Following up on yesterday's bellydancing class--the most fun I've had in I don't know when ...

All I've got to say is that any exercise that focuses on having this type of control over your hips and pelvis has got to be good for horseback riding too! The instructor--a really magnificent round and Rubinesque type of woman with all this golden hair who could move like I didn't know was possible--told us that because we are learning the tribal style, this whole idea of being upright and tall and long in the neck and spine is important. She reminded us that in many parts of the world, women are still carrying jars and bundles around on their heads, hence the whole posture idea, which is of course very important when riding our horses or vaulting.

She sent us newbies away from class with some exercises for our glutes, our psoas and our obliques. The first half an hour of the session was some serious rip-snorting belly dancing. (I didn't know my gluteal muscles could do that, or that's how some of that jiggling--sorry, that is I'm sure not the correct technical term--is produced. I'd always thought it was coming from the joints.)

The little finger tambourines sounded like about a hundred pairs of the jingle bobs on my fancy Spanish spurs. The energy in the studio, with all of that hip shaking and ululating, was ... indescribable. Well, the word rapturous does come to mind. (I'm not sure you're supposed to grin like an idiot when belly dancing.)

I suspect the techno geeks at the web development company next door thought they were under attack by a band of tribal women. (Or hoping they were.)

I'm going back.

Posted by Kimberly on October 12, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0)

This is what I will be doing today at lunch time. No kidding. (Well, not exactly ... this--but a beginning tribal dance class. This woman is a sublime artist.) This little college student who interned at our office over the summer talked me and a colleague of mine into it, even though she's safely returned to her university on the east coast and will not be there to witness our bellydancing debut. Check out Pomegranate Studios in Santa Fe.

Do you think this will help me strengthen my core and enhance my horseback riding?

When I talked to one of the delightful women at the studio, she told me we will dance barefoot, and that generally the dancers tuck their shirts up under their bras so we can see our bellies, if I'm comfortable with that, of course. I told them, yeah, no problem, totally comfortable, etc.. (Hah.)

This is what I love about Santa Fe. It's a small town. But a place where you can find a good bellydancing class at lunchtime.

My husband rather likes the idea.

I will let you know how it goes. (I would really like to learn how to do that move she does about the 35 seconds mark into the vid.) Assuming, of course, that I can move afterwards. If I can, then I may be contemplating one of these fancy jinigling/jangling brassiere thing-a-ma-jiggers. (Victoria's Secret at the mall????? Any suggestions?)

Posted by Kimberly on October 10, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0)

One of my life goals is to stay in decent shape so I can ride my horses right up until the day I depart this earth. One winter of being really lazy, I'm talking deplorably lazy here, and having developed a rather special relationship with my couch on the evenings and every cold, windy weekend, and I found myself way out of shape and tipping the scale at a place I never thought I'd see.

At first, I went to Jenny Craig, and had them help me to starve myself for six weeks. A very unpleasant time all around, but I lost ten pounds. The thing with Jenny Craig, though, is that they don't talk about exercise. And that's key.

And then I remembered how I used to love to ride my Peugeot cycle when I was in my early twenties. How I'd spin the wheels for miles and miles across rural Ohio, through the soybeans and the corn fields. So I quit JC and went to Target a few months ago and got myself a bike, a pale reflection of that fancy French thing I'd owned when I had a little more extra cash, but a good bike nonetheless.

Continue reading "Jane West's other steed" »

Posted by Kimberly on October 3, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0)

J. at her vaulting lesson. Here she's practicing her basic seat.

Marcy asked her to get herself organized up on Irish Draft Shakespeare's back, and then requested that she sing. It took a few moments for her to remember a song and then to work up the nerve to do it, but she began with a barely audible Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and by the end of the session was belting it out as Shakespeare trotted around and around the twenty-meter circle. Funny how the louder she sang, the more she unhinged her hips, the less tense she was, held the abdomen lightly, breathed in her upper body, and sat. She was glued to the pad.

