In class this week, we learned a dance that I am so hoping we are going to add to the repertoire for Traveling Shoes, our performance clogging team. When doing this dance, you cannot feel anything but happy, happy, happy. I love the Caribbean rhythm. The steps are cute, different and fit the music perfectly. Give this song a listen (clink on the link below) and you'll be guaranteed a happy day!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bY-oMCmrvPM&feature=related
This week, I made a sales call for Traveling Shoes by dropping in to the Loomis (CA) Chamber of Commerce office. I asked how we could be considered for entertainment at the annual Eggplant Festival, which is being held in Loomis this year on October 1. I was given the contact information I needed. Also learned about Community Day on June 12 in Loomis. My task for next week is to follow-up on these leads. There are many events that are 'ripe for the picking' for our team, I believe.
We are also being considered for an invitational golf tournament at Lake of the Pines on June 28. There would be about 100 women in attendance. Would be really fun to perform there. While we are not a "shoe-in" (no pun intended), I think we've got a good shot at being selected.
I'm going to a clogging class in Sacramento next week with a woman I met in clogging class. She is a delight and dances with AfterShock, a performance clogging team based in Sacramento. Judy invited me to tag along with her and two other ladies to go to their class on Thursday night. Looking forward to seeing the teaching style of other clogging instructors. I love my instructor, Kathy Kaplan - who is awesome beyond words - but it's always good to see and hear how others many teach clogging.
I'm having a ball with my clogging activities. So glad I took up this form of dance!
Clog on!
When you're young and you fall off a horse, you may break something. When you're my age, you splatter. ~Roy Rogers
Today is my second riding lesson. My friend Mary is going to come with me and have her own lesson. Should be fun having her along; Mary's game for most anything and looks every bit an equestrian. She also grew up around horses and had to tell me about her aunt (who owned a racetrack) who had her eye kicked out by a horse. Ah, "Thanks, Mary!" I could have gone a lifetime without hearing that!
That said, whenever I go ice skating, DH always tells me, "Keep your feet on the ice, your butt off the ice, then call with a full report." Now when I am going for a riding lesson, he puts his clasped hands up to his mouth and yells (as though he is the riding instructor), "Keep your butt on the horse!" I wish I could describe this well enough in words because it is quite hysterical the way he does it.
Yesterday, we purchased a riding helmet. I got a very English-looking black, velvet-like helmet. Quite pretty, although it completely flattens my hair. It took an hour to figure out how to put the thing on and properly adjust the straps. This horse equipment is complicated! While I was there, I purchased some riding gloves (must have these, of course) with black horses on them. Very cool looking. This is all in keeping with "It's not how you ride but how you look when you ride that really matters."
We spent some time talking with a vet who happened to be at the store giving vaccinations to dogs about the topic of falling off a horse. I asked him pointblank, "Does everybody who rides fall off?" You can imagine his response - "Yes!" And why is it the minute you start talking with someone who rides and they know you are a beginner, they immediately feel compelled to tell you about falling off the horse? Yikes, I thought I could avoid this experience. I suppose it is only a matter of time. But as Roy Rogers said (see quote above) maybe I will just splatter!
I hope Mary decides she to continue taking riding lessons. It would be great fun to have a buddy along for the ride (no pun intended).
Before my lesson today, I must decide about Western vs. English. I'm so drawn to English and dressage, but I looked at the dressage wear yesterday at the riding supply store. The jackets start at $300.00 and go up from there. And that's just the beginning. Then there is the issue of owning a horse (so you can bond which I guess is really important for dressage) which is not going to happen. The vet told us that the best way to ride a lot is find a friend who owns a horse but doesn't ride often and wants to have it exercised. Bingo. I'm on the prowl for one of those friends.
Onward into equestrian land. I am planning on keeping my butt on the horse today!
I am thrilled to report I survived my first riding lesson since I was eight years old.
