> Reviewing concepts we already "know": I wonder if there's something there > along the lines of that ability we have to always ride a bike, even though > we've not done much bike riding recently. I can never remember what it's > called, kinesthetic memory maybe. I usually think of it as muscle memory, > but of course there's more to it than that. > > I think it is what enables folks who have ridden lots and lots of horses > (Dorance brothers and Mark Rashid come to mind) to react appropriately and > automatically to their horses.
Nancy, I find this very interesting.. I grew up riding lots of horses, of all ages and abilities, Arabians or Half Arabs..... I showed, trained and rode lots of trails... I have ridden since I was 3 years of age... I lived on horses and for horses... it was my life... Then life changed, I still ride, but not like I did then.. so now at 49 I don't have the Body instincts I did then, I am also heavier then I was then, it is coming off slowly, I am still a great rider, and do some crazy fast, flying riding, I still zig and Zag, however, I don't think I have the reactions I did when I put the hours in and lived on the horses like I did when I was a kid/young adult.... When I do put those hours in, and ride, ride ride, the body memory returns very quickly...but I never feel that I am as good as I was when I was riding the variety of horses I was riding and rode with a coach, usually my mom and dad... Now I don't ride year round either, as I don't have an indoor or the sandy ground to ride on outside... humm, I also don't seem to recover from this crazy cold weather, who said we were having global warming, has not been to the Midwest this year, we woke up to -5 below with -12 windchills... -- I and my horses love our track system, take a look~~~ http://picasaweb.google.com/dakota.charm/TrackForHorses