Pretty cool.

Posted by Kimberly on December 4, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here I am getting into the guts of the classical dressage seat.

I sat it well for sixteen strides.

My 10-year-old camera girl bugged out on me. Poor kiddo was freezing, even in all those layers and wool socks with the little ballet shoes, and sought refuge in the heated restroom of the fancy hunter/jumper barn where we practice during my turns on board Shakespeare. But even during the brief period of this vid, I learned so much.

In this segment, we are working on relaxing the hips, letting them hinge. In this order--engaging the kegel muscles, the abs (holding them in a relaxed way), and the ribcage (zipping it up, wrapping it). Becoming consistent in my position. Confirming it in my body. Imprinting it memory-wise in my muscles so that the correct position is a place to go back to. During the trot, you feel it. You feel it. You get away from it. You go back to it. How do you do that? By putting all of the building blocks back into place.

Later our vaulting instructor Marcy had me sing while sitting the trot after I felt I was in the right position. I sang the first thing I could remember--Out of my Dreams from the Broadway musical Oklahoma. We didn't catch that because of the poor freezing camergirl. But I did manage to catch her practice session. (See it next.) It was incredible how my seat improved while singing. And how J.'s improved as well.

We both became, for a flicker of a moment, one with the horse.

Posted by Kimberly on December 3, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Bakarne over at Isadora (that's her horse's name) is a horsewoman after my own heart! From her training journal—

I think that on Wed, assuming it isn't storming, I am going to tack her up and then longe her the same way I did today and then just hop on for a brief walk around the arena. I want to try some of the tai'chi from my book, like feeling where my weight is distributed in the saddle and trying to move it to the center of my pelvis.

I love this type of methodical and thoughtful physical practice when I'm riding. My daughter's Andalusian (when she's not lame as she is right now) will carry me in lovely circles around and around the round pen without me holding the reins and I practice my basic vaulting seat. Thinking nice tai'chi types of thoughts.

We learned a great exercise at vaulting practice last weekend for making this type of connection through the pelvis and the core. I'll get out the video camera sometime this week and show it to you.

Posted by Kimberly on November 28, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0)

As I've been saying, I'm returning once again to vaulting, and that's going to take a lot of work. Why am I doing this I ask myself? Well, first of all, I love it. There's nothing else that really gets to me the way this beautiful sport does. And the brief brilliant moments when I experience truly dancing with the horse are the most incredible highs. Second of all, I have to get back into shape. Having just turned 45, I feel that I'm at a bit of a crossroads here. That it's either do or die. Well, that's what my vaulting instructor—a woman who's spent a lot of her life practicing fitness, horsemanship and ballet—tells me, anyway, and I know she's right. I'm not speaking of literal death here, but the kind of death that people like myself experience when they are not truly alive and in their bodies, moving about. I need to remember the lesson I learned when I broke my back and was trussed up in a back brace for a year—you know, the one about not taking my healthy body for granted and being grateful that I can move.

My vaulting instructor, who is not one to mince words, told me that I'm an athlete—funny, I've never been called that before, but guess it makes sense as a description for a woman who has spent 4 years leaping on and off of a horse—and to lose all of that athleticism would be a shame. She also told me that if I quit again, she's going to be really mad at me!

Something to think about as I'm doing little jumps over the vaulting barrel for what sees like the 600th time this week. It is possible that this is some kind of mid-life crisis. Well, I can think of worse ones. And, whatever it is, I'm not going quietly into the night!

Posted by Kimberly on November 28, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0)

What kind of equestrian activity can you do when it's too cold and too dark outside to ride?

After my terrible mounts at equestrian vaulting practice the other day, my vaulting instructor told me my homework is 50 jumps over the vaulting barrel every night.

The problem with my mount right now is that 1) I can't seem to get off of the ground right now; and 2) I'm turning into the horse, which is completely incorrect form, and if you're not careful you'll find yourself underneath the horse.