I showed up on Monday, 4/11, with new black breeches and cool new riding boots. I felt every bit the rider. Tracking down Kelly, my instructor, was pretty easy as she was talking with people (adults, thank goodness!) who had the lesson before mine.
DH insisted I bring a carrot for Buckley, the pot belly pig who is the stable's mascot. He (the pig, not the husband) appreciated the morning feast and promptly fell asleep, snout in the ground. Wish I could drop off to sleep that fast.
Kelly escorted me into the barn where there was a very handsome brown horse eating oats. Introductions ensued. "Karen, this is Jessy. He is a 22-year old Arabian who has been a lesson horse for 2 years now. He is very sweet and gentle." Me: "Hi, Jessy. You certainly are a magnificent creature. And you are going to be nice to me, right?" Jessy: No response (after all, he was eating his breakfast). Me: "Ah, you're a man of few words. I understand. I'm married to one like that."
Next stop was the tack room. Kelly started pulling out all manner of equipment. My heart was racing. I don't remember all this stuff (or what to do with it), but when I was 8, I showed up on Saturday mornings and the horse was ready to ride. Anyway, I groomed Jessy, including cleaning his feet. Interesting note: Jessy had no shoes. Kelly explained that Arabians have very good feet, so many of them don't need shoes. Makes the picking much easier too. I liked grooming him; a good bonding experience.
Then time to put on the saddle pad. Well, that was pretty easy. The saddle was next. Who knew a saddle had so many parts (see picture above)? Not me, I rode English as a kid; the English saddle isn't nearly as complicated as a Western. My head was swimming trying to recall what was what. We finally got Jessy groomed and saddled up and went off to the arena.
I managed to mount Jessy without making a total fool of myself. Kelly stood in the center of the arena and in a very reassuring, calm voice, called out instructions to me. I seemed to understand what she was telling me to do. Jessy was very responsive. It's true that once you've been on a horse, you don't forget the feeling. The minute I swung my right leg over the saddle, it came back to me - feeling the horse breathing, the slope of the back, the warmth of his mane, the excitement of feeling like you're on top of the world. Toward the end of the lesson, Kelly suggested that we (Jessy and I) do some trotting. I didn't recall how to post, but her instruction - "Up on one, down on two" - was perfect; in no time I was posting up a storm.
Just as we were getting ready to leave the arena, I saw the precursor (it's called an "aura) to a migraine and cursed the migraine devils for sending me one at this moment. We managed to get back to the barn and Jessy pastured again. Despite this unexpected end, the lesson was so much fun, I can hardly wait until next Monday for another lesson.
I am so very blessed to have a DH who is letting me live out my childhood fantasies. He will never know - because I will never be able to adequately communicate to him - how much this means to me.
Onward into horse land. I've come up with an expression for my renewed interest in riding: "Go by horse or go home!"
I thought this morning DH and I were going out to gather information about riding lessons from the two stables by our home.
About 30 minutes after we left the house, we had gone to one stable (the one where I thought I'd likely wind up taking lessons), had met Kelly, the riding instructor who works with "most of the ladies," as she phrased it, and scheduled my first riding lesson for tomorrow, which happens to be our 24th wedding anniversary.
Of course, one cannot go riding without the proper attire. Well, of course not! Next stop was The Boot Barn in Rocklin. I have to say that a month ago I probably would never have envisioned myself shopping at this store. We found some cute riding boots at a great sale price. But wait, what about the riding breeches? Off we went to a riding supply store in our little town of Loomis. Twenty minutes later, we emerged with a very chic pair of black Kerritts (this is what Kelly was wearing, we happened to notice). They are quite cute and flatter the figure. They are NOT jodhpurs, but are more like skating pants, flared a little at the bottom so you can wear them inside or outside your boots. Alright, the wardrobe is taken care of. Check that off the list.
Kelly is as nice as can be. I explained my riding history. She asked if I felt confident around horses or was I more timid. I responded, "Well, when I was 8 I was pretty confident, but since I'm well past that now, I'd say. . .er. . .TIMID!" She seemed to understand completely. I'm sure I'm not the first mature woman who wanted to take riding lessons later in life. DH and I really liked Kelly the minute we met her (DH probably because she is young and beautiful).
