from seriously intensive to easier on the body.

I found a yoga class that timed well with my schedule.

My only experience with yoga--despite a yoga DVD I own and never played--is from the Wii Fit. The Wii Fit yoga leaves a lot to be desired. Oh, it helps you learn the name of the pose and how to balance the pose, but there is zero flow from one pose to the next. And there is a ton of time wasted between poses to see how you did, click on the next move, click past the 'instructional' part of the pose until you get to the actual exercise.

Well, this tiny bit of knowledge was helpful in my first yoga class.

It was a small group, only six of us and the instructor slowly went through a series of moves, holding each one for a period of time before going to the next one.

It was good in the sense that my back snap, crackled and popped and I felt freer in my normal movements . . . until the next night when my abs started screaming at me.

Wow! Who knew?

And then I took another yoga class on Friday morning, different instructor, larger group, different poses, and different muscles are now screaming at me. Though I have to admit my Wii knowledge has helped me in this learning phase.

I like it. It has zero impact and I don't feel like I need to kill myself to 'keep up with the instructor', though I did a pretty good job nailing the poses. Except one. It was an extension of the warrior pose. The feet are the same way, but the hands are palm together behind my back with a slight twist of the shoulders . . .  ye-owch! I'm flexible, but obviously not in my shoulders!

I'll still walk, but yoga is a nice addition to the routine. I'm glad I decided to try it out . . . even though it doesn't add any WW activity points to my day.

Later, Peeps!