Posted by Kimberly on November 27, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0)

The title sums it up, really.

I choose to think of this as my hard-headed example of the indefatigable nature of the human spirit in the face of overwhelming odds. ;-)

I have serious conditioning to do.

Posted by Kimberly on November 26, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0)

In order to get here, you have to do this first.

Competitive vaulting was brought to the United States by Elizabeth Searle from Germany in the late 1960s. (With over 100,000 vaulters, vaulting is considered a prerequisite for riding in Germany, and over 50 percent of German riders holding competitive licenses were vaulters in their early years.) She attended a vaulting display at the Olympic Games of 1956 in Stockholm on a visit from America and realized immediately that the United States Pony Club would benefit by the inclusion of vaulting in its program in terms of safety, opportunity, preparation for riding, and fun. When she took over the running of a riding school with a high accident rate, she insisted on all pupils gaining a proficiency certificate in vaulting before being allowed to join a riding class. The accident rate dropped dramatically.

Posted by Kimberly on November 26, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0)

My 10-year-old daughter J. vaulting on the handsome Irish Draft Horse Shakespeare this afternoon. Here, she's working on her seat at a trot.

Want to learn more about vaulting or schedule a lesson? We're in the greater Santa Fe, New Mexico area.

Posted by Kimberly on November 25, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's the movie in my mind—

Oprah flashing her brilliant smile and cooing, "You can look like me when you're in your fifties too!" and then announcing some other bit of wisdom from her sizeable tome in her best, down-home, I'm-no-different-than-the-rest-of-ya'll voice. "Own the Number, Girlfriend," she drawls. That is, the one on the scale—when, damn, she's a woman who has a whole team of fitness trainers, her own private chef, a driver, a bevy of assistants, an army of housecleaners, and who knows what all else. I hate her sometimes. I briefly consider killing my TV.

The rail-thin models in Vogue magazine posed as artfully as mannequins. The photo frames click by in a flurry. Are they alive? Or are they dead? I wonder while gaping at their skeletal limbs and hollow chests.

The stories about the dangerously thin starlets that I feel strangely compelled to read in the Hollywood gossip mags while I wait in the grocery store line, secretly gloating about the fact that I guess they really aren't so perfect after all. Tee-hee-hee. Or those candid photos that show Keira Knightley's cellulite-riddled behind. I vow to never look at a beauty magazine again.

Stop!

Continue reading "Beauty" »

Posted by Kimberly on October 19, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0)

I wrote a naughty little post earlier about the generally unspoken conspiracy of horsewomen regarding our nice rides. Check this out—

Mom Ma’am Me test drove one of these new iGallop Core and Abs Exercise Machines yesterday at her local mall.

The cost of the iGallop from Brookstone: $600.
The chance to be publicly humiliated at Northern Virginia's largest mall: priceless.

I watched several people suppress giggles and at least one young couple was openly staring at the jiggly spectacle before them. And I could have sworn I heard one man snicker and say "Ride 'em cowgirl!" as he sauntered by. I can only pray that no one had a video camera, lest I turn up on YouTube by this afternoon.

One of Mom Ma’am Me's readers commented—

I'm sure your hubbie was yelling "giddy up cowgirl!" all the way home or was it in the bedroom?

After watching the iGallop interactive demo over at the Brookstone web site (You must see this. Scroll down to the bottom of the page for the link.), I’m beginning to think there’s definitely more to the iGallop ... ahem ...Core and Abs Exercise Machine than meets the eye!

Read it all. She is too funny.

UPDATE: Every Little Girl Wants a Pony, by Ana Marie Cox at Andrew Sullivan—The somehow even more hilarious Chinese version. (So that's how they maintain the one-child policy...)

Posted by Kimberly on August 24, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Pelvic Tilt

What's your long-term health and fitness goal?

One of mine is to be able to ride my horse when I’m a little old lady! The exercise ball is an invaluable tool in conditioning for riding. It's also a lot of fun. Kind of like playing when we were kids. (If you've forgotten that, then using the balance ball on a regular basis will help you remember. Guaranteed!)