I like the stable's teaching approach. They teach you from the ground up, meaning, you get your horse from the pasture, you groom him or her, you get the horse saddled up, etc., etc. They assume that most students will some day want their own horse so they want people to learn how to do these things themselves. Smart idea.
Tomorrow at 11:00 am I'll be at the Knicker Knob Stables in Loomis launching a new adventure in my life. All of this is complements of DH, who has given me the lessons, the boots, the breeches and the emotional support as an anniversary gift. Isn't that too sweet and amazing for words? He is the best husband in the world.
Onward we go, in keeping with my motto about most things - "It doesn't matter how you ride, it's how you look when you ride that really counts!" More to follow after tomorrow's lesson.
When I was about 8 years old, I decided I wanted to take riding lessons. Of course, doesn't every little girl fall in love with horses at that age?
My wonderful mother (no girl could have asked for a better Mom) took me to the riding supply store and bought me beautiful, shiny black riding boots. I loved those boots. We could ill-afford them at the time, I'm sure, but Mother knew how much I wanted to ride. I am sure she pinched her pennies for months so I could get those boots and riding lessons.
I can't remember when or why I stopped those lessons, but I remember - as if it were yesterday - going to the stable, the smell of the manure, the beautiful creatures with the large heads and big eyes. And I remember Opera Gloves, the name of the horse that the stable owner had. She was a spectacular horse, pitch black with white gloves. I will never forget that horse.
Years later, I became the recipient of a 2 year-old thoroughbred called French Dish. French wasn't broken, so there was no riding involved, but I recall so well going to the stables on Skyline Blvd. in Oakland, mucking out the stall, walking French around the arena. When the relationship that brought French into my life ended, so did my relationship with the horse. I got the friends; he got the horse.
So now - at age 63 - I am considering embarking on another journey - learning to ride again.
Why now? The line from a beautiful song from "Wicked" says, "People come into your life for a reason," and so it was yesterday. I rang up a former classmate from my doctoral program to find out if she knew the health status of another classmate of ours. After we talked about our mutual friend, the chat turned to "So, what have you been doing?" Sherrie told me she had returned to riding (now, she is a serious equestrian; she is jumping horses!) about a year ago, after becoming an empty-nester.
We talked for some time about her riding experiences. As she spoke, my horse experiences came flooding back to me. Sherrie said, "Why don't you look into riding?" in response to my mentioning how much I love horses. I told her about my back injury from ice skating, that DH said "No horseback riding!", that Dear Doctor (DD) said, "I'd rather you skate than horseback ride," and that I didn't think that an old gal like me could learn to ride. Sherrie dismissed the entire idea and told me to check into it.
Mind you, this is all too easy. We have not one, but two stables within a mile of our home! Of course, I immediately pop on to the Web to find out about riding lessons at these stables. Imagine my surprise to learn that they are less expensive than ice skating lessons - and that includes the horse! "Whoa, Nellie!" I thought, "How can that be?" Well, "Shut my mouth!" They are far less expensive than skating lessons.
Last night, I slyly I broached the subject with DH using my typical approach; to wit, "Did you know that riding lessons are much less expensive than skating lessons?" Silence. Then I got what I call "the look." Translation: Anything that costs less than skating, gets me out of the skating environment, and gets me into something else would make DH happy. He tolerates my skating activities so well, but deep down, he'd really like me to stop skating, I know that. Add to that, that he loves horses too. I definitely got his attention.
As I write this post, I am musing about this. If I ride, I can't skate. It's a simple case of economics. While riding lessons do cost far less, one cannot do everything one wants; one must be reasonable after all. But, having said that, I am taking the first step. Tomorrow (maybe even today if I have time), I am going to both the stables by our house to check them out. This is very exciting and scary too.
Onward into equitation land. That's a horse on you - or rather, me!
