Horses

Mar. 22nd, 2013 04:20 pm
mekyria: (Default)
Horseback riding is getting more interesting. Our group 'upgraded' from the easy horses (the ones that are illing to work, even if you are not very clear in what you want from them) to the horses with a more complex personality. Complex personality meaning that it takes longer for your horse to trust you as its rider, they need more specific cues and if you give them an inch of slack, they'll run with it.

The downside is that most of the horses are huge, like over two meter tall (that would be 7 feet for the US flisties). Being so high up is pretty scary all by itself, though I seem to do fine compared to my fellow riders. I think the key is that due to ballet and dance, sitting up straight and put my weight to the back is easier, making it a lot easier to stay on horseback, even when they do crazy stuff like trying to run into each other at full speed gallop or making unexpected jumps during trot/gallop. Sometimes they are just ignoring their rider and trying to pick a fight with aother horse. It's like having a troublesome four year old on your hands.

Read more... )

That's right, we get to wear kevlar body armor! Wearing a body protector reduces the risk of injury to internal organs in case of an accident. I consider buying one when we are doing the outdoor two hour trips in April.  The outside world holds more scary suprises for horses compared to the safety of indoor training.

On Sunday we're participating in a contest at our mange and I signed up with Martine and we both picked 'complicated' horses. Because they are more fun! Next week will be the last regular class, after that the riding school is closed to to rebuiling it into a new, shiny complex and we have the opportunity to take the horses into the forest once a month instead. I look forward to riding outside, it asks more from the rider and the horse with regards to trust and skill.

Also, I talked with Lisette and she also has the wish to do a ponycamp because she never went as a girl due to her parents. It eases my mind that I am not the only scorned 30-something woman who took up horsebackriding later in life because it was something that I couldn't do when I was a child.
mekyria: (Saaidi gold dress)
1. my classes started and I have two lovely groups of ladies. I scared the shit out of my intermediates yesterday with the 8 minute shimmy drill. My beginners class has two return students + two people who dropped by because of worth of mouth. I am a happy camper. Bellydance 1 is doing a choreography to Fakerni by Haifa Wehbe. I chose to do a more theatrical style with less repetition, as it appeals better to the creative nature of some students. Last semester had a choreography that relied on symmetry and counting, this one is more about musical interpretation.

Bellydance 2 is getting a drills/improv thing, meaning we work on drills for a saaidi choreography for the 6th of april performance, and on improvisation with Aziza (the song, not the dancer). It is an easy song to recognize the structure and I feel it is a good way to usher my students towards classis BD songs.

2. running! The Netherlands had the whole snow and ice thing going on, off and on during the last couple of weeks. I got a bit out of practice with regards to running but I was reminded today that I will be doing the CPC run at the start of March (yes, in three weeks). I upped the ante and went with 10k instead of 5k, as I usually run 7-8k for practice. Those extra k's will be heavy, but I run for my company and we have our private changing area and a sportmasseuse. Meaning I can drop on the floor of our pavilion afterwards and do my yoga stretches and all will be well. And if I don't recover on Sunday I have a good excuse to call in sick on Monday :-)

3.ballet. due to work I missed the last three classes. Eep! I look forward to getting back in class next week. My turns are getting better and so is my core strength, so that is good. If I could get back into running my flexibility would greatly benefit, nothing beats stretching after a good run for improved range of motion.

4. badminton. Also missed several classes int he past couple of weeks due to work. It is not a priority but I hope that I can make it to at least two sessions per month. I am getting better at foot placement and strategy, but I don't play often enough to ingrain the patterns for shuttle placement that I need. *shrugs* It is fun though.

5. horseback riding: also missed classes here but I went last thursday and had a blast. Things are solidifying into my system, I hve a better sit (meaning better balance on a horse) and I use the tension on my stirrups better. When the weather gets better I want to  do a 2 hour ride outside once a month, I imagine that will be lovely.

6. my own BD practice: I have several practice sessions planned in the next months with various groups: expanding our repertoire with FaKyMa, rehearsing with the LAT project (30th of march Groningen, april 5thin Amsterdam) and Sense of Bellydance (hafla on april 6th). My fancy has been tickled by the online classes from Datura and Raqstv, but I told myself I should start with the dvds in  my closet first. I am once more trying to do a dvd this month, I have to keep up with my flisties on the dvd challenge.
mekyria: (tribal dance castle fest)
Despite all the stuff that is going on at my work, I've been investigating plans for the summer holiday. Let's go through the list of options that I worked out, shall we?