Just sitting on the balance ball is active and also great for your posture! Sit quietly on the ball for a few moments to get your bearings.

The pelvic tilt teaches mobility through the spine, which is essential for riding our horses. Try to find your sitz bones (ischial tuberosities), those boney projections you feel in your buttocks when in the saddle.

Links: The Pelvis

Posted by Kimberly on August 22, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hat tip to Vaulting Horse for this one—OSIM releases US$600 horseback riding exercise machine

Geeeeesh. And I thought my vaulting barrel was cool ... Does anyone have one of these? Anyone want one???!

August 15, 2006 Singapore’s Osim is in the business of making a range of high quality exercise and health related machinery and it certainly didn’t take the company long to come out with a rival for the Panasonic Joba which has been under development for several years and captivated Gizmag's female readers when we first wrote about it in early 2005 because it’s a perfect machine for maintaining a trim figure.

Posted by Kimberly on August 21, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Check out destinyuk's Flickr photo stream of a British Driving Society event.

"To me it seems that part of being in the ever-present ‘present’ is to enjoy life as it comes and to know that I can’t step in the same river twice. "
~ Marsha on Ageing Gracefully at Emerald City Gnosis

Her post is wonderful. Read it all.

I love to see women drive. A horse and cart, that is. In their driving hats and skirts, they are to me the epitome of grace. The skill and mastery needed for this disappearing art requires a certain level of maturity and experience, in my humble opinion. My daughter J. and I are dreaming of the day when we will drive our Percheron horse Toby at the New Mexico State Fair.

J. will drive. I'll ride gunshot. Sporting a hat with feathers.

These superb horsewomen are beautiful, capable ladies all.

Posted by Kimberly on August 15, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0)

The practice of equitation is a valuable lesson, as it requires the exercise of all human virtues.
~ Nuno Oliveira

The Equus Projects. Now this is dancing with horses. Doesn't this look like fun? Do you ever feel like this inside when you ride or see some beautiful riding?

This reminds me of my 9-year-old daughter, gamboling around the pasture, flitting through the pines, with our young Percheron trailing along behind her in absolute wonder. Maybe he's thinking, who is this energetic little butterfly?

Continue reading "Dances with horses" »

Posted by Kimberly on July 17, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0)

What I can learn about fitness from my horse: Horses don't run for cardio health, weight loss, brain fitness, blood pressure, or anything else but the love of moving. ~ Kathy Sierra, Creating Passionate Users. While I do remember running for joy as a kid, I am not inclined these days to run for sheer fun either. I did do a lot of running in the pasture yesterday after horses #2-5 discovered after watching me give horse #1 his spring shots that they didn't want to have anything to do with it. While yesterday's exercise left me breathless and cranky, I do experience a true joy of movement with yoga and Pilates. Running hurts my knees. Guess it's best to stick with exercise that 1) doesn't hurt and 2) makes you happy.

What I can learn about fitness from my dog: No, Matilda-the-tenacious-heeler does not watch television, but I do sometimes. Which is probably why she is in better shape than I am, especially after the long, cold winter. I do like to practice Pilates while watching Lost on Wednesday nights.

Check it out: Exercise not only makes us stronger equestrians, but prevents brain decline. (As would taking a hatchet to the television set.) Check out Kathy Sierra's very pretty Icelandics too!

Flickr photo: hkvam

Posted by Kimberly on April 17, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0)

A door opened for me the rider with the first exercise in Moshe Feldenkrais, Consciousness Through Movement, entitled "Moving like a tree in the wind".
~ Equestrian and researcher Christine Sanders, who is writing a book on the physiology of riding.

When I watch my children move, specifically when riding their horses, I am amazed at the ease of their seats, the nearly effortless way they sit the gaits. It has been a joy to watch 8-year-old C. lope past me on his long-legged quarterhorse mare Piñon, back end of his Wranglers glued to the saddle.

Continue reading "Moving like a tree in the wind" »

Posted by Kimberly on April 17, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Creating passionate users. You shouldn't get stuck trying to perfect the fundamentals before moving on.

Horsewoman Kathy Sierra describes a girl at her barn whose trainer won’t let her and her dressage horse progress to more interesting work until they’ve virtually perfected the basics. And, she says, both horse and rider are bored out of their minds.

The Parelli approach is, "Keep moving forward, because you'll gain new tools that you can use to go back and perfect the fundamentals." We do this in equestrian vaulting.

Continue reading "Super powers" »

Posted by Kimberly on March 10, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Matilda-the-tenacious-heeler and I are getting fat. There’s no way around it. We’ve spent way too much time snoozing in front of the wood burning stove these cold winter weekends while I read Dean Koontz books. I’ve cut the heeler’s canned dog food in half. As for me, well, I need to eat a handful of cherries instead of a piece of the delicious Chocolate Maven cherry pie (a local delicacy) I love way too much. My ankle is healing nicely (I can actually wear my riding boots again), so it’s time to start moving.

What are some easy ways to ease back into this being active thing?

Continue reading "Dances with Horses :: Rider Fitness" »

Posted by Kimberly on February 16, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Back bend on the ball

I'm continuing my series on the flexibility of the spine for the rider with a wonderful stretching and opening exercise. The backbend on the ball stretches your spine, abdominals, and shoulders. Backbends expand the heart and open us up to new possibilities. Energizing and mood enhancing, the backbend is a wonderful exercise for the equestrian athlete. Introducing your horse to the balance ball is also a great exercise in helping him to accept new things!

Let's begin.

Continue reading "Dances with Horses :: Rider Fitness" »

Posted by Kimberly on February 10, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0)

I am still lame . I’ve shed the crutches, but my ankle is still very swollen, I can’t wear any of my shoes, let alone riding boots, and I haven’t been to equestrian vaulting practice for ages.

This means that my wild and wooly dream—

Continue reading "Still Lame" »

Posted by Kimberly on February 2, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0)

No. Not my horse. Me.

I was leading my young percheron horse from barn to round pen. Full-of-himself percheron on the lead line in my right hand. Long lines and longing whip in my left. Matilda-the-tenacious-heeler—self-emancipated just seconds ago from the confines of the fenced yard and restored to her God-given place as the boss of Toby—trotting behind the big horse with all the pertinacity of a sucker fish glued to a great white shark.

Continue reading "Lame" »

Posted by Kimberly on January 25, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0)

How Do You Feel?

Like many on the blogosphere, I’m watching Renee over at reneegetsfit in her “daily adventures against fat fighting.” She is one courageous woman, in my humble estimation, to share her weight loss journey!

At 44, I struggle with my weight every day, and it’s not getting easier. I’m sure my horses don’t appreciate the extra 15 pounds I put on last winter and still haven’t managed to take off. I wonder sometimes, when my horse cranes her neck around to gaze back at me when we’ve stopped for a breather, if she isn’t saying, “Hey, why don’t you go on a diet? You’re getting HEAVIER.”

Continue reading "Dances with Horses :: Rider Fitness" »

Posted by Kimberly on January 19, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Plow Pose

Maintaining a flexible spine not only helps to keep us younger but enhances our ability to ride our horses.

Regular practice of the plow pose (Halasana) and its variations greatly increase the flexibility of the upper region of the spine. It releases tension in the neck and throat. And as it stretches and strengthens the muscles of the back, shoulders, and arms, plow pose is a very good stretch for the equestrian athlete.

Ready?

Continue reading "Dances with Horses :: Rider Fitness" »

Posted by Kimberly on January 18, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Forward Bend

The forward bend (Uttanasana) is a popular hatha yoga stretch. The forward bend increases the flexibility of the spine, hips, sciatic nerves, tendons, and ligaments of the legs. It provides a complete stretch to the back side of the body and rejuvenates the spinal nerves. Overall, it is a superb stretch for the equestrian athlete, and because of its popularity, there are several variations. I like to practice this one right before getting into the saddle.