1. horsebackriding
I do not have enough experience with horsebackriding for outside tracks, which sucks because that's what I envisioned in my highly romantic version of a horsebackriding holiday. I chose to be sensible and push it to a later moment in my development as a rider. It was fun though, searching the internet for trails and tracks in Spain, Italy, France, and even the Netherlands.  We're a flat country so our outdoor view is always of a flat plain. Flat plain with grass, flat plain with trees, flat plain with houses. Still, we have some great outdoor places where I could ride. One day.

2. diving
I'm taking my 5th indoor training this weekend and the outdoor training is scheduled at the end of June. There is no way that I'm going on a diving holiday on my own this summer, I'm going to get me some experience below my lead-belt with dives in the Netherlands. Maybe Egypt/Red Sea diving next summer....

3. Sailing
This one was on my list of 'stuff to explore'. I have never sailed before, so I signed up for a sailing weekend in Friesland for absolute beginners. Friesland is the Northern part of the Netherlands. It is also flat as a pancake, the view is mainly lakes, water and reed. I'm going in the first week of August on a boat with app 40 people, every day class on a smaller vessel, and everyone is between 20-35 years old. Let the fun begin!

random summer stuff:
-Laudie asked me if I want to participate in her new belly dance project so we're doing a couple of intens days together this summer to get most of the conceptual work done. We'll work on perfecting the theatershow next year. It's awesome that she invited me to participate *glows* Laudie is the creative director of The Oum Kolthoum Project

-I'm doing the fashion show for Laced-Up, the fetish boutique in Utrecht, during the Summer Darkness Festival at the end of August. Need to pick music and prepare a performance for that, something with a 40-50-60ies feel to it, that can be done in gothic/fetish clothes.

-Summer Bellydance Festival
The festival organised by Anusch Alwerdian. I'm not doing the workshops, just going to the show on Saturday because my coworker is performing with the studenttroupe. yay! Next to The Oum Kolthoum Project, my weekly classes and the private performances, I haven't been doing much bellydancing this year. I plan on dusting off my dvd collection this summer and try me som eof those. We'll see how that works out for me.

Things that are not going to happen:

-Castle Fest
Ikaiya didn't know if she could get the Saturday off, and it was the only weekend available for the sail week. So I won't be able to go to Castle Fest this year, it's good to take a break and reevaluate an event that I've been going to for the last couple of years. It's a bit like a renfair, which I totally adore, but I might have had a bit of an overload after a decade.

-sword fighting. Ikaiya took swordfighting classes in Utrecht a couple of years ago, as she is totally awesome. It's been on my to-do list, but it is not going to happen. Ballet, belly dance, badminton, running and horseback riding are sort of keeping me busy right now.

-camping. Mum and my aunt are probably 'going out to camp' when the weather is good and they feel like it. If this is during the weeks that I'm free, I might go a couple of days. I don't see myself taking another couple of days off at the end of summer for the promis of maybe we'll go, maybe we don't.
mekyria: (morrocan tea party)

I never gotten the chance to learn horseback riding. As a prepubescent teen I used to dream about riding my horse through the Savannah, I sighed when I watched Robin of Sherwood and Lady Marion was chased through the forest on  horseback. I was convinced that it would be ultimate freedom to have a special bond with your horse. However, my parents argued that it was too expensive so riding a Shetland pony when we rented a family house once a year was as far as I got. I had a massive collection of girly horse magazines and covered the walls in posters of prancing horses, their tails stretched out, necks bowed and caught in that ultimate moment when their feet barely touched the ground and they seemed to be flying.

I haven't been on horseback in over 16 years and never had any formal training. 
Read more... )

Happy post

Mar. 27th, 2012 01:39 pm
mekyria: (Kyria met theepot)
With everything that's going on at my work, there is also fun stuff happening that I'd like to share. Otherwise I'll read my journal in a couple of years, thinking everything was about my work and such. The good thing is that there is still dance to be enjoyed, friends to hang out with and new stuff to learn and discover.

diving, Amsterdam, Oum Kolthoum, horse back riding... )
And in general news, people are happy with me at my work, so I expect that my contract will be prolonged in June. Right now I need the distraction of learning new things to keep me going. I notice that I don't have the energy to invest extra time in dance, next to the commitments that I already made. There are several festivals in the summer but the program made me go meh. I expect that my dance drive will return at the end of this year or at the start of 2013 but for now I'm more into exploring and learning other things.

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