Let’s begin.

Continue reading "Dances with Horses :: Rider Fitness" »

Posted by Kimberly on January 13, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Downward Dog is one of the best stretches in yoga! Not only does it increase the flexibility of your spine, shoulders, and legs, but it also provides an overall body stretch and releases tension in your entire body. And you build body strength during Downard Dog.

This is an ideal stretch for the equestrian athlete. Let’s begin—

Continue reading "Dances with Horses :: Rider Fitness" »

Posted by Kimberly on January 5, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Side Stretch

Today, we’re going to do a side stretch. This wonderful stretch is not only good for your spine, but for your sides, shoulders, and arms as well.

OK, equestrian athletes, let’s begin—

Continue reading "Dances with Horses :: Rider Fitness" »

Posted by Kimberly on December 30, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm continuing my series on the flexible spine for the equestrian athlete. Today, we're going to look at Upward Facing Dog (Urdhva Mukha Svanasana). Our blue heeler does this upon awakening each morning, and, amazingly, our 25-year-old pony can do a slightly modified version to scratch those itchy spots on his tummy. Now there's a testimony for youth being determined by the flexibility of the spine!

Not only does Upward Dog strengthen the spine, arms and wrests, but also opens the chest, lungs, and shoulders while stretching the abdomen. This excellent pose also firms the buttocks. A flexible spine enables the rider to move effectively and fluidly with the horse.

Let’s start—

Continue reading "Dances with Horses :: Rider Fitness" »

Posted by Kimberly on December 27, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (0)

The flexibility of the spine is vital to the rider’s ability to achieve safe and effective horsemanship. Today, let’s learn a yoga exercise for equestrians that will not only create flexibility in the rider’s spine, but will also make you feel fantastic!

You may have heard friends or acquaintances who do yoga refer to their practice. That used to sound kind of mystical, intimidating, and even a bit lofty to me. Before I began my yoga practice, I envisioned groups of yogis in dimly lit rooms wearing those diaper thingies and chanting while twisting themselves into pretzels. (I strongly suspect there are many yogis out there who just might think that your jumping over a wall on the back of a thousand-pound horse with a mind of its own is pretty mystical as well! )

Continue reading "Dances with Horses :: Rider Fitness" »

Posted by Kimberly on December 23, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (0)

One of the most important factors in maintaining a healthy body is a flexible spine. The yogis say that youth is determined by the flexibility of your spine. How can this help us achieve safe and effective horsemanship?

The equestrian spectator may think that we riders just perch on top of our horses while the horse does all the work! However, if you’ve spent some time in the saddle, you know that horseback riding is a highly athletic endeavor. In fact, riding is a whole body activity. As riders, we integrate all of the muscles in our body to move effectively and fluidly with our horse’s movement.

Continue reading "Dances with Horses :: Rider Fitness" »

Posted by Kimberly on December 20, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (0)

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. ~Confucius

The physical therapist showed up in my hospital room near the end of the first of my nearly two-week stay. “Fell off a horse, did we?” was the first thing she said to me.

My brain was still muddled from all of the pain killers, and my tongue felt thick as I tried to explain to her that the horse and I had fallen together into this gigantic hole in the arroyo that had been excavated practically right out from under us.

Continue reading "A thousand miles on horseback" »

Posted by Kimberly on December 19, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (0)

I broke my back in a riding accident fourteen years ago, when I was 30.

One moment the horse and I were enjoying a hand gallop through the deep sand of a New Mexico arroyo (wiki), and the next, we were tumbling headfirst into a 10-foot hole that hadn’t been there the day before.

Neither one of us saw it as we galloped right into the abyss.

Continue reading "Galloping into the abyss" »

Posted by Kimberly on December 16, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (0)